Beyoncé's Grammy wins spark thrill and controversy, UMD community reacts

Beyoncé Lemonade tour in Seattle, Washington (Flickr)

Beyoncé made history at the 67th annual Grammy Awards that took place on Feb. 2 when she secured two notable awards: Country Album of the Year and Album of the Year, for “Cowboy Carter”.

Beyoncé is the first African-American woman to receive a Grammy for country music and now joins Natalie Cole, Whitney Houston and Lauryn Hill as one of four Black female artists to receive a Grammy for Album of the Year.

The nominations for Album of the Year also included artists like Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Sabrina Carpenter and more.

While accepting the award presented by the Los Angeles County Fire Department, Beyoncé said, “it’s been many, many years.”

Beyoncé dedicated her award to country pioneer Linda Martell, a prominent figure in country music and is regarded as the first commercially successful female African-American artist in the market.

This win prompted a lot of emotions from the crowd with the audience including fellow popstar Lady Gaga, who has worked with Beyoncé in the past, had tears racing down her face and. However, the win came with mixed reactions. .

The achievement was met with mixed reviews by fandoms and critics all through social media, with some even saying it was a “DEI” win.

The UMD community had its fair share of reactions to the wins and upsets from the award show.

Senior journalism major Rachel McCrea was rooting for newer artist Chappell Roan to win best new artist, which happened during the event.

“Go, Chappell Roan, I like the outfits. Go Beyoncé, I think she's doing cool stuff for country music,” McCrea said.

McCrea hadn’t listened to the album all the way, but with the heavy traction, she wants to take the time to absorb it.

“I think if I listened to it all the way through. I’d be like, ‘yeah, that's really good,’ just knowing who she is as an artist,” she said. “I don't listen to a ton of Beyoncé, but I know she’s put up a lot of albums, and I was surprised she hadn’t won album of the year before this.”.

“I think it’s about time,” senior theater major Hudson White said about the win. “Some People just don't want to give her credit for being a music artist,” White said.

Beyoncé has been nominated four times for Album of the Year before her win on Sunday for body of works that some argue were more deserving than “Cowboy Carter.”

“I feel like Renaissance should've gotten it just cause I remember that album very clearly and the cultural impact that it had,” White said.

The sincerity of the award has been questioned as a gesture of diversity and White recognizes the politics around it from the academy, but nonetheless White doesn't diminish Beyoncé’s achievements.

“She deserved it and I think we can just accept it and let her have her award,” he said.

With all Beyoncé’s success, White doesn't feel the recent awards hold that much measure to her worth.

“I don’t think this winning Album of the Year mattered to her as much as I think it mattered to fans that she won,” White said. “I think she has a very good understanding of where she stands in the music industry.”

Being an aspiring artist himself, White brings up Beyoncé as a figure to live vicariously through for the Black community and particularly Black women. He points out how her success and failure could affect them personally but spots the complexity of it all.

“Sometimes it’s nice to be judged by your quality of art and not feel like everything has to be a political identity,” he says.

Sophie Bagheri, a junior majoring in theater and English, feels that the Grammys made the right choice for Country Album of the Year.

“It’s not my favorite country album, but I do think that she deserves it,” Bagheri said.

Bagheri, a Taylor Swift fan, says that, like Swift, Beyoncé redefines herself as an artist. Bagheri calls Taylor Swift presenting Beyoncé with the country award a “full circle moment” and loves the history it holds.

Although she was pleased with the Album of the Year win, Bagheri says she anticipated it because of last year's speech from Beyoncé’s husband, rapper and record executive Jay-Z, where he openly shared his disdain towards the academy for snubbing Beyoncé during his acceptance as a recipient of the Global Impact award.

“I do think she deserves it because the album is good, but then also, I think she had to win it because of that speech,” Bagheri said.

Ellie Arenstein, a sophomore majoring in music, says that while she doesn't know Beyoncé's album well, she feels her vocal talent trumps all the other nominees.

Billie Eilish’s reactions to Beyoncé’s win sparked discourse on the internet but Arenstin believes Eilish already has so much to be proud of.

“I think she’s won enough Grammys. They’ve all won a lot of Grammys; hopefully, she’s just happy for her,” she said.

The wins were significant achievements that Beyoncé could finally check off her bucket list. When asked whether Beyoncé has anything left to prove, Arenstien says that's up to her.

“I don’t think she has to prove anything, she’s a dynamite vocalist,” she said.