Jay-Z Thought Beyoncé Should Win Best Album at the 2023 Grammys

Beyoncé and Jay-Z attend the 65th GRAMMY Awards at Crypto.com Arena on February 05, 2023 in Los Angeles, California

(Image credit: Photo by Kevin Mazur / Getty)

published 8 February 2023

While Beyoncé took home four Grammy awards on Sunday, many people consider her loss in the Album of the Year category to be a snub. ICYMI, Harry Styles won instead, for his album Harry's House.

But Beyhive members aren't the only ones who think Bey should have swept up Album of the Year: Her husband, and award-winning musician, Jay-Z also considers that she deserved it.

Speaking to Tidal ahead of the Grammys, Jay-Z recalled the disappointment he felt when he was nominated in eight categories in 2018, only to lose in all eight.

"It wasn’t about me, it was just like, 'Oh, I felt like they missed the moment,'" he said. "Even with Bey, I felt like they missed the moment. Not just LEMONADE; [also] when Beck won over her [for Album of the Year at the 2015 show]. I was like, 'Oh, y’all missed it.'"

Asked whether he was letting himself hope Beyoncé would win in 2023, the rapper answered, "Yeah, I remove myself from the process and hope they just get it right. It got to the point where I was like, it’s just a marketing thing. You go, you got an album out and it could help the sales go up. It got to that point, but deep down … Again, we grew up idolizing this. It was like one of the pillars for us."

Going on to explain why he felt his wife so deserved Album of the Year, Jay-Z said, "Look what it’s done to the culture. Look how the energy of the world moved. They play her whole album in the club. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen that. The whole entire joint — like, everything?! Every remix is amazing. Everyone’s inspired. It has inspired the world. Every remix is better than the other one."

He concluded, "It’s inspiring creativity. You know how The Black Album had The Grey Album [Danger Mouse’s 2004 mashup project]? And the one with Radiohead? It was called Jaydiohead [Minty Fresh Beats’ 2009 mashup]. When it just inspires creativity, that’s an album. That has to be Album of the Year. It has to be."

Despite her Album of the Year disappointment, Beyoncé's four wins created her the record holder for the most Grammy wins of all time—an absolutely incredible and of course very well deserved achievement. At least she had a better night than Ben Affleck..?

Iris Goldsztajn is a London-based journalist, editor and author. She is the morning editor at Marie Claire, and her work has appeared in the likes of InStyle, Cosmopolitan, Bustle and Shape. Iris writes about everything from celebrity news and relationship advice to the pitfalls of diet culture and the joys of exercise. She has many opinions on Harry Styles, and can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.