Last month, the Academy announced the nominees for the 67th Grammy awards. With this announcement came a myriad of different reactions. Among the many positive reactions and fans rooting for their favorite artist to receive the award they so deserve, others voiced their criticisms of the recording Academy’s choices. I decided to take a look at the nominations from a few of the 94 different categories and give my thoughts and predictions.
One of the most anticipated categories this year is Album of the Year. Pop music dominated this category with nominations for Sabrina Carpenter, Billie Eilish, Charli XCX, Chappell Roan and Taylor Swift, as well as two outsider picks with Andre 3000’s “New Blue Sun” and Jacob Collier’s “Djesse Vol.4.” The main focus this February will be on Beyoncé’s country debut, “Cowboy Carter.” The question many are asking this year is if she will get her first win in the album of the year category. It was a good album and the outcome, most likely, is that Beyoncé will win album of the year. Another album that has a good chance of winning the category is Taylor Swift’s “The Tortured Poets Department.” Reason being, this is a category that she has dominated for her whole career. This is definitely a weaker album of Swift’s in comparison to the other nominees, and it wouldn’t be my pick for album of the year, however its performance on the charts and reception could definitely sway voters. The best album and what is third most likely to win is Charli XCX’s “brat.” Apart from being a cultural phenomenon that is almost bigger than the album itself, it’s a really strong album that is much more forward than any other nominee in the category. The unique and refreshing sound the whole album has as well as the consistency throughout the entire record is what makes it shine above the rest.
Best New Artist is the most competitive category out of the major categories. Many artists such as Benson Boone, Shaboozey, Doechii and Raye had large breakthroughs this year. This category is likely going to be a race between two artists who emerged into superstardom this year: Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan. Both artists have been making music for a relatively long time but have had meteoric rises in the past year. It’s a very tough choice for the Academy voters to make. Given Sabrina Carpenter’s large number of nominations across other categories, as well as her being who most see as the new face of pop music, she will likely be the one taking home the Best New Artist award in February.
Song of the Year is another competitive category. The winner will likely be Taylor Swift’s “Fortnight.” Swift is a veteran in this category—she has had eight nominations for song of the year which is the most of any songwriter ever. Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” is a strong competitor for the award as well. It was one of the biggest songs released this year and above all, a great song from an artist who has never won song of the year. However, it won’t be easy for Swift or Lamar to run away with this category because other strong nominations include: “Birds of a Feather” (Billie Eilish), “Good Luck Babe!” (Chappell Roan) and “TEXAS HOLD ‘EM” (Beyoncé)—all of which are great songs, but are a step below Swift and Lamar’s.
Record of the Year contains five Song of the Year nominees. One that stuck out was Taylor Swift’s “Fortnight,” which was a good choice for Song of the Year but doesn’t fit as well for Record of the Year. Song of the Year is an award that recognizes the songwriter and the writing on the track, whereas Record of the Year is an award for the performer and producers of the song. “Fortnight” is not nearly as sonically strong as other nominees. Another interesting nomination was the final song from The Beatles, “Now and Then.” The song is a finished version of a demo John Lennon had been working on but never finished, Paul McCartney and his producer used AI to separate John’s vocals from the track to finish the song. However, it’s not nearly as strong as other records nominated. I believe the winner for this category is going to be “360” from Charli XCX and A.G Cook as it is a great song with amazing production. It would be a bold choice for the Academy to go with, as it has had less commercial success than most Record of the Year favorites this year. “TEXAS HOLD ‘EM” and “Espresso” are the two other records in the conversation around this prestigious award. “TEXAS HOLD ‘EM” is a well-produced, catchy and innovative song for the country genre. “Espresso” is an earworm of a song, it has one of the most recognizable and memorable hooks of the records released this year. Having said that, “360” is still a much stronger choice than any other record because it has a much more unique and layered sound than the other nominees and it feels much more like a step forward in the world of music.
That wraps up the four major categories, but there are many smaller categories to pay attention to. One of my favorite categories every year is “Best Music Video.” Music videos often have some of the most creative filmmaking and artistic choices of any visual media. I watched all of the music videos in this category, and my choice for the winner is A$ap Rocky’s video for the song “Tailor Swif”. The music video for this song follows the rapper as he performs his song through a series of insane backdrops and sequences of events. I imagine it was very difficult to direct and put together, which makes me appreciate it even more. Another good music video was the video for “360.” It was a very well-directed and put-together video with a lot of shots that feature Charli in the center in many different places as if it’s a moving and living portrait. “Not Like Us” was another solid nomination. Its music video was fun and well-choreographed. It matched the vibe of the song very well.
All in all, the Grammy Awards are a great achievement for artists but they aren’t a great measure of what is the best music every year. Right now, it’s the easiest it’s ever been to make great music yourself. There are amazing albums and records being released every day. Because of this, it’s not easy for the Academy to recognize a lot of smaller artists releasing independent music. The Academy has also been critiqued for its underrepresentation of Black and minority artists. These are important to note when discussing the awards and nominations because there is a lot of great music out there and a lot of it you aren’t going to find in these nomination lists.
