The Grammy nominations are everyone’s favourite time of the year, where you can see fans of any artist have meltdowns on Twitter about their “fav” not being nominated for a specific category, or claim that once again the Grammys are biased or that the artist paid their way to the nomination. This, of course, is sprinkled with Twitter’s favourite pastime: hurling misogyny at any female artist—whether it’s about her looks, about her age, or to accuse her of only being successful because of popular collaborations. However, the only question I will bring to the table is this: Why were Ariana Grande’s Eternal Sunshine and its songs not nominated for any of the main categories? Especially after the long wait for this album to drop, and especially after Ariana’s controversy earlier this year about the whole debacle stemming from the cahoots with her current boyfriend Ethan Slater.
Being nominated for any of the big three of the Grammy awards—Best Record, Best Album, and Best Song—is an incredible achievement for any artist. Let alone winning one. This year finds itself with a very fierce competition for the main three awards between the powerhouses in the form of Charli XCX, Chappell Roan, and Sabrina Carpenter. Each of these artists had their massive breakthrough this year, with Charli XCX’s Brat being claimed as one of her best albums (which I personally disagree with as I maintain that Crash reigns supreme over her other albums). Brat has garnered her another surge of mainstream popularity, which she last saw when she released her songs “Boom Clap” and “Vroom Vroom”. Some of the most popular tracks from Brat include “360”, “365”, “Apple”, and “Guess” (both the original and the remix featuring Billie Eilish). Chappell Roan’s newest album, Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, has gained her the very first taste of mainstream popularity with songs that almost everyone has heard, specifically “Hot to Go!” and “Good Luck, Babe!”, which have had huge success for good reason! But one must not forget her other songs— such as “Pink Pony Club”, “Red Wine Supernova”, and “Casual”, to name just a few—all fully deserving of the hype they are getting. Finally, Sabrina Carpenter, who just like Charli XCX has been in the music industry for some time, has been steadily rising in popularity. Her previous album’s title song “Feather” spurred her increased recognition within the music field, but it’s her new “Espresso” that has truly catapulted her into superstardom, becoming a huge summer hit. This release was followed by a second single, “Please, Please, Please”, leading into the release of her summer album Short n’ Sweet. Its tracks “Taste” and “Juno” have given Carpenter even more hits under her belt, of which the public could not get enough!
So to say that this year’s main categories will be a battle between these big three artists is basically certain. Other artists who are returning into the fray include Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, and Billie Eilish.
Record of the Year will come down to an intense battle between some of the year’s most popular songs: Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso”, Chappel Roan’s “Good Luck, Babe!”, Charli XCX’s “360”, Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ’Em”, Billie Eilish’s “Birds of a Feather”, Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us”, Taylor Swift’s “Fortnight” with Post Malone, and—somehow resurrecting from the dead—The Beatles’ “Now and Then”. This year’s competition will be a bloodfest for those who want to win this award, which I personally want to see go to either Roan or Carpenter, as you just cannot deny the impact of both “Good Luck, Babe!” and “Espresso”. Charli’s “360” and Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ’Em” are also picks that I personally would be happy to see win—so long as Taylor Swift doesn’t.
Just like with Record of the Year, the Album category finds itself with tough competition on all sides: Beyoncé with Cowboy Carter, Sabrina Carpenter with Short n’ Sweet, Charli XCX with Brat, Chappel Roan with Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, Billie Eilish with Hit Me Hard and Soft, and Taylor Swift with The Tortured Poets Department. They find themselves in another big category alongside André 3000 with New Blue Sun and Jacob Collier with Djesse Vol. 4. Frankly, I have little to say about this award, other than that I expect it will be a close competition between Charli XCX, Sabrina Carpenter, and Chappell Roan due to the sheer number of songs from each of their respective albums that have been incredibly popular. Many of these tracks even rival their albums’ title tracks. I am once again praying that the award does not go to Swift, who, frankly, does not deserve to win, as her album failed to make even half the noise of her previous releases.
Finally, the last of the main category awards: Song of the Year. To no surprise, just like in the previous categories, we see the same faces: Billie Eilish’s “Bird of a Feather”, Taylor Swift’s “Fortnight”, Sabrina Carpenter’s “Please, Please, Please”, Chappel Roan’s “Good Luck, Babe!”, Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ’Em”, and Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us”. However, this time there is no Charli XCX and there are two new faces in the fray: “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” by Shaboozey and “Die With A Smile” by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars. My personal favourites from this category (to no one’s shock) are Carpenter and Roan, both of whom equally deserve to win, as these songs are straight-up some of the best work of their entire discographies. Surprisingly, Charli XCX’s “360” or other Brat songs were not nominated for this award, which does raise some questions about the criteria needed to be nominated for these categories.