The Grammys are widely known music awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States and arguably the biggest night for music. Celebrities like Beyoncé, Billie Eilish, Chappell Roan, Kendrick Lamar and more attended the 67 annual Grammy Awards this past February.
Controversy has surrounded the Grammys for years, and viewers have called out the Grammys for racism, unfair voting and lack of transparency. This year, viewers debated the fairness of the voting. Members and record companies submit entries, which are scanned for eligibility and category placement. This leaves little to no voting for fans and listeners.
For instance, there was a hot debate over whether or not Beyoncé’s “Cowboy Carter” deserved the Album of the Year award. Many believe Eilish’s “Hit Me Hard and Soft” should have won rather than Beyoncé bringing this award home.
Everyone has different opinions on music and who should’ve won, but both albums have over one billion streams worldwide. Many fans argue Beyoncé already has enough Grammy wins, with her winning more Grammys than anyone else. Beyoncé has brought home 35 awards over the years. Eilish has won nine.
In a Billie Eilish Sub Reddit, Beyoncé fans commented, “As a Beyoncé fan, Billie Eilish was snubbed,” and, “The fact she walked out of there with no Grammy is really what’s baffling to me.” Others said, “I don’t know why we are putting the blame on Beyoncé when Billie was nominated for other categories and could have easily won one of those,” and, “Yes, ‘Hit Me Hard and Soft’ is a masterpiece, but so is ‘Cowboy Carter.’”
People also made the argument regarding race. Race has been a prevalent issue in Grammy voting over the years. A Reddit user said, “Watch it, some people will start calling you anti-black if you dare give a music opinion.” Another said, “Honestly, I was expecting ‘Hit Me Hard and Soft’ to win, [but] I understand black women have been snubbed for album of the year for decades.”
Kendrick Lamar, a 37-year-old rapper, was a big winner of the 2025 Grammys as well. He left with five awards, all for his song, “Not Like Us.” This shocked viewers because of his previous feud with well-known rapper Drake, the inspiration behind the song. Lamar won Best Rap Performance, Best Rap Song, Record of the Year, Best Music Video and Song of the Year. Kendrick fans took the win with force and took to Reddit saying, “Drake’s in shambles, imagine somebody calls you a pedophile on a diss track and the dude gets a Grammy and a standing ovation from the audience.”
As the 2025 Grammys frenzy comes to an end, we are stuck debating the results. All that is left to do is wait for the next awards in 2026.
