Pop music sensation Taylor Swift became the first woman in Grammy history to win Album of the Year twice, and she took the opportunity Monday night to not only thank those who got her there, but to put rapper Kanye West in his place.
The 26-year-old took home the best album prize for 1989, which includes hits Blank Space, Style and Shake It Off. The sixth album of her career went platinum within a week of being released in late fall 2014, selling over 1.2 million copies and went on to sell over 5 million.
In her acceptance speech, Swift indirectly addressed the controversy created by Kanye West, who in his newly released song Famous, raps, “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex / Why? I made that b**ch famous.”
West’s supposed claim to Swift’s fame is a reference to when he interrupted her acceptance speech at the MTV Awards in 2009, literally taking the mic from her hand, to say that Beyonce should have won the prize.
“As the first woman to win Album of the Year at the Grammys twice,” Swift said in her acceptance speech on Monday, “I want to say to all the young women out there: there are going to be people along the way who will try to undercut your success or take credit for your accomplishments or your fame,” which was a clear reference to the lyrics in West’s song. Many in the audience clearly understood the reference, reacting with “Ohs” and “Ahhs.”
“But if you just focus on the work and you don’t let those people sidetrack you, someday when you get where you’re going, you’ll look around and you’ll know it was you and the people who love you who put you there and that will be the greatest feeling in the world,” drawing applause from the crowd.