Sincere Recognition or Deflection: The 68th Grammy Awards

The 68th Annual Grammy Awards on Feb. 1, 2026, signaled a cultural and historical moment for Black artists in the music industry. Kendrick Lamar led the field with nine overall nominations, followed closely by artists such as SZA, Tyler, The Creator and Doechii, each of whom won at least one award throughout the night. Additionally, for the first time since 2019, three rap albums were nominated for Album Of The Year, an award widely recognized as one of the "Big Four," along with Record Of The Year, Song Of The Year and Best New Artist. 

Although these past nominations and wins suggest progress in recognition, the Grammys have often faced criticism for overlooking Black artists and not consistently reflecting their significant contributions to music history. This past award ceremony offered the opportunity to examine whether or not the Recording Academy’s recognition of Black artists highlights sincere or short-term change within an organization that has long faced scrutiny and criticism for inconsistency in recognition of Black artists.

Music’s annual biggest night was held at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California. Hosted for the sixth consecutive year by Trevor Noah, the prestigious award ceremony brought together artists from multiple genres to celebrate musical achievements from the previous year. Kendrick Lamar won the most awards, winning Best Rap Album, Best Rap Song, Record Of The Year and Best Melodic Rap Performance with SZA, as well as Best Rap Performance with Clipse and Pharrell Williams. Leon Thomas received two awards for Best R&B Album and Best Traditional R&B Performance. Olivia Dean received the Best New Artist Award, and FKA Twigs received the Best Dance/Electronic Album Award. Additional awards were extended across a variety of genres and formats, with Black artists and stories being honored and celebrated in categories including jazz instrumentals, visual media and film and television soundtracks.

Although it was a rewarding night for Black artists, several high-profile moments within the ceremonies over the years continue to raise questions of the Recording Academy’s treatment of Black artists, more specifically, how voting members determine recognition. This dates back to the 30th annual Grammy awards in 1988, when Michael Jackson’s “Bad” album received four nods: Album Of The Year, Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, Best Male R&B Vocal Performance, and Best Engineered Recording - Non-Classical. Despite the commercial success of “Bad” with five No. 1 hits on the Billboard’s Hot 100 and making history for being the first album to do so since 1978 (until 2011), it failed to receive an award from one of the major categories, with the producers receiving the latter of the list for the eighth single of the album, “Leave Me Alone.” Award decisions are determined by the Recording Academy, further highlighting the distinction between an album’s commercial success versus the industry preferences of the Academy’s voting members. 

The 59th Grammy Awards in 2017 is another example of the Recording Academy’s authority over finalizing a winner being questioned. Adele was nominated for and won three out of the big four Grammy categories for her album entitled “25”: Album Of The Year, Song Of The Year and Record Of The Year. The “Rolling in the Deep” singer additionally won awards for Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Pop Solo Performance for “Hello.” Although she thanked her collaborators for encouraging her to release the album and called the win a “full-circle” moment, she told the audience in her acceptance speech that she was grateful, but she couldn’t possibly accept the award for Album Of The Year. “My artist of my life is Beyoncé,” she said while holding back tears. 

Beyoncé’s “Lemonade” album was also nominated for Album Of The Year, Best Music Film and Best Urban Contemporary Album, of which she won the latter. “Lemonade,” Beyoncé’s sixth studio album, explored themes of healing, infidelity, love and loss, as well as the experience of the Black woman in various contexts. Adele continued to say in her acceptance speech that “Lemonade” was monumental, well thought out, beautiful, soul-bearing, and allowed the audience to see another side of Beyoncé, which they do not normally see. She highlighted how important the album was to her Black friends, especially how it empowers them and helps them stand up for themselves. Remarks similar to Adele’s continue to highlight how cultural and personal impact differ from the final decisions of the Academy’s voting members. Additionally, an artist themselves may feel disconnected with the outcome of the award, even if they are the ones holding the iconic gilded gramophone. 

Although Beyoncé’s “Lemonade” won Best Urban Contemporary Album during the 2017 Grammy’s ceremony, this classification raised questions about how the Recording Academy categorizes work by Black artists. At the 62nd Grammy Awards in 2019, Tyler, The Creator won the Best Rap Album for his genre-bending album “IGOR.” During a backstage interview, a reporter asked Tyler about his views on the Grammy’s voting processes and how it affected him winning the award. Tyler shared that he was “half and half” on the decision. He was grateful for his work to be acknowledged on such a large scale, but when artists who look like him create work that is genre-bending, they always label it within urban or rap categories. “I don’t like that urban word, it’s a politically correct way to say the n-word, to me,” he said. Tyler further questioned why Black artists cannot just be pop instead of being placed in categories of rap and/or urban. Additionally, half of him felt as though it was a backhanded compliment, similar to giving one’s little cousin an unplugged game controller so that they would “shut up and feel good about it.”

These moments within Grammy history reflect the long-standing tension between an album or song’s cultural impact versus the institutional recognition at the Grammy Awards. The 68th Grammy Awards showed visible moments of recognition for Black artists within the music industry, with many high-profile celebrations. On the other hand, moments of recognition and progress such as this will continue to raise the question of sincere recognition or a temporary shift from several discussions surrounding the voting members' way of selecting final award winners. As the music industry and its processes at large continue to evolve, future Grammy award ceremonies may further clarify whether such recognition reflects a lasting change for the recognition of Black artists or only a temporary acknowledgement.