The anti-blackness happening on this sub is wild
Well one, the pic of Billie crying was about the firefighters, so it's being taken out of context. But even if she was crying, I'm positive it would be a mix of disappointment (it hurts to lose!) and pride (for the amazing artists that are her friends that she loves).
Cowboy Carter is an iconic album and honestly getting this award is SO delayed after the impact Beyonce has had on music. Without Beyonce there wouldn't be a place for someone like Billie to create the amazing music she does and transcend and mix genres. I'm seeing people calling CC a "flop" and saying that Beyonce is "overrated" or she only got it because of politics. Y'all sound the same as people saying that black women only get jobs because of DEI. No, Beyonce won because Cowboy Carter is an INCREDIBLE album. It pays homage to centuries of black country musicians, while also redefining an ever-changing genre. It deserved to win. Beyonce deserved to win her first ever AOTY.
I loveeee Billie. I adore HMHAS. It was my most played album without a doubt. I really do wish she had won at least one Grammy, because she deserves to be recognized for the hard, vulnerable work she put into this album. It's a masterpiece, truly an amazing piece of art, and it's crazy to me that that wasn't recognized.
But what we not bout to do is drag black musicians because y'alls feelings is hurt. You can be sad without turning to old, tired, racist tropes. Especially because there is no doubt that Billie utilizes black culture in her music and style, which she talked about in the NYT article published yesterday. She literally said, "“When I started out, the way that I carried myself was literally based on my love for hip-hop and that world. I idolized it and I’ve always given credit to that because it’s truly what made me who I am, mixed with this world of alternative music.” You can't have black culture and influence without black artists, musicians, and people. You don't get to eat that shit up and then shit on Beyonce, like she hasn't been changing the game for decades.
Plus, y'all squawking like this during Black History Month? Wilddddd. Lmfao nah. Billie would be embarrassed by what some of y'all are saying and you know it.
EDIT: For everybody crying in the comments “yOU’rE maKInG it aBOuT rACE!! 😭😭”
- Read “Why Does Everything Have To Be About Race?” By Keith Boykin
- Read the lyrics to “American Requiem”. Then listen to the first verse of “Ya-Ya” 😂
- Recognize that you don’t have to like something to know its cultural impact and the legacy it creates.
- Return to point 1 ✌🏾
FINAL EDIT: Okay I'll be less sassy with this edit. Thanks to everyone who took the time to actually read and digest the post, and thank you for the awards!! I'm not gonna keep replying to comments because there's a lot of repeats, so I'll answer some commonly commented things here and move on with my life. I do hope this prompted some thought for folks, especially once they move through their defensive feelings. I do apologize for maybe not being as clear as I could in my original post, but also you can't think of everything all of the time!
"I don't like CC or Bey and that doesn't mean I'm anti-black/a racist"
I never said it did. Not everything is for everyone, and that's okay. I'm not a T Swift fan at all and have some critiques about the way she does her career. But I've never been like "oh, she only won those Grammys because she's a woman, or because of some secret conspiracy". Because that discounts the work that she put in, even if I don't personally enjoy said work. If you weren't a fan of CC or Bey, cool, fine. I don't care. But saying she only won because of DEI or that other people worked harder is playing into tropes like "black people are lazy" and "you only got __ because of DEI". And even if you personally aren't saying that, other people are and that needs to be called out. Plus, it's always good to examine why you don't like something or someone to make sure it isn't relying on antiblack stereotypes, since antiblackness is as old as apple pie.
"The Grammys were rigged"
I personally don't really enjoy award shows (I didn't even watch the Grammys lol). If you believe this, cool. I just think you should believe it every year, not just when your fave loses. If the Grammys are rigged now, were they also rigged when Billie won? When people were saying that Billie only won because she was a woman I'm sure it upset a lot of people. Why would we want to perpetuate that? I'm all for decentering award shows - they are super problematic in a lot of ways. But we can't pick and choose when we're critical. Or at least I won't.
"You're a shill/stan for Beyonce/you're on a BE reddit what did you expect?"
Lol tell that to the $350 missing from my wallet that I've spent on Billie tickets and merch in the past year. I do really love Beyonce. But, to be honest, I listen to Billie even more. None of that actually matters though, because what I'm calling out is antiblackness in how we talk about winning and effort and "deserving". I'm talking about people defending their use of racist tropes because they don't like how something turned out. You can be disappointed - shit plenty of people (myself included) are. But that doesn't give anyone any excuse to be antiblack.
"No one is making this about race except you."
One, nothing in this country (USA) isn't about race. When white people decided to steal millions of people from their homeland, commit genocide against an indigenous people, and then try and colonize the rest of the world, that pretty much set the stage for racism to be baked into everything we do. Do I love that I had to make a post calling out antiblackness? No. You don't think I have better shit to be doing lol? But it was so disheartening to see people being antiblack and trying to justify through an incredible young woman who wouldn't agree with any of that mess. No one has disagreed with me that Billie would hate people talking like this, because you know it's true. And even if she never sees this, I want other Billie fans, especially fans of color and Black fans, to know that we all aren't just cool with this shit. If people didn't want it to "be about race" then they shouldn't have invoked racist tropes. And that's that.