Why Blue Ivy is the Only Reason Beyoncé Won This Grammy

There’s a reason why fans of Beyoncé Knowles-Carter joke that her oldest daughter, Blue Ivy, is the real mastermind behind Queen Bey’s success! Years after Blue Ivy became the youngest person to ever win a Grammy for “Brown Skin Girl,” the public is finally hearing the unbelievable story of how Blue saved the song from being tossed out completely.

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In 2019, Beyoncé was working on “The Lion King: The Gift” album while song writers and producers made their best pitches to be featured on the project. Steve Carless, the Warner Records President of A&R, came to the table to pitch a song he finished with SAINt JHN and producer P2J called “Brown Skin Girl.” There was just one issue, however… Beyoncé wasn’t really feeling it.

During an episode of the “Won of One: A PLLRS Podcast,” Carless explained how when Jay-Z first called him to work on the album, he had nothing to fit the vibe of “The Gift,” the album which featured mostly Afrobeats and African artists. That was…until “Brown Skin Girl” was created.

“I go into the meeting. I play it for Ms. Carter. She’s like ‘Nah, that ain’t it,’” he said. Bey sent him back to the drawing board immediately, but even after some intense sessions, Carless and his writing crew remained stumped.

“Damn, that sh*t was hard. I can’t believe she didn’t f**k with that,” he remembered telling another writer in the room, who responded, “No, that sh*t is fire. Play it again.” Carless said he was hesitant to play Beyoncé the same record because “I ain’t tryna get screamed out…She holds court. She’s not a joke. She is not soft. Always respectful but it’s business.”

Against his better judgement, he kept playing the record for the queen, and she kept shutting him down and sending him back to square one. Eventually, Carless went into another meeting — this time with Bey, reps for Disney, Jay-Z and Blue Ivy. With only three weeks until the deadline and no songs yet approved by Beyoncé, Carless played “Brown Skin Girl” one more time.

To his surprise, Blue Ivy couldn’t stop singing the hook. “Brown skin girl / your skin just like pearls / the best thing in the world / I’ll never trade you for anybody else.” Carless revealed the group stayed in the room listening to the song for an extra 15 minutes until Beyoncé finally caved in. “Alright, I’ll take it,” Carless recalled of her reaction.

With Blue’s stamp of approval, “Brown Skin Girl” went on to be the lead single for the album, even landing Bey and Blue Ivy, who’s vocals are also featured on the song, a Grammy. The song peaked at 76 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and the rest was history!