The 58th Annual Grammy Awards will air Monday night—yep, Monday instead of the usual Sunday this year—on CBS. We’ll be posting all the results in real-time that night beginning at 8 p.m. EST, but in the meantime, we’re taking a look at the nominees in some of the major categories and offering predictions and proclamations on who will win, who should win and who got snubbed. This year promises to be particularly interesting, as the nominations in many categories are surprisingly not terrible. Of course, there are still a handful of head-scratchers. Check out our thoughts below, and be sure to check back on Monday night for live coverage of the ceremony.
Record of the Year
“Really Love,” D’Angelo and the Vanguard
“Uptown Funk,” Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars
“Thinking Out Loud,” Ed Sheeran
“Blank Space,” Taylor Swift
“Can’t Feel My Face,” The Weeknd
Who Will Win: Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars
Who Should Win: D’Angelo
Who Got Snubbed: Kendrick Lamar, “King Kunta”
There are some heavy-hitters in this category this year, and while Mark Ronson’s excellent collaboration with Bruno Mars is certainly deserving, having ascended to that rare “everyone with ears loves this song and will dance to it at weddings and bar mitzvahs for decades to come” plane, it’d be really nice to see D’Angelo get some Grammy love 15 years after he won for “Untitled (How Does It Feel)”. But an Ed Sheeran nod over the undeniable “King Kunta”? C’mon.
Album of the Year
Alabama Shakes, Sound & Color
Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp a Butterfly
Chris Stapleton, Traveller
Taylor Swift, 1989
The Weeknd, Beauty Behind the Madness
Who Will Win: Taylor Swift
Who Should Win: Kendrick Lamar
Who Got Snubbed: Father John Misty, I Love You, Honeybear
Another surprisingly stacked category here. While it’s great to see the likes of Chris Stapleton and Alabama Shakes nominated, this one has to go to Kendrick Lamar, whose To Pimp a Butterfly was not only entertaining but important. As Adrian Spinelli wrote in his review, “This is the product of a rapper who quickly rose to the upper echelon of hip hop and took a long hard look at the scope of the scene and more importantly, himself, before letting out a visceral, imaginative and musically ambitious production that demands your attention. TPAB further develops jazz fusion in hip hop with seasoned collaborators in Flying Lotus, Kamasi Washington, Thundercat, Robert Glasper, et al., producing a live sound that’s compositionally rich, instrumentally complex and flat-out interesting. Yet, the sceptre for all of TPAB’s energy is Lamar, who brings himself to his knees on deeply reflective jams like “King Kunta” and “How Much A Dollar Cost.” TPAB is a call-out of the hip-hop establishment, by perhaps its most self-aware figure, who has no trouble exploring his own vulnerability in order to paint an accurate picture of the harsh, dynamic and inspiring times we’re living in today.”
Song of the Year
“Alright,” Kendrick Duckworth, Kawan Prather, Mark Anthony Spears & Pharrell Williams, songwriters (Kendrick Lamar)
“Blank Space,” Max Martin, Shellback & Taylor Swift, songwriters (Taylor Swift)
“Girl Crush,” Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna & Liz Rose, songwriters (Little Big Town)
“See You Again,” Andrew Cedar, Justin Franks, Charles Puth & Cameron Thomaz, songwriters (Wiz Khalifa Featuring Charlie Puth)
“Thinking Out Loud,” Ed Sheeran & Amy Wadge, songwriters (Ed Sheeran)
Who Will Win: Kendrick Lamar
Who Should Win: Kendrick Lamar
Who Got Snubbed: Courtney Barnett, “Pedestrian At Best”
Grammy voters may use this category as a sort of Kendrick Lamar consolation prize to make up for a possible (unjust) Album of the Year loss. And there’s plenty about “Alright” to reward—it’s an anthem that speaks to the times, touching on subjects like police brutality and striking a chord with the Black Lives Matter movement. If the Academy doesn’t want to appear out-of-touch, this one seems like a lock, and rightfully so.
Best New Artist
Courtney Barnett
James Bay
Sam Hunt
Tori Kelly
Meghan Trainor
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
