The Grammys—”the biggest night in music”—features glittering performances from A-list stars and oozes with pop culture moments that people will tweet about for days. While a lot of fans are excited for the possibility of their favorite artists being recognized for their work, there’s always been the lingering question if it’s all done under fair play?

 On February 4, 2024 the 66th annual Grammy Awards were being held at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on a rainy afternoon. Many people were excited for this year’s Grammys in particular due to the new categories presented for this year’s awards, being as follows: “Best African Music Performance,” “Best Alternative Jazz Album,” and “Best Pop Dance Recording.” We had many usual attendees such as Taylor Swift, Beyonce, and Billie Eilish. A lot of fan favorites who don’t come as often were also in attendance like Lana Del Rey, SZA, and Dua Lipa. 

While the night was as entertaining per usual with the many performances from artists the likes of Dua Lipa who opened the Grammys with a new song “Training Season,” Miley Cyrus with her wonderful lyric changes and side commentary as she performed her smash hit “Flowers,” and the legendary Joni Mitchell who had her fellow peers in the room in tears. 

But underneath this glamorous display were a bunch of fans, critics and publications who felt artists like SZA and Lana Del Rey were snubbed throughout the night. 

While SZA still won a couple categories such as “Best R&B Song” and “Best Progressive R&B Album”  many felt she should’ve won something in the main categories. She had the biggest album of the year by a Black female artist and was breaking records left and right. 

SOS, her hit album topping the Billboard 200 for 10 weeks, seemed a shoe in as everyone seemed to be tuning into the music. Now many fans of the artist and R&B/Hip-Hop fans are left saying “What is it gonna take?” SZA would have marked the first Black woman to win album of the year since Lauryn Hill.

Now another artist that seemingly was snubbed completely from all her nominations is Lana Del Rey. After the Grammys ended and Lana had lost all five of her nominations the internet was outraged to say the least. Not only was there slight controversy about Taylor Swift bringing Lana up on stage after losing her “Album Of The Year” nomination, but everyone including Taylor could see how much of an artist’s artist Lana is and how bizarre it is that the Academy continues to give Lana her accolades. 

Now there is confirmation that at least one Grammy voter who indiscreetly revealed that he had failed to take Lana “seriously” as an artist since her controversial SNL performance. Fans across the globe were enraged to find out that Lana is basically “blackballed” from winning because of one bad performance, which created the greater concern for the need to have younger and more “modern” voters in the Academy.

Now despite these couple setbacks and questionable snubs, there were some happy and exciting moments at the Grammys. Miley Cyrus won her first Grammy ever, a great feat for her and inspirational for an artist of her caliber to state on the stage that it’s not all about the awards. 

Taylor Swift breaks the record for artist to win the most “Album Of The Year” nominations and announces new album The Tortured Poets Department. Most surprising of all we had legends like Mariah Carey and Celine Dion in the room helping to present the awards. What was your favorite moment at the Grammys this year and who would you say was the most snubbed?