File of the yr
The Beatles – Now and Then
Beyoncé – Texas Maintain ’Em
Sabrina Carpenter – Espresso
Charli xcx – 360
Billie Eilish – Birds of a Feather
Kendrick Lamar – Not Like Us
Chappell Roan – Good Luck, Babe!
Taylor Swift – Fortnight (ft Put up Malone)
For the reason that Grammys expanded their high class to eight (and briefly 10) nominations, there’s tended to be a little bit of filler – however not so this yr, the place little separates this impossible-to-call area of Recording Academy darlings. Lamar has 17 wins from 57 nominations, and whereas his Drake-destroying Not Like Us may appear too combative for the Academy, its big US cultural affect and jawdropping brio signifies that it is extremely a lot the report of the yr to many – and Drake is not any pal of the Grammys, having usually snubbed or criticised them. Fortnight is without doubt one of the extra muted singles by Swift (14 wins from 58 noms) and won’t minimize by, although the trade could need to reward her for the record-breaking Eras tour – however the power of the pure pop right here, cut up between her, Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan, Charli xcx and Billie Eilish (the latter one other Grammy fave with 9 wins from 32 noms) will imply that maybe none will triumph. Additonally, the Beatles have the slight benefit of being probably the most universally beloved band in historical past. However Beyoncé has extra Grammys than all of them and certainly anybody, and the hoe-down of Texas Maintain ’Em was such a daring flourish and massive hit that it’ll have Grammy voters – who worth craft and chops – admiring Beyoncé’s capability for making nation music her personal.
Will win Beyoncé
Ought to win Kendrick Lamar
Album of the yr
André 3000 – New Blue Solar
Beyoncé – Cowboy Carter
Sabrina Carpenter – Quick N’ Candy
Charli xcx – Brat
Jacob Collier – Djesse Vol 4
Billie Eilish – Hit Me Exhausting and Mushy
Chappell Roan – The Rise and Fall of a Midwestern Princess
Taylor Swift – The Tortured Poets Division
For a similar cause, I feel Beyoncé will triumph within the AOTY class. Significantly since she has by no means gained it, having misplaced to Swift, Beck, Adele and Harry Kinds in earlier years – a snub now seen as the good injustice of the Academy, and, to some, proof of racial bias: “AOTY, I ain’t win / I ain’t stuntin’ ’bout them / Take that shit on the chin / Come again and fuck up the pen,” as Beyoncé sings on album monitor Candy Honey Buckin’. Cowboy Carter isn’t probably the most well-loved of her albums, and but the boldness of its chaps-clad imaginative and prescient will impress the Academy. Brat is in fact solely the album title right here to move into the cultural lexicon – and to my thoughts, its emotional extremity makes it one of the best right here – however electro-pop like this has by no means executed nicely on this class. Extra more likely to trigger an upset is Roan, whose debut was equally sensational however whose mix of energy balladry and theatrical pop has a extra conventionally Academy-pleasing bent.
Will win Beyoncé
Ought to win Charli xcx
Track of the yr
Shaboozey – A Bar Track (Tipsy)
Billie Eilish – Birds of a Feather
Bruno Mars and Woman Gaga – Die With a Smile
Taylor Swift – Fortnight (ft Put up Malone)
Chappell Roan – Good Luck, Babe!
Kendrick Lamar – Not Like Us
Sabrina Carpenter – Please Please Please
Beyoncé – Texas Maintain ’Em
Enter two massive beasts in Bruno Mars and Woman Gaga, whose Die With a Smile reached 1bn streams on Spotify sooner than some other music in historical past – and 15-time winner Mars is adored by the Academy, with 24k Magic beating Kendrick Lamar’s masterpiece Rattling to AOTY in 2018. However it is a songwriting award, and Die With a Smile’s lyrics are actually hackneyed (“our love’s the one struggle value combating for”), notably compared with Roan’s story of suppressed lesbian want and Carpenter’s hilarious Please Please Please, through which she manages a wildcard lover with extra diplomacy than a UN particular envoy. Shaboozey’s A Bar Track (Tipsy) would possibly cut up the vote with Beyoncé’s equally minded music; Eilish gained final yr with Barbie ballad What Was I Made For? and Birds of a Feather was an excellent greater hit; you may by no means low cost Swift, both. But when we’re taking a look at lyrics, who wrote and delivered them higher than Lamar? Not Like Us – the one music right here with a single songwriter – is the diss monitor by which all others will now be judged.
Will win Kendrick Lamar
Ought to win Kendrick Lamar
Greatest new artist
Benson Boone
Sabrina Carpenter
Doechii
Khruangbin
Raye
Chappell Roan
Shaboozey
Teddy Swims
Greater stakes right here than lately: these are all correct mega-streaming pop stars, besides Khruangbin (who’re nonetheless an arena-playing band, although their inclusion right here a decade into their profession feels a bit random). It’s actually which ones feels probably the most mega of all: Shaboozey had the most important hit, but Sabrina Carpenter had extra of them. Chappell Roan’s drag-ball fantasias made her a mould-breaking new star, and but there’s a standard high quality to her songwriting that provides her cross-generational attraction. I feel there’s a small probability of an upset from Doechii, the sort of MC the Academy loves – puckish, very important, anti-mumbling – whose extensively beloved Tiny Desk live performance and late evening TV appearances have been completely timed for the December voting interval.
Will win Chappell Roan
Ought to win Chappell Roan
Greatest pop solo efficiency
Beyoncé – Bodyguard
Sabrina Carpenter – Espresso
Charli xcx – Apple
Billie Eilish – Birds of a Feather
Chappell Roan – Good Luck, Babe!
Given Brat’s success and Apple’s virality, you would possibly count on Charli xcx to stroll this in her catwalk-swaggering, spit-slurping method, however that is formidable firm. Right here’s one other class that Beyoncé has by no means gained, although Bodyguard doesn’t have the identical pop cultural clout as the remainder of these songs, whereas Eilish’s music is nice however not her most distinctive efficiency. So right here’s hoping one in all pop’s class of 2024 can internet it: Roan’s warbling on Good Luck, Babe! makes it probably the most showboating vocal, however my very own favorite efficiency is Carpenter on Espresso, purring with disdain and self-aware sensuality, as her languor paradoxically enhances the music’s groove.
Will win Chappell Roan
Ought to win Sabrina Carpenter
Greatest rock efficiency
The Beatles – Now and Then
The Black Keys – Lovely Folks (Keep Excessive)
Inexperienced Day – The American Dream Is Killing Me
Idles – Reward Horse
Pearl Jam – Darkish Matter
St Vincent – Damaged Man
The Beatles gathering across the piano, conjured by AI, was extremely poignant – and wish-fulfilment for a lot of members of the Academy. Their maximalist but light music can also be top-of-the-line on this crop, crammed out with bands of their consolation zone (Inexperienced Day, Idles) and a few completely nameless ballast from the Black Keys. St Vincent can be a worthy curveball winner, whose Damaged Man goes from 9 Inch Nails-ish prowl to fuzz-blues stomp, however one of the best – and probably the most purely rocking – is Pearl Jam’s Darkish Matter, a cool broadside towards demagogues with a touch of I Love Rock’n’Roll to its opening riff.
Will win The Beatles
Ought to win Pearl Jam
Greatest rap efficiency
Cardi B – Sufficient (Miami)
Frequent and Pete Rock – When the Solar Shines Once more (ft Posdnuos)
Doechii – Nissan Altima
Eminem – Houdini
Future and Metro Boomin – Like That (ft Kendrick Lamar)
GloRilla – Yeah Glo!
Kendrick Lamar – Not Like Us
Lamar absolutely has this sewn up, and but his presence on Like That – the monitor that kicked off your complete Drake imbroglio – will increase the probabilities of a cut up vote. Zipping up the within lane might be Doechii, whose Nissan Altima is 2 minutes of relentless laser-brained mic talent. Examine it with Eminem’s Houdini: additionally technically good, however lumbering and unfunny. There’s a sop to the previous heads with Frequent and Pete Rock, although their monitor is boringly cheery – a lot better are GloRilla and Cardi B, every effectively dismantling their respective antagonists (the latter’s characterisation of a sure piece of a rival’s anatomy as “regular-degular” can have you spitting out your drink).
Will win Kendrick Lamar
Ought to win Kendrick Lamar
Greatest nation solo efficiency
Beyoncé – 16 Carriages
Jelly Roll – I Am Not Okay
Kacey Musgraves – The Architect
Shaboozey – A Bar Track (Tipsy)
Chris Stapleton – It Takes a Girl
In a reasonably strait-laced class that has been gained by both Chris Stapleton or Willie Nelson in six of the final 9 years, the traditionalists can be compelled to department out a bit this yr. Sure, Stapleton is within the combine, however with a music from the identical album as final yr’s winner White Horse – and extra of a soul ballad at that. Musgraves’ music has a good-looking, traditional really feel and can attraction to any pop-averse voters delay by the remaining, together with Jelly Roll’s shiny pop-rock energy ballad. Beyoncé profitable a rustic class can be historic and there can be these egging her on – however Shaboozey will most likely triumph right here. Not only for the sheer pop cultural dominance of A Bar Track (Tipsy), however as a result of its third-beer buoyancy makes it an exquisite music.
Will win Shaboozey
Ought to win Shaboozey
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