63rd Annual Grammy Award Nominations
On Tuesday, 24 November, the nominations for the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards were announced. The Grammy Awards have an odd eligibility period, which tends to cause some confusion. Their year runs from 1 September to 30 August, meaning some of the nominees for the ceremony in 2021 came out in 2019.
The Grammys have continued the welcome new trend of including eight nominees in the General Field categories. These are the four categories that every potential nominee, regardless of genre, is eligible in: Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist. The nominees are whittled down to the 20 highest vote getters in each of those categories. Then, a smaller group of voters chooses the final eight nominees in each category.
Let’s start with the big controversy making the news right now. The Weekend, a popular nominee with 10 prior nominations and three wins, received zero nominations. It’s not uncommon for artists to miss out on Grammy nominations, but it is uncommon for someone with as big as song as “Blinding Lights” to just not be recognized. You could not escape that song this year thanks to a mix of radio play and a popular TikTok dance challenge. If I was a betting person, I would’ve put money on “Blinding Lights” appearing in Record of the Year. It is a shocking omission, one that has resulted in the Recording Academy president having to make an official statement.
The biggest issue with the Recording Academy is transparency. We don’t know how the final nominations are chosen in any General Field category. The idea of thousands of potential nominees being reduced down to a 20-wide pool for closer evaluation isn’t a bad idea. We just don’t know how those further evaluations are made. Even the Academy Awards release their terrible voting rules for niche categories like Original Song; what’s the Recording Academy’s excuse to hide it?
There is a lot to celebrate here. I’ll go through my favorite nominations now.
1: The Musical Theatre Album category is a global affair this year. Okay, so having West End and NYC shows nominated isn’t exactly trotting the globe, but it is a whole lot more inclusive than the category typically is. Two off-Broadway productions are up for the award: the critically acclaimed Little Shop of Horrors revival and Soft Power, an original off-Broadway play with music by David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori. Two West End shows also make the cut: the revised (see: heavily rewritten, workshopped, and reimagined) production of Amélie and the long-awaited stage debut of The Prince of Egypt. Rounding out the category are David Byrne’s American Utopia and Jagged Little Pill, a musical exploration and a traditional book musical, respectively, on Broadway. This is the kind of energy this category should always have as Broadway is not and should not be the final goal of musical theatre. I hope Soft Power takes it, though it’s going to be a battle between Jagged Little Pill and American Utopia.
2: Best New Artist. This category is more wide-reaching than ever this year and I love it. It’s hard to predict who will take it since the nominees are so different.
Phoebe Bridgers is an indie musician who had a big breakout year with her second album Punisher; her single “Garden Song” put her on the map and her feature on The 1975’s “Jesus Christ 2005 God Bless America” hit at the right time to build hype for the excellent Punisher.
Ingrid Andress is a new country musician on her debut album Lady Like; her debut single “More Hearts Than Mine” was a pretty big crossover hit for a debut artist, peaking at #30 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Doja Cat is an indie singer/rapper who brokeout this past year with hit singles “Bottom Bitch,” “Rules,” “Boss Ass Bitch,” and the inescapable “Say So;” she benefited from a massive crossover presence on TikTok and built her fanbase through excellent live sessions on Instagram.
KAYTRANADA is a DJ and producer who had nine of the 17 tracks on his second album Bubba chart on the US Dance/Electronic songs chart; it’s not common for a DJ/producer to be nominated here, so clearly his work impressed the right people at the Recording Academy.
Megan Thee Stallion is the most well-known nominee this year. The popular rapper had her breakout moment with “Hot Girl Summer” and topped the charts with two different versions of “Savage,” aka the rap song everyone wanted to be featured on a remix of. I genuinely think she’s going to take this category and she deserves to.
Noah Cyrus is a singer/songwriter who has done a wide variety of styles in her career so far; this is one of those slowburn nominations where an artist with a lot of potential becomes well known enough to be recognized here. The eligible album is The End of Everything featuring singles like “I Got So High I Saw Jesus” and “Young & Sad.”
Chika is the third female rapper featured in the category this year, and all three deserve the recognition. Chika released her debut studio album Industry Games this year and was featured on the new Stevie Wonder single “Can’t Put It In the Hands of Fate.”
D Smoke is the winner of the Netflix reality show Rhythm & Flow; he independently released his debut album Black Habits this year to critical acclaim and two Grammy nominations.
Like I said above, I think this is Megan Thee Stallion’s category to lose, though I will not be surprised if the crossover success of Doja Cat puts her over the top instead. Still, we love to see the category featuring so many talented rappers with very different styles.
Here’s a playlist featuring some the biggest singles from the nominees during the eligibility period.
3. Alternative Album. This is always one of my favorite categories. Alternative is my favorite contemporary genre and the Recording Academy did not hold back this year. Brittany Howard, the lead singer of Alabama Shakes, is in the mix after releasing her debut solo album. Fiona Apple is back and will hopefully win the category this year for her career-best Fetch the Bolt Cutters. Beck is also back in the mix after finally triumphing in the category a few years ago. Best New Artist nominee Phoebe Bridgers and psychedelic rock act Tame Impala round out the category. Any winner here would be a great winner and you should check out all of these amazing artists.
4. I’m just pointing out that my biggest musical inspiration, one of the most influential electronic/alternative musicians and inventors in contemporary music, Laurie Anderson is nominated for another award this year. Her work pops up every few years in a new category and this time around she’s up for Best New Age Album with Tenzin Choegyal and Jesse Paris Smith. Her last win was two years ago for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance. She pioneered the use of MIDI, cassette tape, and other electronic string instruments and effects in the 1980s and has always carved her own pathway to artistic success.
5. Beyoncé tops the list of nominees again, as she should. She is one of the best contemporary recording artists and will be remembered as one of the greatest. She received nine nominations this year:
Record of the Year “Black Parade”
Song of the Year “Black Parade”
Best R&B Performance “Black Parade”
Best R&B Song “Black Parade”
Record of the Year “Savage” (shared with Megan Thee Stallion)
Best Rap Performance “Savage” (shared with Megan Thee Stallion)
Best Rap Song “Savage” (shared with Megan Thee Stallion)
Best Music Video “Brown Skin Girl”
Best Music Film “Black Is King”
Like I said above, I’m not a betting man, but I do believe this is going to be a big night for Beyoncé and Megan Thee Stallion.
The full list of nominees is up at the Grammy Awards webpage.