Last Friday, the Recording Academy released their nominations list for the 68th Annual Grammy Awards. Two writers in the Life Section joined forces to wade through the list and pick their favorites to win the “Big Four” awards.
Could Kendrick Lamar come away from another Grammy ceremony with a handful of awards? Could Bad Bunny become one of the first Latin American artists to win a big award? And why is Alex Warren still here?
Record of the Year
Nominations are “DtMF” by Bad Bunny, “Manchild” by Sabrina Carpenter, “Anxiety” by Doechii, “WILDFLOWER” by Billie Eilish, “Abracadabra” by Lady Gaga, “luther” by Kendrick Lamar and SZA, “The Subway” by Chappell Roan and “APT.” by ROSÉ & Bruno Mars.
Ayyan: I’d commend “luther” for record of the year. Its Luther Vandross sample and stripped-back production serve the Lamar and SZA duet wonderfully. But I think Grammy voters could have a hard time picking between it and “The Subway” or “WILDFLOWER,” which are two masterfully produced songs as well. Eilish’s Grammy favorite status could also make this decision harder than it could be for voters.
Bobbie: “The Subway” by Roan had a huge amount of buildup from fans prior to its release, which makes it another strong option for Record of the Year. Still, some of the songs in this category like “Manchild,” “APT.” and “Anxiety” have felt replayed far more and have reached more groups of people than the others. This category really could go in any direction, so I had a really difficult time saying that I think “luther” may be the winner.
Album of the Year
Nominations in this category are “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS” by Bad Bunny, “SWAG” by Justin Bieber, “Man’s Best Friend” by Sabrina Carpenter, “Let God Sort Em Out” by Clipse, Pusha T & Malice, “MAYHEM” by Lady Gaga, “GNX” by Kendrick Lamar, “MUTT” by Leon Thomas and “Chromakopia” by Tyler, the Creator.
Bobbie: This section is more of a toss-up than some of the others because so many great albums came out this year. Bieber’s album “SWAG” had incredible contributions from artists I love like Dijon, Mk.gee and Daniel Caesar, but it still seems unlikely to win compared to some of the other nominations. “MUTT” by Thomas also deserves more credit than it has gotten, but it’s unlikely he will win either.
The most expected outcome would be a win from Bad Bunny’s “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS.” Especially considering his growth and the fact that he’s performing for the Super Bowl this year, Bad Bunny seems the most likely winner.
Ayyan: Personally, I would hope one of the rap albums nominated could win this award, as they are all stellar pieces of work. Clipse’s comeback album includes some of the most eclectic Pharell Williams beats put to tape, and the verses from Malice, Pusha T and their assortment of guest stars are top tier.
Praise must be given to “GNX” and “Chromakopia,” two amazing pieces of work that show just how diverse the rap genre can be. It’s a very close battle between all three for my pick as Album of the Year; if it wasn’t for the Grammy’s odd eligibility window, “Let God Sort Em Out” would be the frontrunner by a mile, while Lamar and Tyler collected their flowers last year.
Song of the Year
“Abracadabra” by Lady Gaga, “Anxiety” by Doechii, “APT.” by ROSÉ & Bruno Mars, “DtMF” by Bad Bunny, “Golden” by HUNTR/X: EJAE, Audrey Nuna & REI AMI [From KPop Demon Hunters], “luther” by Kendrick Lamar with SZA, “Manchild” by Sabrina Carpenter and “WILDFLOWER” by Billie Eilish.
Ayyan: Knowing that Lamar and Eilish are some of the Recording Academy’s favorite artists to shower Grammy’s on, the award will most likely go to one them — and it probably should. “luther” is the kind of 90’s R&B ballad the people have been sorely missing, while “WILDFLOWER” is a masterfully produced piece of alternative pop.
My heart hopes this award could go to “Golden,” a catchy song that hasn’t gotten out of my head since the day I first heard it, or “APT,” arguably the better of Mars’ two late 2024 collabs.
Bobbie: Song of the Year will most likely go to Eilish for “WILDFLOWER.” The song is really made whole by its lyricism more than anything else with really strong emotional ties, which makes it a perfect contender for this category. Considering how many times Eilish has been nominated in this category alone, there’s a very good chance “WILDFLOWER” will win this year.
“DtMF” could be another good option, but considering I think Bad Bunny will be winning in other categories, I don’t find it as likely. A lot of the songs in this category have been overplayed in general, feeling like they’ve lost meaning along the way, but I believe that “WILDFLOWER” still holds strongest.
Best New Artist
Nominees include Olivia Dean, KATSEYE, The Marias, Addison Rae, sombr, Leon Thomas, Alex Warren and Lola Young.
Bobbie: I would most enjoy seeing a win from either Dean or Thomas. I felt particularly impressed by “The Art of Loving” and Dean’s vocal performance. The atmosphere of Dean’s music is definitely worth recognizing, so I would place her as the top option for Best New Artist.
Thomas has very interesting stylistic choices and some truly unique pieces. I do adore his work but because of his popularity from his performances outside of just his music, he just isn’t as strong of a contender for this category because he doesn’t feel new.
It would be surprising to see any other artist win in this category. The Marias had great growth in popularity this year although they’ve had a few years with similar circumstances and didn’t release much music this year. Warren, KATSEYE and sombr became really big parts of the music industry this year as well, but I think that looking into the artists who are bringing something more interesting to the table would be much better.
Ayyan: I think this award will be a dead heat between Dean and Rae, with sombr and Thomas leading the trailing pack.
Both Dean and Rae put out good albums during this eligibility window. Dean’s big hit “Man I Need” sounds like an updated version of those 70’s and 80’s soul ballads and Rae is an exciting new voice in the electropop scene. I’m sure people are pushing hard to reward them for their successes.