On Jan. 28, the Grammy Awards will celebrate its 60th annual presentation of what they call “Music’s Biggest Night.” This year’s batch of nominees saw a surprising and welcome surge in hip-hop and R&B artists in major categories, but only time will tell which musicians will walk away with awards. Jay-Z leads the pack with eight nominations, followed by Kendrick Lamar’s seven nods, then Bruno Mars’ six. All three are also up for the coveted Album of the Year award. Competition is tight across multiple awards and the Grammys are no stranger to polarizing wins, as both critical darlings and chart-toppers are pitted against one another. Just last year, Adele’s 25 won Album of the Year but she said, “I can’t possibly accept this award...my artist of my life is Beyoncé,” referring to her fellow nominee’s “monumental, soul-baring, and beautiful” Lemonade. In past years, I begrudgingly watched the ceremony, and thought that the Grammys was the music industry’s biggest night rather than music as a whole, but I have never been more surprised and impressed by the nominees, which only makes picking winners that much harder.
Nowhere is this struggle more evident than in the Album of the Year nominees. Bruno Mars’ 24K Magic has arguably the most starpower; his accessible and driving pop tunes have made him popular and noticeably uncontroversial, as shown by the album’s 2x Platinum status on the charts. 24K Magic’s throwback R&B focus is consistent, but Mars’ pursuit of this aesthetic has made his lyrics feel less personal compared to previous efforts. On top of all of this, the album only has a 70 on Metacritic, the lowest score in the Album of the Year category.
Meanwhile, Childish Gambino surprised the world with a throwback sound of his own: the funky psychedelia of Awaken, My Love! only has Gold certification in sales and a 77 on Metacritic, but the Grammys love bold statements like Donald Glover’s album. Glover himself has boosted his overall image with his success onscreen in the upcoming “Solo: A Star Wars Story” and “Atlanta.”
Lorde, the only woman nominated for Album of the Year, holds down a powerful 91 on Metacritic and was definitely loved by the public and critics alike in Melodrama. Her balance of vulnerability and empowerment is a force to be reckoned with. She continues to gain steam with a world tour in progress and multiple music outlets ranking it among the best of the year. While she holds no other nominations, I wouldn’t count Lorde out of the race.
Jay-Z, the oldest nominee in this category, meditates upon his entire career in 4:44. After robbing Beyoncé last year, the Grammys could give one of their top prizes to her husband as a gesture of redemption to her and black music at large, since hip-hop has only won this category twice before. At the same time, Jay-Z’s sincerity and honesty across the whole album is a stark contrast to his past, and he pulled off this transformation very well. With an 82 on Metacritic, Platinum certification and a plethora of other nominations, 4:44’s momentum is undeniable.
Who is in Jay-Z’s way for Album of the Year? None other than Kendrick Lamar, whose bold and relentless collection of songs on DAMN. make it my pick to win Album of the Year. The third biggest album of 2017 (behind Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift’s releases, respectively) and boasting a whopping 95 on Metacritic, DAMN. has remarkably high levels of both popularity and public adoration. Lamar has been denied this prize for his past two studio albums, so the Grammys have arguably the same level of incentive to reward him as they do with Jay-Z. These factors make DAMN. an easy choice, but its aggressiveness could hold it back if voters choose the less controversial likeability of Bruno Mars or Lorde, the legendary status of Jay-Z or the throwback transformation of Childish Gambino.
Record of the Year focuses on the vocal and productional qualities of a song, and the two that have the biggest chance are Childish Gambino’s “Redbone” and the behemoth that is Luis Fonsi’s “Despacito.” The cleanliness of each song’s production makes these two songs the shiniest options. Though they both are pop in nature, they are very different from their competition: “Redbone” is straight out of the 1970s and “Despacito” is in Spanish. Past winners follow this pattern, like Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky,” Amy Winehouse’s “Rehab,” and last year’s “Hello” by Adele. Both songs obviously have resonated with listeners and have great starpower, as well; the former reached meme status last year and the latter has over 992 million plays on Spotify alone. This category has leaned toward pop music for its winners, so despite Jay-Z and Kendrick Lamar’s nominations, I don’t see it going to either of them. This puts Bruno Mars’ “24K Magic” on a steady middle ground in the male-dominated category.
Song of the Year, in contrast, emphasizes the lyricism of its nominees. Between the dark “1-800-273-8255” by Logic, Alessia Cara and Khalid, the optimistic “Issues” by Julia Michaels, the blunt honesty of “4:44” by Jay-Z, the aforementioned shine and precision of “Despacito” and Bruno Mars’ “That’s What I Like,” I have Logic and Cara or Jay-Z taking this award home. Despite probably being the least-played nominee, “4:44” is brutally truthful and heartfelt, and “1-800-273-8255” is similarly hard-hitting with its focus on suicide.
Best New Artist is historically the most problematic of the four General Field awards. Past nominees include Kendrick Lamar and Frank Ocean… but also The Chainsmokers. Past winners are Chance the Rapper and Bon Iver… oh, and don’t forget Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. For me, this award is SZA’s after she released the critically acclaimed Ctrl. I wouldn’t be surprised if this went to Khalid, but I’d be disappointed if Alessia Cara, Julia Michaels, or Lil Uzi Vert took the Grammy home. Radio plays aren’t everything and they shouldn’t be the determining factor for this award, but if Maroon 5 can beat Kanye West, anything can happen.
Best Alternative Album pits Father John Misty, LCD Soundsystem, Arcade Fire, Gorillaz and The National against each other, and I’m predicting Father John Misty will be the victor; Pure Comedy has the most ambition and the largest scale, with long songs about technology, the human connection and fame. The true separating factor of Misty’s album is that it fulfills its ambition better than Grammy veteran Arcade Fire. Best Urban Contemporary Album finds Childish Gambino alongside Khalid and SZA with The Weeknd and 6lack joining the party. With an Album of the Year nomination, Gambino should have this easily. Best Rap Album has the strongest nominee list in years, with no sales-driven, low-quality album to drag the genre down (I’m looking at you, Iggy Azalea). It’s very satisfying to see first-time nominees Tyler, the Creator, Rapsody and Migos in the same category as Kendrick Lamar and Jay-Z, but it’s Jay and Lamar’s race. Either pick would be a quality win for the genre.
Out of all the awards shows that happen in the opening months of the year, the Grammys have always been the most polarizing in picking the musicians whose art truly deserves the title of “best.” Every year since 2013, I have told myself to give the Grammys a chance, and every year I have been disappointed one way or another. DAMN. still stands as my favorite album this past year and the most qualified nominee in nearly all of its categories, but it certainly is nice that its competition is high quality. This year’s consistently strong nominees in numerous categories give me hope that the Grammys will pick what is truly the best, but we’ll see who exactly gets the gold on Jan. 28.
