Kelly Rowland has spoken out about Jay-Z's rousing Grammys speech on Sunday, when the rapper and producer called out the institution for snubbing his wife Beyoncé in the album of the year category, and for historically disrespecting Black artists.
"Shawn Carter [that's Jay-Z's real name, FYI] is one of the greatest men I know and his words ring so loud to me. I couldn't be more proud of him," Rowland told Entertainment Tonight on the red carpet for the Los Angeles premiere of Bob Marley: One Love.
"I'm just really happy for a lot of things that he said," she continued. "I think that he made a lot of artists feel very seen and very heard in those minutes that he took on stage."
In his speech, which he gave with daughter Blue Ivy standing beside him, Jay-Z told the audience—and particularly members of the Recording Academy, "We want you all to get it right. We love y'all. We want you to get it right. At least get it close to right. And obviously it's subjective because it's music. And it's opinion-based."
He also pointed out the discrepancy between Beyoncé having won the most Grammys out of any artist in the history of the awards show and yet never having won album of the year.
Rowland, who was Beyoncé's bandmate in the days of Destiny's Child, went on to explain why she deeply agrees with Jay-Z's assessment of the situation.
"I feel like [Beyoncé] is an icon... and that's for a reason—it's because she starts trends," she said.
"She is innovative, her thoughts are big and bright and she just jumps for them and does it. I think that her albums are a reflection of that, and it should be really celebrated in that way."
She continued, "I'm not saying that because it's my sister, I'm saying it because it's the truth. I've seen the blood, sweat and tears that she puts into these projects, and her thoughts and her heart and her passion and her soul."
Beyoncé's latest album, Renaissance, didn't qualify for the award this year because it was released before the cut-off date. However, the star has been nominated in that category five times without ever winning it. This year, the honor went to Taylor Swift for Midnights.
