The nominations for the upcoming Grammys provide a lot to dissect.
On Nov. 15, the nominations for the 66th Annual Grammy Awards were announced. The ceremony is set to be aired live on Feb. 4, 2024, and a full list of nominees can be found on the Recording Academy’s website. Below are several predictions and key takeaways from the nominations, providing some insight into what to expect from the ceremony.
Women stand at the front of major categories
In all the major categories, women dominate most of the nominations, many of whom are sporting acclaimed albums and tracks. All the nominees have a strong chance of winning for both their popularity and acclaim. It’s refreshing and feels well overdue to see an entire award show representing diverse women across genres.
Miley Cyrus could take home major awards
With the success of the single “Flowers” in support of her album Endless Summer Vacation, Cyrus could find herself taking home major awards like Song of the Year.
Award show wins are heavily dependent on how nominees are campaigned by their teams. Whether it reflects integrity to the awards or not, how an artist, album or song is depicted can greatly sway their odds of winning. While Endless Summer Vacation was a substantial step down from its predecessor – the career-changing Plastic Hearts – the success of its lead single could be enough to land Cyrus major wins.
SZA has the cards for a win in her hands
A five-year gap between albums wasn’t enough to make SZA lose steam. After receiving no wins for her debut studio album Ctrl nor the award for Best New Artist, the R&B giant made an unexpected return with the release of her sophomore album SOS on Dec. 9, 2022. Despite forsaking the concept album approach seen on Ctrl, SOS hardly falls victim to the sophomore slump and proves SZA is a staple of modern R&B.
Albeit less stylistically consistent than Ctrl, the glue holding the expansive SOS together is SZA’s introspection and vulnerability. Accumulating a whopping nine nominations, the odds of her taking home a long overdue win are high.
Don’t sleep on alternative categories
Despite often not being aired in full, the alternative music categories this year are well-deserving of recognition. Along with her major category nominations, Lana Del Rey flaunts nominations for Best Alternative Music Performance and Best Alternative Music Album.
A win for Del Rey would feel like a full-circle moment in her career and pop culture. From the mixed reviews of her influential debut album Born to Die all the way to Ocean Blvd, Del Rey’s career is cemented in pop culture history. Her latest record is an amalgamation of her metamorphosis, soul, humour and overall passion for music.
A humble surprise in the Best Alternative Music Performance category comes from Toronto-based band Alvvays for their single “Belinda Says.” The track tells the story of an unexpected teenage pregnancy and describes a protagonist overwhelmed by the sheer weight of the choices they make moving forward. Paralyzed by the magnitude of her situation, she soothes herself with a reminder that through all her fear, she’ll find her way. It’s a rollercoaster of a track that is equally as catchy as it is touching.
Best New Artist finally features solely new artists
Throughout Grammy history, the category for Best New Artist has been scrutinized for awarding artists who have been in their career for years. An infamous example occurred in 2012 when Bon Iver was awarded despite being around since 2006. Many believed Nicki Minaj deserved the award after entering the scene with the hit single “Super Bass” and her debut album Pink Friday.
Thankfully, this year’s nominees are in fact new artists, leaving the award equally up for grabs. However, due to her apparent overnight success, several hits and collaborations with major artists, it’s safe to predict Ice Spice will be the recipient.
Taylor Swift breaks records, again
At this point, Swift breaking records is an expected occurrence. Recently, Swift has managed to become even bigger, currently holding the most monthly listeners on Spotify worldwide. With six nominations total, her nomination for “Anti-Hero” in Song of the Year makes her the most nominated artist in the category of all time.
Unfortunate snubs
Compared to other award shows, the Grammys are littered with snubs that feel both out-of-touch and outright disrespectful in some cases. While the awards themselves are a separate animal, snubbed nominations warrant a sigh of disappointment from music lovers and critics. Perhaps one of the most disappointing snubs of this year’s nominees is Caroline Polachek’s album Desire, I Want to Turn Into You, being nominated solely for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical.
Receiving widespread acclaim, Polachek delivered an album that shows pop music in a stasis between past, present and future, borrowing elements from various periods to craft a sweeping reflection of the earthly desire that drives humanity to yearn for more.
The rap genre at large has been snubbed this year. A glance at the nominees reveals that many choices were decided by popularity alone. Doja Cat’s single “Paint the Town Red” has been swept to the wayside. Regardless of the artist’s controversial image, the success of “Paint the Town Red” marks a change in Doja’s career and artistic direction from her previous Grammy-pleasing pop tunes. The unfortunate absence of acclaimed albums such as noname’s Sundial and Billy Woods / Kenny Segal’s Maps is a slap in the face to the genre outside of this year’s lukewarm mainstream nominees.
