2021 Grammy Nominations…Huh?
It’s that time of year — the biggest event in music has just announced their nominees. Since these are getting a lot of attention (and scrutiny), we thought we’d offer a recap and our predictions for an award show that has already proven to be unpredictable. Here’s a look at the big four categories.
Let’s begin with the biggest surprise/atrocity: The Weeknd’s egregious snubs. He received a whopping 0 nominations this year, despite having THE biggest song of the year and a juggernaut album. The general public was shocked, and so was The Weeknd. He released a statement on Twitter, saying “The Grammys remain corrupt. You owe me, my fans and the industry transparency…” To this, Grammys Chief Harvey Mason Jr. replied, “We understand that The Weeknd is disappointed at not being nominated. I was surprised and can empathize with what he’s feeling. His music this year was excellent, and his contributions to the music community and broader world are worthy of everyone’s admiration.”
This feels like a whole lot of nothing, but I suppose he’s saying that he simply didn’t get enough votes. However, we still think something shady transpired. On another note, Justin Bieber received 4 nominations, including one for Yummy. Arguably, this is where the real corruption lies. “Yeah, you got that yummy-yum” was nominated over Blinding Lights?
Now that that’s out of the way, let’s go over the general field categories. In Record of the Year, we have Black Parade by Beyoncé, Colors by Black Pumas, Rockstar by DaBaby featuring Roddy Ricch, Say So by Doja Cat, everything i wanted by Billie Eilish, Don’t Start Now by Dua Lipa, Circles by Post Malone and Savage (Remix) by Megan thee Stallion featuring Beyoncé. Now, we enjoy all these songs, but are surprised to see Billie here given her sweep last year. The Box is missing as well, but other than that, it’s a pretty stacked category. We predict that Don’t Start Now takes this, not only because it’s the best track here, but also based on Dua’s popularity in other categories. We’d also like to see Savage win.
Next up is Album of the Year. We have Chilombo by Jhené Aiko, Black Pumas (Deluxe Edition) by Black Pumas, Everyday Life by Coldplay, Djesse Vol. 3, Women in Music Pt. III by HAIM, Future Nostalgia by Dua Lipa, Hollywood’s Bleeding by Post Malone and folklore by Taylor Swift. This is a strange list, with more obscure but generally well-received albums. Frankly, we have no idea why Coldplay is here with an album that made no noise whatsoever. This is entirely between Dua and Taylor, and we’d love to see either win. Despite his success, Post Malone is likely a non-contender given that his album is a bit older. Sidenote: Fiona Apple and Phoebe Bridgers absolutely belong here.
Song of the Year time. This one awards songwriting rather than production, which is more ROTY. The nominees are Black Parade, Don’t Start Now, Circles, everything i wanted, The Box by Roddy Ricch, cardigan by Taylor Swift, I Can’t Breathe by H.E.R. and If the World was Ending by JP Saxe Featuring Julia Michaels. This is a strong list of nominees and well-written songs! We’d like to see cardigan take it, Taylor is a bit overdue for a SOTY win. Additionally, I Can’t Breathe and everything i wanted are lyrically fantastic.
Finally, we have Best New Artist. Here we have Ingrid Andress, Phoebe Bridgers, Chika (!), Noah Cyrus, D Smoke, Doja Cat, Megan thee Stallion. As always with BNA, we have a couple artists who are certainly not new, like Noah Cyrus. We’re huge Phoebe fans, but this award is Megan’s to lose. Doja Cat is also a threat, but her past controversy might hinder her.
These nominations were … strange, and the ceremony will likely be even moreso. As always, there were good surprises and bad, but we love any excuse to talk about the year’s music.
C + L