The perpetual fascination with the GRAMMYs, a perennial topic of discussion, often takes center stage on social media. Fans, known for their unabashed critiques or enthusiastic support, eagerly await the outcome of a process that has been a source of both celebration and controversy. The paradoxical nature of the GRAMMY Awards is palpable — a spectacle of recognition and prestige that simultaneously manages to disappoint.
Danny Vesper wrote in an editorial about his distaste for the GRAMMY awards, and said in 2015, "If the GRAMMYs are to be believed, a white artist has made the best hip-hop record 40% of the time in the past two decades. Wow. Is there anyone in the world who believes that to be reality? Does 'The Academy' even believe that?” Finally this year the Best Rap Album category is full of African-American people, but in years past, it was completely white-washed, along with other categories.
And it still kind of is. Best New Artist is half white and black, but what about artists like Sexyy Red and PinkPantheress, who had a career-defining year? Women are coming out on top now though than they had before, taking up the majority of the nominations in the significant categories this year. This is huge for an award show that has snubbed women in the past, especially women hosts. Also, remember when the GRAMMYs CEO Neil Portnow famously said in 2017 that women "[need to] step up"? Yeah, that was quite a shocker.
But it should be said that women being nominated might be disingenuous as for many years women continuously were snubbed of spots, but now men are rarely to be seen. The balance is off because many men had a good year, like Drake, for example, who could have made the Album of the Year slot.
There were a lot of good and surprising nominations on the list. Finally, SZA got what she deserved and was nominated for nine this year, and hopefully won't be snubbed like how Ariana Grande was snubbed out of one a few years ago. That's another thing too about the GRAMMYs, they love to snub people.
Going back to Ariana Grande, the 2022 GRAMMYs asked her to come and perform, dangling the carrot of a win in front of her face for her dynamic record positions. Once the performance was over and they got their views, they took it back and let her sit there and win zero that year. How pathetic.
Another pathetic snub was when Mac Miller was nominated posthumously for his record Swimming in the Best Rap Album category, with the GRAMMYs even inviting his family to come, but gave the award to Cardi B. It was historic that Cardi won, and the circumstances surrounding her win were out of her control, but it still was cringe to see. She did end up dedicating the award to him, which was very touching.
This year I think SZA will come out on top with the most wins, deservingly. Billie Eilish will probably be a close second because she has been nominated in several categories and had one of the most tear-jerking tracks I've ever heard. I was very excited to see that boygenius had several nominations, including Record of the Year.
Taylor Swift was also nominated in several categories, which might cause boygenius or SZA to lose because Midnights had such a hold over everyone when it came out. I hope Lana Del Rey wins one because her new record was incredibly written and her vocals are some of the most unique and beautiful sounding ones I've heard in a long time.
I was also very surprised to see Troye Sivan nominated for a couple of GRAMMYs too because he is the last person I would expect to see there. I remember when his first record came out and how much that changed my life, and seeing him now finally be recognized warms my heart.
Overall the GRAMMY nominations this year have some pretty strong musicians and some surprises. It should be noted how unfair they are though, like any award show, with a strong history of being unfavorable towards minorities and women. Before watching, just know what you want to support and don't, and maybe support journalists live reporting the wins instead of the show!