Beyoncé took home three awards from the 2023 Grammys last Sunday, February 5, bringing her career total to an all-time most 32. She won Best Traditional R&B Performance (“Plastic Off The Sofa”), Best Dance/Electronic Recording (“Break My Soul“) and Best Dance/Electronic Music Album (Renaissance). And many people feel strongly that she should have also won Album Of The Year, but that’s a discussion for a different article.
The Best Dance/Electronic Music Album victory broke the record, and because Beyoncé was nominated, the category was televised. On the CBS broadcast, Diplo was seen in the audience saying something after Renaissance was announced as the winner. Some fans speculated that he said, “They bought that.” He was also nominated in the category for his self-titled album.
https://twitter.com/britticisms/status/1622442906412879872?s=20&t=4twyXUHRXdKC2S4FTHVXgA
Diplo set the record straight on Instagram this week. The final slide of the Instagram carousel is the same clip that’s been making the rounds online, except Diplo included a closed-captioning of “I’m glad to be a part of this.”
Diplo’s lengthy caption gushed over Beyoncé. Read it below.
“This is a post to honor the dance music community. Thank your for being my purpose in this life and shaping my career .. and much love to all the wonderful people that worked on my album 🧡.. Grammy night was great night for all of us. Dance music has and will be the most Inclusive music of our generation .. I have been in the industry for over 20 years releasing club music ..djing over 1000 different clubs and cities – u can find me everywhere, the slums of Rio, warehouses in North Philly where I started to the fanciest night clubs and yachts in st tropez, ibiza.. Our community has always been gay / straight, but icy , poor.. white black brown purple .. it’s the music that had united the world during my lifetime and i’m glad to just be one part of it🌎 you don’t need to be a savant or a great musician to be part of dance music u just have to love to move and have confidence.
“Tonight was the first time the dance / electronic category was televised and it was rightfully so.. between me, rufus beyoncé, odesza bonobo… was one of the strongest years for electronic music. Beyoncé album was legendary (i’m a beyonce a stan remember I produced some classic dance songs for her like ’til the end of time’ and ‘girls run the world.’ what’s important to understand was that her intention was 100%. she did the work found the real producers and she made classics .. so she deserves her flowers . and when she won i was just proud to see my nomination on the screen in the huge arena.. (swipe to the end to see what i said) but the best part was my friends and the other artists in the genre still out raving until sunrise somewhere in La : that’s what’s the music is really about 😎”
During her acceptance speech, Beyoncé was visibly emotional and paid homage to “the queer community for your love and for inventing the genre.” Watch the historic moment above.