Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar led one of the best Grammys in years. Has the awards show transformed?

LOS ANGELES — The Grammy Awards have long been criticized over a lack of diversity, with a history of artists of color, women, and rap and R&B musicians being snubbed for top prizes. Sunday's edition suggests something may have shifted. Beyoncé, the most awarded and nominated artist in Grammys history, finally won album of the year for her country-and-then-some album, "Cowboy Carter," furthering her dedication to recentering Black art in popular culture. Kendrick Lamar took home two of the top four prizes of the night, celebrating hip-hop on a show that has historically neglected the genre. The Grammys placed young pop performers in the spotlight at the moment of their ascent, meeting the contemporary music moment. The Recording Academy has made concerted efforts to diversify in recent years. Could it be those strides have already paid off in a course correction? Or were the 2025 Grammys simply a one-off? A feud squashed Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason jr. appeared onstage to address "some real criticism" facing the organization behind the Grammys. "Artists were pretty vocal with their complaints," he said, reaching back to 2020: "The Weeknd called out the academy for lack of transparency in our awards. He went so far as to announce he was boycotting the Grammys." Five years can make a world of difference. At the end of his speech, Mason introduced The Weeknd as a surprise performer, making his first appearance at the Grammys since 2017. His return suggested approval of a new voting class — several presenters took care to note that the awards were decided by more than 13,000 voting members. Peter A. Berry, a music journalist with work in XXL and Complex, believes that reading might be too pat, though. "He performed to promote his new album," he said, referencing The Weeknd's "Hurry Up Tomorrow." That timing aligned with the Grammys' need to highlight its reform. "I can't remove my cynical music industry lens," he says. "Time heals all wounds when you need promo." A more diverse voting body Of the Recording Academy's current voting membership, 66% are men, 49% are white and 66% are over the age of 40. But the academy announced last year that 3,000 female voting members had been added since 2019. Two-thirds of the total voting body joined in the last five years. In that same time, the academy has increased the number of members who identify as people of color by 63%, with 100% growth in Asian American and Pacific Islander voters, 90% growth in Black voters and 43% growth in Latino voters. At the 2024 Grammys, women dominated the major categories and as a result, every televised competitive Grammy went to at least one woman. It appeared to reflect contemporary interest in female pop performers — Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, Victoria Monét and Karol G, among them. In 2025, that trend continued. Women received every single televised award on Sunday night with the exception of Lamar's and one shared between Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars. "They got it right this year," Berry says. "Maybe it is that the voting committee changed." Nominees and winners reflect contemporary interest The nominations announced in November acknowledged the artists who led the conversation in 2024. Beyoncé was celebrated with 11 nominations, what Kinitra D. Brooks — an academic and author of "The Lemonade Reader" — says was the result of voters finally recognizing "this is clearly someone who deserves the respect of her peers." Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter, experiencing breakout years, received six nods each. The ubiquitous, discourse-dominating "Not Like Us" from Lamar and Charli xcx's "BRAT" also received recognition. And that translated to awards. There were a number of first-time award winners, many women and people of color like Doechii, Carin León and Sierra Ferrell. In the relatively new songwriter of the year, non-classical category, Amy Allen became the first woman to take home the trophy. A move in the right direction for hip-hop "Not Like Us" was an early winner at the Grammys' Premiere Ceremony, receiving trophies for music video, rap song and rap performance. It marked his seventh time winning in that last category. But it was his presence during the main broadcast that really made a splash. One of the biggest global hits of 2024, his Drake diss track won song and record of the year — only the second hip-hop single to ever win record of the year. By the end of the night, "Not Like Us" had won all five awards for which it was nominated. Lamar's recognitions arrived the year after Jay-Z criticized the Grammys for ignoring the rap legends before him — those who brought hip-hop to the preeminent music award show, only to have rap categories not make the official broadcast. "We want you all to get it right," Jay-Z said last year. "At least get it close to right." Berry describes Lamar's wins as "a layup," a celebration of one of the great rap records of recent history. And though Lamar's wins meant more hip-hop on the broadcast, Berry says the Grammys' hip-hop picks tend to be predictable. He says there's a "cookie cutter" formula for the kind of rappers the Recording Academy recognizes. "The more esoteric and abstract rap," as well as "the mid-level street rap," goes largely ignored, he says. Course-correcting the biggest blind spot Beyoncé's album of the year victory was widely thought long overdue. The superstar had four of her albums nominated in the category before winning on her fifth. She seemingly alluded to it in her acceptance speech: "It's been many, many years," she said. "I Am... Sasha Fierce" lost to Taylor Swift for "Fearless" in 2010. In 2015, her self-titled album "Beyoncé" lost to Beck's "Morning Phase" and Harry Styles' "Harry's House" beat "Renaissance" in 2023. Perhaps most infamously, though, was the loss of "Lemonade" to Adele's "25." "I can't possibly accept this award. And I'm very humbled, and I'm very grateful and gracious, but my artist of my life is Beyoncé," Adele said in her 2017 acceptance speech, holding back tears. In winning album of the year Sunday, Beyoncé became the first Black woman to win the top prize in the 21st century. The last was Lauryn Hill with "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill," 26 years ago. Before her were Natalie Cole and Whitney Houston, and the list ends there. Brooks believes "Beyoncé reflects that Black women can be excellent and still ignored in very particular ways — because this is a top honor in her field." Emily Lordi, a Vanderbilt University professor whose focus is African American literature and Black popular music, describes "Cowboy Carter" as "an album with a capital A — one that explicitly aims to restore the Black roots and routes of country, a genre long coded as white. It is the kind of historic intervention the academy could not fail to recognize — it was undeniable." Berry points to the fact that the record's country influence may have aligned with the academy's traditionalist voters — but also appealed to those inspired by its break with convention. "It is some cosmic justice being done," says Berry. "It might not be the best Bey album, but it was the best of the category." Even Grammys' host Trevor Noah couldn't help but acknowledge the milestone: "We finally saw it happen, everyone," he said. That, we did.