R&B singer Kelly Rowland on Tuesday reacted to Jay-Z making headlines after he questioned why his wife Beyoncé has never won a Grammy for Album of the Year – though she holds the record for the most Grammy wins.
As previously reported by Face2Face Africa, the 4:44 rapper called out the Recording Academy when he took the stage to accept the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award during Sunday’s Grammy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles.
Rowland, who is best friends with Beyoncé, touched on Jay-Z’s comments on the red carpet for the premiere of Bob Marley: One Love at the Regency Village Theatre in Los Angeles.
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“Shawn Carter is one of the greatest men I know and his words ring so loud to me,” the former Destiny’s Child member told ET. “I couldn’t be more proud of him.”
“I’m just really happy for a lot of things that he said,” she stated. “I think that he made a lot of artists feel very seen and very heard in those minutes that he took on stage.”
Prior to questioning why his wife had zero Grammy Album of the Year wins despite being nominated on four occasions, Jay-Z touched on when Will Smith and DJ Jazzy Jeff boycotted the Grammys in 1989 over the Recording Academy’s refusal to televise the award presentation for its best rap performance category.
“How far we have come with Will Smith, the Fresh Prince winning their first Grammy in ’89 and boycotting, because it was not televised,” the Reasonable Doubt rapper said, per Variety. “And then they went to a hotel to watch the Grammys. I don’t even understand, it was not a great boycott.”
Jay-Z, however, revealed that he “took a page out of their book” in 1998 when he was nominated for best rap album. “And DMX put out two, they were both number one, and he was not nominated at all,” he said.
“So I boycotted and I watched. I’m just saying, we want you all to get it right. We love y’all, we love y’all. We want you to get it right — or at least get it close to right. And obviously, it’s subjective, because it’s music and its opinion-based, but some things…”
The legendary rapper then made reference to his wife never earning a Grammy award for Album of the Year. “I don’t want to embarrass this young lady, but she has more Grammys than everyone and never won album of the year,” Jay-Z said after looking at Beyoncé.
“So even by your own metrics, that doesn’t work. Think about that. The most Grammys, never won album of the year. That doesn’t work.”
With 32 honors, Beyoncé holds the record for most Grammy wins. She has, however, never won a Grammy for Album of the Year, though she has earned four nominations in that category. Rowland, 42, also shared Jay-Z’s sentiments, telling ET that she could not fathom why Beyoncé has never taken home a Grammy for Album of the Year.
“I feel like she is an icon… and that’s for a reason — it’s because she starts trends. She is innovative, her thoughts are big and bright and she just jumps for them and does it,” the Lose My Breath singer said.
“I’m not saying that because it’s my sister, I’m saying it because it’s the truth,” she added. “I’ve seen the blood, sweat and tears that she puts into these projects, and her thoughts and her heart and her passion and her soul.”
