The clock has begun ticking for the 65th edition of the Grammy Awards on Sunday, February 5 (telecast on Monday, 5.30 am, in India), as “music’s biggest night” struggles to retain its relevance in times of declining TV audiences, boycotts from major artists of colour over accusations of racial bias, and the nagging feeling that the Recording Academy is just too old and stodgy to reflect the tastes of GenZ music fans. This is reflected in the viewership figures for last year’s awards show which topped out at 8.9 million, a far cry from its 1984 peak of 51.67 million, or even 2020’s 18.9 million.
Drake and The Weeknd — two of the biggest black music stars of the past few years — have decided to continue last year’s boycott of the Awards over perceived snubs and racial bias, while Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak also refused to submit their critically acclaimed collaboration An Evening With Silk Sonic for consideration. The Academy has responded to these criticisms by abolishing its practice of secret committee nominations in the Big Four categories, and expanding its voting pool to include more voters from “traditionally underrepresented groups”. Artists and audiences remain skeptical of the Academy’s commitment to inclusion, though, and it remains to be seen if a return to LA — and a star-studded line-up of performers — can rekindle some of the magic.
As the global music industry gears up for a week of parties and showcases in the heart of Hollywood, we look at the nominees for the Big Four award categories, and try to predict the winners.
Record Of The Year
Nominees: Don’t Shut Me Down (ABBA); Easy on Me (Adele); Break My Soul (Beyoncé); Good Morning Gorgeous (Mary J Blige); You and Me on the Rock (Brandi Carlile, featuring Lucius); Woman (Doja Cat); Bad Habit (Steve Lacy); The Heart Part 5 (Kendrick Lamar); About Damn Time (Lizzo); As It Was (Harry Styles)
Our Take: This is Beyoncé’s eighth nomination in the Record of the Year category, one of the many all-time records she has broken or equalled this year. And yet she has never won the coveted award, despite strong contenders including 2004’s Crazy In Love (feat. Jay-Z) and 2017’s Formation. This year, she’s up against Adele, who’s already won twice in the category. A third win would tie the English singer with Bruno Mars and Paul Simon for the most number of wins ever in the category.
But these two titans of pop have strong competition this year, with Lizzo’s About Damn Time and Steve Lacy’s Bad Habits also ticking all the boxes — commercial success, critical acclaim and progressive sound — while Harry Styles’ As It Was is also in the running. With Lizzo and Styles both having a strong record in winning the Academy’s approval, Beyoncé may end up missing out on the category for the eighth time. That’s one record that her fans will be praying she avoids setting, but we think the lean and propulsive pandemic-referencing bop of As It Was may take this particular honour home.
Song of the Year
Nominees: abcdefu (Gayle; with c0-songwriters Sara Davis and Dave Pittenger); About Damn Time (Melissa 'Lizzo' Jefferson; with co-songwriters Eric Frederic, Blake Slatkin and Theron Makiel Thomas); All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (The Short Film) (Taylor Swift, with co-songwriter Liz Rose); As It Was (Harry Styles, with co-songwriters Tyler Johnson and Kid Harpoon); Bad Habit (Steve Lacy, with co-songwriters Matthew Castellanos, Brittany Fousheé, Diana Gordon, John Carroll Kirby); Break My Soul (Beyoncé, with co-songwriters S Carter, Terius 'The-Dream' Gesteelde-Diamant and Christopher A Stewart); Easy On Me (Adele Adkins aka Adele, with co-songwriter Greg Kurstin); God Did (DJ Khaled featuring Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, Jay-Z, John Legend and Fridayy; with co-songwriters Tarik Azzouz, E Blackmon, Khaled Khaled, F LeBlanc, Shawn Carter, John Stephens, Dwayne Carter, William Roberts and Nicholas Warwar); The Heart Part 5 (Kendrick Lamar, with co-songwriters Jake Kosich, Johnny Kosich, Matt Schaeffer); Just Like That (Bonnie Raitt)
Our Take: Songwriters are the oft-ignored, occasionally maligned heroes of the pop world, and this category is all about them. The spread of nominees reflects the different ways in which artists and songwriters collaborate, from the nine (!) songwriters on DJ Khaled and friends rap cut God Did to Bonnie Raitt’s old-school songwriter and performer turn on Just Like That.
Both those tracks are long-shots for the win though, in a category that also includes Grammys juggernauts like Adele, Taylor Swift, Lizzo and Harry Styles. Swift’s sixth nomination ties her with Paul McCartney and Lionel Ritchie for most mods in the category, though the fact that All Too Well (10 Minute Version) is a re-work of an earlier composition may put her out of the running. Adele has already won in the category twice, and a third win would make her the first three-time winner in its history. Lizzo is also a front-runner, though the head-to-head between her and Beyoncé might split some votes. It’s a tight race that’s quite hard to call, but we think Adele and Kurtin might just sneak this one with the achingly vulnerable Easy On Me.
Best New Artist
Nominees: Anitta, Omar Apollo, DOMi & JD Beck, Muni Long, Samara Joy, Latto, Måneskin, Tobe Nwigwe, Molly Tuttle, Wet Leg
Our Take: Last year’s Best New Artist nomination for Arooj Aftab raised hopes that we would see more diverse, cutting edge artists get recognition, but this year’s nominees list is a bit of a mixed bag. Some really exciting young artists didn’t make the cut — including Mitski, Grace Ives, Soccer Mommy and most criminally, Sudan Archives — while some of those that did get nods left us scratching our heads.
Regardless, this is perhaps the most open of the four major categories, with no obvious frontrunners. British indie-rockers Wet Leg released one of the best alt-rock albums of the past few years (and put on an incredible live show as well, judging by their set at Primavera Sound). Italian rock band Måneskin has clawed its way to success in America, selling over 40 million copies worldwide. Omar Apollo and Molly Tuttle have also had strong years. We’re going to go with Wet Leg for this one, but it’s really anyone’s trophy to take home.
Album Of The Year
Nominees: Voyage (ABBA); 30 (Adele); Un Verano Sin Ti (Bad Bunny); Renaissance (Beyoncé); Good Morning Gorgeous (Deluxe) (Mary J Blige); In These Silent Days (Brandi Carlile); Music of the Spheres (Coldplay); Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers (Kendrick Lamar); Special (Lizzo); Harry’s House (Harry Styles)
Our Take: This is the big one, and all the signs seem to point towards it being Beyoncé’s year. She’s already the most highly awarded artist in Grammy history with 28 wins, and her nine nominations in 2023 extend her lifetime total to a record-equalling 88 nominations. The other artist who shares that record? Her husband Jay-Z. Despite her success though, Beyoncé has never won an Album of the Year Grammy.
And though she’s odds-on favourite to win it this time around, the competition is fierce. She’s up against Adele, who has already won twice. The last time, even she seemed surprised that 25 won over Beyoncé’s Lemonade, paying homage to the former Destiny’s Child in her own acceptance speech. Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti has already made history by being the first non-English album nominated in the category, and with his dominance of both the charts and the touring box office, he definitely feels like a front-runner. A win for him would be historic in more ways than one. Kendrick Lamar and Harry Styles are also in the running with strong releases, but it seems almost inevitable that Beyoncé will walk away with the top honours. With a 100 percent increase of Black voting members in the Academy over the past four years, another snub for the Queen of contemporary pop music would not go down well.
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