Everything is not so ‘Golden’ as Harry Style wins Album of the Year at the 2023 Grammys

The 65th annual Grammy Awards were held this past Sunday, and as per usual, viewers voiced their support — or dissatisfaction — with the winners.

One of the biggest controversies of the night was Harry Styles’ win for Album of the Year with “Harry’s House.” The British singer-songwriter shared the nomination with artists such as Beyoncé, ABBA, Lizzo, Kendrick Lamar and Bad Bunny. According to sources like Billboard and TIME, Beyoncé's “Renaissance” was favored and deserved to win.

Styles triggered an onslaught of backlash online when he said, “This is really, really kind. I’m so grateful. This doesn’t happen to people like me very often,” during his acceptance speech.

Some were quick to point out that a vast majority of the other nominees for Album of the Year were artists of color, and Styles is a white man.

What do USC students think about Harry Styles’ win and acceptance speech?

Christina Chkarboul, a sophomore studying global studies and earth sciences, said that she didn’t like Styles’ work.

“I personally did not like his album,” Chkarboul said. “I think that ‘As It Was’ was very overplayed, and I am not a fan of his work just generally.”

This sentiment was generally shared among other USC students.

Christina Fazio, a first-year graduate student studying marriage and family therapy, explained that although she enjoyed “Harry’s House,” there were better contenders that should’ve won.

“I do think compared to the other albums that were up, it … wasn’t the best album,” Fazio said. “Just because of how monumental it was, ‘Un Verano Sin Ti’ was what I thought should have won.”

Maleah Allen, a freshman studying human biology, echoed Fazio’s response in terms of other artists who were more deserving: “Just because I have listened to Kendrick’s album and a couple of the others — I feel like they were actually talking about things that mattered.”

In terms of his acceptance speech, consensus of questioned USC students was that Styles made a pretty noticeable and insensitive error.

“He didn’t really use the correct terminology, especially because he’s a white man,” Allen said. Bennie Andon, a sophomore also studying human biology, agreed with Allen’s response.

“It didn’t feel right, especially when … all these POC artists are going up. And the thing is, it’s not the first time that has happened.”

Although most of the students hadn’t watched the Grammys on Sunday night when it aired, they had caught wind of the backlash on social media.

“I’ve read some contextualizing information about maybe he grew up in a low-income family, and that’s kind of what he meant by that,” said Patrick Warren, a senior majoring in journalism. “I’m not going to assume that he meant anything malicious by it, but I do understand people’s reactions.”

The Grammys, and large-scale award shows in general, have received hefty criticism within the past few years because of their lack of minority representation, as well as their continuous selection of white artists over those of color.