The Grammy Awards opened with a somber “Hello” from Adele. But Beyoncé had another song to sing — one that represents what Black America has reckoned with for centuries.

Despite coming into this year’s ceremony as the heavy favorite, the expectant mother of twins lost Album of the Year, the prize instead going to the British chanteuse whose vocal style is admittedly rooted in the black traditions of R&B and Soul music.

It was as clear as day, at the end of music’s “biggest night,” that Adele knew how the album-film “Lemonade” made her “black friends” feel,

even though she came under criticism for not understanding just how much this work meant to black people collectively.

But regardless of how many awards she would win during an extremely competitive year, Beyoncé found a way of affirming and loving herself.

She did so unapologetically for the world to see. After all, the crowns of black folk, as James Baldwin once wrote, were already bought and paid for. All Beyonce had to do was put it on.

And she did.

During her performance and first acceptance speech of the evening, Beyoncé lifted her golden voice. In doing so, she lifted up the spirits of Americans of all stripes, all while centering her artistic imagery in blackness.

This approach isn’t anything new. Black artists have used their music to espouse activism, survival, and triumph for decades. From the coded Underground Railroad song “Follow the Drinking Gourd,”

to Donny Hathaway’s “Someday We’ll All Be Free,” the black musical aesthetic has transformed pain and peril into a sweet symphony.

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