UNHNGD’s Guide to the Grammys
Ah, the Grammys. The Super Bowl of music, if you will. This year’s awards are dominated by Jon Batiste (with a whopping 11 nominations), Olivia Rodrigo, Billie Eilish, H.E.R., and Justin Bieber. The ceremony is set to take place on April 3rd at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, hosted by comedian Trevor Noah. The first round of performances were announced yesterday, with BTS, Brandi Carlile, Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo, Jack Harlow, Lil Nas X, and Brothers Osborne on the docket.
Below are the Big Four- Record of the Year (the artists’ award), Album of the Year (recognizing the artists and contributors to an album), Song of the Year (the songwriters’ award), and Best New Artist. These are the big boys, arguably the most prestigious awards in the music industry. The Grammy Awards ceremony does not traditionally announce every award, usually omitting more niche categories like Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album and Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song from the main broadcast. So I’ve thrown together a list of more notable categories, which will likely be aired alongside the Big Four, and some honorable mentions.
There are some incredible performers nominated this year, and each one deserves recognition for their talent. Personally, I’m rooting for Olivia Rodrigo. She topped the charts with nearly every song off her album, Sour, and showed the industry how social media (mainly TikTok) is changing the music landscape with her smash hit “drivers license.”
The complete list can be found here. Feel free to share your predictions in the comments and on Instagram.
Album of the Year
We Are, Jon Batiste
Love For Sale, Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga
Justice (Triple Chucks Deluxe), Justin Bieber
Planet Her (Deluxe), Doja Cat
Happier Than Ever, Billie Eilish
Back Of Her Mind, H.E.R.
Montero, Lil Nas X
Sour, Olivia Rodrigo
Evermore, Taylor Swift
Donda, Kanye West
Record of the Year
Leave The Door Open, Silk Sonic
I Still Have Faith In You, Abba
Freedom, Jon Batiste
I Get A Kick Out Of You, Tony Bennet and Lady Gaga
Peaches, Justin Bieber feat. Daniel Caesar and Giveon
Right on Time, Brandi Carlile
Kiss Me More, Doja Cat feat. SZA
Happier Than Ever, Billie Eilish
Montero (Call Me By Your Name), Lil Nas X
drivers license, Olivia Rodrigo
Best New Artist
Arooj Aftab
Jimmie Allen
Baby Keem
FINNEAS
Glass Animals
Japanese Breakfast
The Kid LAROI
Arlo Parks
Olivia Rodrigo
Saweetie
Song of the Year
Bad Habits, Fred Gibson, Johnny McDaid & Ed Sheeran (Ed Sheeran)
A Beautiful Noise, Ruby Amanfu, Brandi Carlile, Brandy Clark, Alicia Keys, Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna, Linda Perry & Hailey Whitters (Alicia Keys & Brandi Carlile)
drivers license, Daniel Nigro & Olivia Rodrigo (Olivia Rodrigo)
Fight For You, Dernst Emile II, H.E.R. & Tiara Thomas (H.E.R.)
Happier Than Ever, Billie Eilish O'Connell & Finneas O'Connell (Billie Eilish)
Kiss Me More, Rogét Chahayed, Amala Zandile Dlamini, Lukasz Gottwald, Carter Lang, Gerard A. Powell II, Solána Rowe & David Sprecher (Doja Cat Featuring SZA)
Leave The Door Open, Brandon Anderson, Christopher Brody Brown, Dernst Emile II & Bruno Mars (Silk Sonic)
Montero (Call Me By Your Name), Denzel Baptiste, David Biral, Omer Fedi, Montero Hill & Roy Lenzo (Lil Nas X)
Peaches, Louis Bell, Justin Bieber, Giveon Dezmann Evans, Bernard Harvey, Felisha "Fury" King, Matthew Sean Leon, Luis Manuel Martinez Jr., Aaron Simmonds, Ashton Simmonds, Andrew Wotman & Keavan Yazdani (Justin Bieber Featuring Daniel Caesar & Giveon)
Right On Time, Brandi Carlile, Dave Cobb, Phil Hanseroth & Tim Hanseroth (Brandi Carlile)
Best Pop Vocal Album
Justice (Triple Chucks Deluxe), Justin Bieber
Planet Her (Deluxe), Doja Cat
Happier Than Ever, Billie Eilish
Positions, Ariana Grande
Sour, Olivia Rodrigo
Best Melodic Rap Performance
P R I D E. I S. T H E. D E V I L., J. Cole feat. Lil Baby
Need To Know, Doja Cat
Industry Baby, Lil Has X feat. Jack Harlow
Wusyaname, Tyler, The Creator feat The Weeknd & Lil Baby
Hurricane, Kanye West feat. The Weeknd & Lil Baby
Best Country Album
Skeletons, Brothers Osborne
Remember Her Name, Mickey Guyton
The Marfa Tapes, Miranda Lambert, Jon Randall & Jack Ingram
The Ballad of Dood & Juanita, Sturgill Simpson
Starting Over, Chris Stapleton
Best Latin Pop Album
Vértigo, Pablo Alborán
Mis Amores, Paula Arenas
Hecho A La Antigua, Ricardo Arjona
Mis Manos, Camilo
Mendó, Alex Cuba
Revelación, Selena Gomez
Best Pop Solo Performance
Anyone, Justine Bieber
Right On Time, Brandi Carlile
Happier Than Ever, Billie Eilish
Positions, Ariana Grande
drivers license, Olivia Rodrigo
Best R&B Performance
Lost You, Snoh Aalegra
Peaches, Justin Bieber feat. Daniel Caesar & Giveon
Damage, H.E.R.
Leave The Door Open, Silk Sonic
Pick Up Your Feelings, Jazmine Sullivan
Best Rap Song (Songwriters’ award)
“Bath Salts”, Shawn Carter, Kasseem Dean, Michael Forno, Nasir Jones & Earl Simmons, songwriters (DMX Featuring Jay-Z & Nas)
“Best Friend”, Amala Zandelie Dlamini, Lukasz Gottwald, Randall Avery Hammers, Diamonté Harper, Asia Smith, Theron Thomas & Rocco Valdes, songwriters (Saweetie Featuring Doja Cat)
“Family Ties”, Roshwita Larisha Bacha, Hykeem Carter, Tobias Dekker, Colin Franken, Jasper Harris, Kendrick Lamar, Ronald Latour & Dominik Patrzek, songwriters (Baby Keem Featuring Kendrick Lamar)
“Jail”, Dwayne Abernathy, Jr., Shawn Carter, Raul Cubina, Michael Dean, Charles M. Njapa, Sean Solymar, Kanye West & Mark Williams, songwriters (Kanye West Featuring Jay-Z)
“M Y . L I F E”, Shéyaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, Jermaine Cole & Jacob Dutton, songwriters (J. Cole Featuring 21 Savage & Morray)
Honorable Mentions:
Bo Burnham’s “All Eyes On Me” is nominated for Best Song Written for Visual Media (WON)
Harry Styles’ album Fine Line is nominated for Best Immersive Audio Album, crediting Greg Penny as the immersive mix engineer, immersive mastering engineer, and immersive producer (LOST)
K-pop mega-stars BTS are nominated for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for their song “Butter” (LOST)