Roland Martin Calls Out JAY-Z Over Grammys Speech

Roland Martin wanted more from the legendary rapper.

BYCole Blake
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49th NAACP Image Awards Non-Televised Awards Dinner - Show

Roland Martin called out JAY-Z for his speech at the 2024 Grammy Awards, during which he railed against the Recording Academy while accepting the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award. Speaking on his Unfiltered show, Martin argued that the legendary rapper should’ve refused to accept the honor until changes were made at the ceremony to assist hip-hop artists. Martin noted that the rap categories were not broadcast live on TV. 

“JAY-Z, if you want the Grammys to change, you should’ve said, ‘I will not accept this award nor will I attend until y’all put one of the rap categories on the televised broadcast,” Martin said. "JAY-Z, Dr. Dre, y’all make it clear, whoever they want to give the award to next year, you make it clear we ain’t showing up unless y’all make the rap album of the year part of the broadcast. I guarantee you it’s gonna cause some folks to say, ‘We better do it or we’re gonna lose the star power… You pull the star power, ratings go down. When ratings go down, they lose money. We know in America, when they lose money, stuff changes.”

Read More: Jay-Z Hosts Pre-Grammys Party In Hollywood After Canceling Roc Nation Brunch

JAY-Z Speaks At 2024 Grammy Awards

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 04: Jay-Z accepts the Dr. Dre Global Impact. Award onstage with Blue Ivy Carter during the 66th GRAMMY Awards at Crypto.com. Arena on February 04, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Johnny Nunez/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)

On stage, JAY-Z primarily took issue with the Recording Academy never recognizing Beyonce for Album of the Year, despite giving her the most awards in history. “I don’t want to embarrass this young lady, but she has more Grammys than everyone and never won Album of the Year,” he said. “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. Obviously, it's subjective because it's music. It's opinion-based. Some of you are going to go home tonight and feel like you've been robbed. Some of you may get robbed-- some of you don't belong in the category." Check out Martin's response to the comments below.

Roland Martin Slams JAY-Z

JAY-Z also made headlines at the event for drinking out of his award. Be on the lookout for further updates on JAY-Z on HotNewHipHop.

Read More: JAY-Z Drinks Out Of His Grammy Award During Ceremony

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About The Author
Cole Blake is currently an Editor at HotNewHipHop based out of Brooklyn, New York. He began working at the site as an intern back in 2018 while studying journalism at St. John’s University. In the time since, he’s graduated with a bachelor's degree and written extensively about a wide range of topics including pop culture, film & television, politics, video games, sports, and much more. He’s also covered music festivals such as Gov. Ball and Rolling Loud. You can find him publishing work for HNHH from Monday to Wednesday or on weekends. On the sports front, Cole’s a passionate NBA and NFL fan with his favorite teams being the Indianapolis Colts and Los Angeles Lakers. He also roots for the Yankees whenever he finds himself at Yankee Stadium or the Red Storm when in the company of other SJU alumni. His favorite hip-hop artists are billy woods, Earl Sweatshirt, Cam’ron, MIKE, and Mach-Hommy.