As many people know, the Grammy Award is one of, if not the most, coveted music award that an artist can receive. The annual celebration of music and production happens every year, and gains worldwide eyes as one of the most watched events of the year. The 67th Annual Grammy Celebration will be hosted in Los Angeles, California, on February 2nd, 2025. That being said, the nominations happen in November. As of the time I am writing this, the official Grammy nominations are out. You may be wondering: How do songs even get nominated for Grammys? The answer to that question is simply, the Recording Academy.
The Recording Academy is a non-profit organization that “represents a diversity of music makers and professionals” (The Recording Academy). This select group of producers and Grammy winners themselves get together and decide on songs to nominate for each year’s Grammy Awards. The Recording Academy nominates a variety of songs, albums, even audiobooks to be celebrated, across all genres and recording styles. Also, the Academy selects songs to go against each other in different categories, such as Record of The Year, Song of the Year, and the highly sought after Album of the Year. This year is no different, with the most popular, best written, and composed works submitted across all categories. In this article, I will go over the five main categories to talk about, and also give my predictions of who will win, who I think deserves to win, and who was “snubbed” and not nominated for the category but should’ve been.
The first category is Record of the Year. For this category the following songs have been nominated:
- “Now and Then” – The Beatles
- “TEXAS HOLD ‘EM” – Beyoncé
- “Espresso” – Sabrina Carpenter
- “360” – Charli XCX
- “BIRDS OF A FEATHER” – Billie Eilish
- “Not Like Us” – Kendrick Lamar
- “Good Luck, Babe!” – Chappell Roan
- “Fortnight” – Taylor Swift Featuring Post Malone
These songs range from country to pop, to rap, and rock. I think that the Recording Academy did a great job selecting these songs because they definitely encapsulate 2024 so far. In my opinion, I think that “Good Luck, Babe!” by Chappell Roan deserves to win. You could not escape this song, especially this summer, whether on the radio or in shopping malls. Basically, everyone who calls themselves a music fan has this song memorized. Also, I think “360” by Charli XCX and “Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter deserve to win. Charli XCX had a huge summer, with her so-called “Brat Summer” and bratty persona taking center stage. However, I predict that either Sabrina Carpenter or Chappell Roan will take home the win.
The next main category that will be displayed at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards is Song of the Year. You also may be asking yourself: What even is the difference between SOTY and ROTY? Well, the difference is that Record of the Year (ROTY) celebrates mostly the recording artist and persona, while Song of the Year (SOTY) recognizes the songwriters and producers of the song. That being said, the nominations are as follows:
- “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” — Sean Cook, Jerrel Jones, Joe Kent, Chibueze Collins Obinna, Nevin Sastry & Mark Williams, songwriters (Shaboozey)
- “BIRDS OF A FEATHER” — Billie Eilish O’Connell & Finneas O’Connell, songwriters (Billie Eilish)
- “Die With A Smile” — Dernst Emile II, James Fauntleroy, Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars & Andrew Watt, songwriters (Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars)
- “Fortnight” — Jack Antonoff, Austin Post & Taylor Swift, songwriters (Taylor Swift Featuring Post Malone)
- “Good Luck, Babe!” — Kayleigh Rose Amstutz, Daniel Nigro & Justin Tranter, songwriters (Chappell Roan)
- “Not Like Us” — Kendrick Lamar, songwriter (Kendrick Lamar)
- “Please Please Please” — Amy Allen, Jack Antonoff & Sabrina Carpenter, songwriters (Sabrina Carpenter)
- “TEXAS HOLD ‘EM” — Brian Bates, Beyoncé, Elizabeth Lowell Boland, Megan Bülow, Nate Ferraro & Raphael Saadiq, songwriters (Beyoncé)
These songs are standouts for the year, and as you may notice, some songs are repeated from the last categories. That being said, I think that this award deserves to go to “Not Like Us” by Kendrick Lamar. The infamous “beef” between rappers Kendrick Lamar and Drake had a huge cultural impact on the world. This song, essentially “ending” the beef, was well written- and is being judged on exactly that. This would be Lamar’s 18th Grammy, and would be very well-received.
The next category is one of the more known categories, that every up-and-coming artist dreams to get. This award is none other than the highly anticipated Best New Artist. The nominees are as follows:
- Benson Boone
- Sabrina Carpenter
- Doechii
- Khruangbin
- Raye
- Chappell Roan
- Shaboozey
- Teddy Swims
First of all, every one of these artists have had great years–most notably Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan, and Benson Boone. There are also less known artists, like Doechii, who released a great album this year, called Alligator Bites Never Heal. I thought this album was very good, but Doechii—in my opinion—is still too small to win this award. That is why I think that Sabrina Carpenter is going to win. She had a resurface of her last album, with hits like “Nonsense” and “Feather,” and also her new album was very well received this year. I also think Chappell Roan has a shot at this award, but realistically Sabrina has more hits.
The 4th category nominated for the Grammys this year is known as Best Pop Solo Performance. The nominees are the following:
- “BODYGUARD” — Beyoncé
- “Espresso” — Sabrina Carpenter
- “Apple” — Charli XCX
- “BIRDS OF A FEATHER” — Billie Eilish
- “Good Luck, Babe!” — Chappell Roan
These are some of the most known names in the public sphere right now, and rightfully so. All of these artists deserve to be on this list, but I believe that “Bodyguard” by Beyoncé should win this category. This song surprised many people being on her country album, “Cowboy Carter.” However, I think that “BIRDS OF A FEATHER” will end up taking this win. The Grammys love Billie Eilish, with her winning nine Grammys by the age of 22. I think either win is well deserved, and I am excited to see if my predictions came true.
The final and most highly anticipated category on this list is the extremely coveted Album Of The Year. The following artists and the albums they created are all extremely well-made and produced, and all the artists have come super far on their journey to musical excellence. The nominations are as follows:
- “New Blue Sun” – Andre 3000
- “Cowboy Carter” – Beyoncé
- “Short n’ Sweet” – Sabrina Carpenter
- “BRAT” – Charli XCX
- “Djesse Vol. 4” – Jacob Collier
- “HIT ME HARD AND SOFT” – Billie Eilish
- “The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess” – Chappell Roan
- “THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT” – Taylor Swift
These albums have been crafted very well and serve as the top of the musical pyramid, being nominated for the highest music award in the game. Huge congratulations to everyone who made this list, and all the music producers and songwriters working in the background to allow these albums to be made. That being said, my personal preference of these albums is none other than “Cowboy Carter” by Beyoncé. I think that she deserves this Grammy win, especially after being snubbed at the 65th Grammys for Album of the Year, with RENAISSANCE not winning. This album redefined country music as a whole and reclaimed the sound for others to take inspiration from. Many people would say that if Beyoncé wins this category, it will be because of Jay-Z’s infamous outburst at last year’s Grammys, saying that Beyoncé was “robbed” and that “some [nominees] don’t belong in the category” (CNN). This event was very controversial, but I believe that if Beyoncé wins this award, it will be based on her album objectively, and not the media surrounding her as a person.
Overall, this year’s Grammys are set to be huge and tuned into by many listeners and music fans as a community. The Grammys celebrate music excellence, and the outstanding composition, producing, songwriting, recording, and performing of pieces of work in the public eye. I am super excited for this year’s Grammys and can not wait to see who wins each category. Once again, the Grammys are set to take place on Sunday, February 2nd at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California.
