If Beyoncé wins, she will become only the second black artist to win the award.
Beyoncé's Renaissance is up for Best Dance/Electronic Album of 2016. "My Soul" was the soulful follow-up to Robin S's house hit "Show Me Love." When the album finally came out, it became clear that Bey didn't just have dance music, but black dance music that resembled: Chicago house, Detroit techno, dancehall, disco and more.
However, despite being clearly a dance album, the Recording Academy's Dance Committee did not initially consider Renaissance , nearly denying the album consideration for Best Dance/Electronic Album, even though Beyoncé submitted a separate album for that category.
The Hollywood Reporter wrote in late October that the dance committee believed that Revival "could be better placed in pop music, where it would join the projects of Adele, Harry Styles, Face and others."
"Consideration is handed over to the Academy's National Selection Committee, a group of music industry professionals including songwriters, producers, musicians and others who have heard Renaissance many times, to determine where it will compete," the statement said. . "This panel, which also selects the artists who are eligible for Best New Artist, has finally decided that Beyoncé's project must be able to dance."
Surprisingly, the album's entry into the category has caused some controversy (although no one is reportedly disputing that "Break My Soul" should be in the Grammy Dance competition), but other music institutions like Billboard , seem to agree. It hardly made it as an official dance album. The report notes that "Break My Soul" charted on Billboard's Dance and R&B charts , but not on the Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart (although Drake's own dance track , Faithfully, Nevermind, did).
It's a moment reminiscent of how Lil Nas X's "Old Town Road" sparked a debate about what is and isn't country music, and how the hit failed to chart on Billboard 's Hot Country Songs chart and only got one. 2019 Country Music Awards nomination for Music Event of the Year (won).
For the Recording Academy to slightly exclude Renaissance from the dance category, the album is a great dance-focused project, but it's a misstep that shows how limited their vision for dance music is. To a large extent, this results in the loss of black contributions to electronic dance music (EDM). Bey in particular, who was very aware of black dance music, rejected Od and defended the genre as a black genre. And finally, it prevents them from making history in that category. Last year, for the first time in Grammy history, a black artist won Best Dance/Electronic Album, which went to Bubba Kaytranada. If Bey won, she would become only the second black artist to win the award.
So it's important that Renaissance is nominated for Best Dance/Electronic Album because it deserves recognition in this category. Realizing that not only Be, but also the group of black artists he brought in to bring the album to life, forced him to ditch DJ and producer Honey Dijon, the legendary Moy René.
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