The Grammy Good & The Grammy Good Lord!

So every year like clockwork, we get the annual Grammy nominations and they are a shitshow. But this year, there seems to be a little more evenness to the nods, despite the fact that there are some very noticeable snubs and surprises. Here’s my take on what Grammy got good and then what the Grammys got me thinking, Good Lord!

Grammy Good #1

Black Women Represent! At a time when the majority of black female artists are relegated to R&B/Rap categories, it was a welcome sight to see artists like SZA and Victoria Monet get so much love in the Top 4 general categories. Janelle Monae was an added surprise too, scoring her/their second Album Of The Year nod!

Grammy Good Lord #1

The Grammys continue to struggle to highlight talents who defy genres. The omission of RAYE in the best new artist category is honestly a major headscratcher. The artist has delivered an insane number of hits over the years and is a major songwriting talent. Her album My 21^st Century Blues is one of the best albums released this year yet I expected her snub in most categories EXCEPT Best New Artist – a category that awards long term critical darlings who wait a long time to finally get their industry due. A real disgrace omission here and a slap to independent artists everywhere.

Grammy Good #2

“Padam Padam” got a Grammy nod! A former #HitsOfTomorrow recommend, I’m very happy that the song which really didn’t go viral until after the song (and music video) released got its Grammy due in the new Best Pop Dance Recording. There’s really no competition here besides perhaps Calvin Harris & Ellie Goulding’s “Miracle.” Let’s see if they reward Kylie Minogue with her second win in a career that has spanned over four decades now!

Grammy Good Lord #2

How is it possible that there is no Pop duo or group actually in the running for the Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group. This category has become such an opportunistic category where one song by one artist with one collaborator gets recognition over actual bands – everyone from Jonas Brothers to BTS, ODESZA to veterans like Tears For Fears are all shut out over already multi-category nominated artists. It almost feels like a crime to be a pop group in this day and age as there is literally no category safe to get rewarded! Hey Grammys, create a collab performance category and leave Duo or Group for bands that actually produce more than one song together!

Grammy Good #3

#Barbielove! While I’m not the greatest fan of Dua Lipa’s “Dance The Night,” it was everywhere (and prominent in the film). Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For?” is the kind of showstopper we don’t expect to hear anymore in films. “Barbie World” while kind of meh as a song still had great bars from Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice. You know what this means? Aqua finally get a chance for a Grammy win for their iconic song (imagine them winning Best Rap Song!). Finally, “I’m Just Ken” even got a nod for Best Song Written for Visual Media. So despite all the Barbie love, you have to wonder then, why didn’t the album land an Album Of The Year nod? Every iconic movie soundtrack from Saturday Night Fever to The Bodyguard got nods, what gives here?

Grammy Good Lord #3

I love Jon Batiste. He’s a wonderful musician and I just knew he’d land big nods in the big 4 categories mainly because of his name and the prestige it carries (much like Brandi Carlile). World Music Radio is a solid album and the Album Of The Year is well deserved. But Song Of The Year for “Butterfly” and worse, Record of the Year for “Worship,” two songs literally no one has really heard?  Absolutely not! Batiste is a force but I fear the risk of him quickly becoming seen as an overinflated and over-awarded talent. You could make the same argument about Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo and Taylor Swift but they have the chart successes and fan followings alongside the critical acclaim to back up their nods (at least this year).

Grammy Good #4

Morgan Wallen shut out of the big categories. I’m happy when the Grammys snub someone everyone expected to be featured prominently in the nominations. Wallen did have the biggest single “Last Night” (which managed a single nod only for Best Country Song) and album this year One Thing At A Time, but it’s not particularly Grammy material. Sales alone shouldn’t dictate nominations but I think his snubs have a lot less to do with sales and more about the Academy’s thoughts on the artist. Country overall was screwed over this year on an another very strong year for the genre, but thankfully Wallen’s exclusion at least didn’t make the Grammys feel like a joke.

Grammy Good Lord #4

If “I Will Always Love You” can win Dolly Parton the Song Of The Year Grammy for Whitney Houston’s cover, I don’t see why “Fast Car” couldn’t score a Song Of The Year nod again. Tracy Chapman was a Grammy fave and Luke Combs’ very true-to-Chapman cover was a success story this year that even non-country fans could get behind. While Combs landed a Best Pop Solo Country Performance, Chapman got nothing. To see a country star take the song and bring it back to the mainstream, giving life to Chapman to a whole new generation, it was incredibly unfortunate that the song didn’t get a nod in Song or Record Of The Year. The song was previously nominated before but lost out in both categories then to “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” by Bobby McFerrin. A real shame.