It seems like only yesterday Sam Smith racked in every award and Kanye couldn’t let a guy have just one. Alas, a year has passed since those sweet moments, and the nominations for the 2016 Grammy Awards have been announced. (And no, people, of course Adele isn’t nominated – her album came out like only four hours ago.)
With nominations public knowledge, tons of questions are searing the brains of the music world. Will 1989 soar in 2016? Will Josh Groban finally get the credit he deserves? Will Pharrell make another world-shattering fashion statement?
Instead of doing actual “predictions” to win like I did for the AMAs, this time ‘round I’ll stick to picking my favorites in each category. I’m not doing this because I don’t like to be wrong – even though I don’t – but because the Grammy committee is ridiculously difficult to predict on a good year, nonetheless on a year with countless good nominees. I also condensed my picks to 27 of the 83 categories because, let’s be real – there are just too damn many.
1. 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
What can I say – it’s the only song on the list I’m not sick of. (If “Style” were nominated, though, it’d be a sure-fire win.)
2. Album of the Year
- Sound & Color, Alabama Shakes
- To Pimp a Butterfly, Kendrick Lamar
- Traveller, Chris Stapleton
- *1989, Taylor Swift*
- Beauty Behind The Madness, The Weeknd
While The Weeknd can boast major success this year, I don’t think anyone will be able to take this award away from Ms. Swift.
3. Song of the Year
- “Alright” – Kendrick Duckworth, Mark Anthony Spears & Pharrell Williams, songwriters (Kendrick Lamar)
- “Blank Space” – Max Martin, Shellback & Taylor Swift, songwriters (Taylor Swift)
- “Girl Crush” – Hilary 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 (Ed Sheeran)
The success of Furious 7 and everything that went along with it is likely to make this tune the victor. (Anyone else shed a few tears during that ending scene?)
4. Best New Artist
- Courtney Barnett
- *James Bay*
- Sam Hunt
- Tori Kelly
- Meghan Trainor
Not sure who Courtney is, Sam’s not that great, and Meghan’s just… Meghan. While Tori is an amazing vocalist, I have to give it to the man with the most soul, James Bae Bay.
5. Best Pop Solo Performance
- “Heartbeat Song” – Kelly Clarkson (Piece By Piece)
- “Love Me Like You Do” – Ellie Goulding (Fifty Shades of Grey [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack])
- *“Thinking Out Loud” – Ed Sheeran (X)*
- “Blank Space” – Taylor Swift (1989)
- “Can’t Feel My Face” – The Weeknd (Beauty Behind The Madness)
Kudos to my girl Kelly for being nominated, but the award has to go to Ed Sheeran. Why doesn’t this guy have a Grammy yet?!
6. Best Pop Duo/Group Performance
- “Ship To Wreck” – Florence + The Machine (How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful)
- “Sugar” – Maroon 5 (V)
- *“UpTown Funk!” – Mark Ronson Featuring Bruno Mars (Uptown Special)*
- “Bad Blood” – Taylor Swift Featuring Kendrick Lamar
- “See You Again” – Wiz Khalifa Featuring Charlie Puth (Furious 7: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
As long as “Bad Blood” doesn’t win, I’ll be happy.
7. Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album
- The Silver Lining: The Songs of Jerome Kern, Tony Bennett & Bill Charlap
- Shadows In The Night, Bob Dylan
- *Stages, Josh Groban*
- No One Ever Tells You, Seth MacFarlane
- My Dream Duets, Barry Manilow (and Various Artists)
Don’t settle for less than you deserve, Josh Groban.
8. Best Pop Vocal Album
- Piece By Piece, Kelly Clarkson
- How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful, Florence + The Machine
- UpTown Special, Mark Ronson
- *1989, Taylor Swift*
- Before This World, James Taylor
It’s a really good album – what can you do.
9. Best Dance Recording
- “We’re All We Need” – Above & Beyond Featuring Zoë Johnston
- “Go” – The Chemical Brothers Featuring Q-Tip
- “Never Catch Me” – Flying Lotus Featuring Kendrick Lamar
- “Runaway (U & I)” – Galantis
- *“Where Are Ü Now” – Skrillex & Diplo with Justin Bieber*
If anyone else wins, I hope the cameras get a good shot of Justin’s tears.
10. Best Dance/Electronic Album
- Our Love, Caribou
- Born In The Echoes, The Chemical Brothers
- Caracal, Disclosure
- In Colour, Jamie XX
- *Skrillex And Diplo Present Jack Ü, Skrillex and Diplo*
Disclosure is a close second.
11. Best Rock Performance
- “Don’t Wanna Fight” – Alabama Shakes
- *“What Kind Of Man” – Florence + The Machine (How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful)*
- “Something From Nothing” – Foo Fighters (Sonic Highways)
- “Ex’s & Oh’s” – Elle King (Love Stuff)
- “Moaning Lisa Smile” – Wolf Alice (My Love Is Cool)
The song is great, and music snobs love Florence so she should have good odds to win.
12. Best Rock Song
- “Don’t Wanna Fight” – Alabama Shakes, songwriters (Alabama Shakes)
- “Ex’s & Oh’s” – Dave Bassett & Elle King, songwriters (Elle King)
- *“Hold Back The River” – Iain Archer & James Bay, songwriters (James Bay)*
- “Lydia” – Richard Meyer, Ryan Meyer & Johnny Stevens, songwriters (Highly Suspect)
- “What Kind Of Man” – John Hill, Tom Hull & Florence Welch, songwriters (Florence + The Machine)
On the other hand, I don’t think the odds are ever in Florence’s favor for this category.
13. Best Rock Album
- *Chaos And The Calm, James Bay*
- Kintsugi, Death Cab For Cutie
- Mister Asylum, Highly Suspect
- Drones, Muse
- .5: The Gray Chapter, Slipknot
Do you see a pattern here?
14. Best Alternative Music Album
- *Sound & Color, Alabama Shakes*
- Vulnicura, Björk
- The Waterfall, My Morning Jacket
- Currents, Tame Impala
- Star Wars, Wilco
Not sure how Alabama Shakes were nominated in all rock categories, and yet their album is in under Alternative Music. C’est la vie with the Grammys, I suppose.
15. Best R&B Performance
- “If I Don’t Have You” – Tamar Braxton (Calling All Lovers)
- “Rise Up” – Andra Day (Cheers To The Fall)
- “Breathing Underwater” – Hiatus Kaiyote (Choose Your Weapon)
- “Planes” – Jeremih Featuring J. Cole
- *“Earned It (Fifty Shades of Grey)” – The Weeknd (Fifty Shades of Grey [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack])*
Fifty Shades of Grey did three things right: “Love Me Like You Do,” “Earned It,” and – oh dang, I forgot the last one.
16. Best Contemporary Urban Album
- Ego Death, The Internet
- You Should Be Here, Kehlani
- Blood, Lianne La Havas
- Wildheart, Miguel
- *Beauty Behind The Madness, The Weeknd*
Do I really need to explain?
17. Best Rap Performance
- “Apparently” – J. Cole (2014 Forest Hills Drive)
- “Back To Back” – Drake
- *“Trap Queen” – Fetty Wap (Fetty Wap)*
- “Alright” – Kendrick Lamar (To Pimp A Butterfly)
- “Truffle Butter” – Nicki Minaj Featuring Drake & Lil Wayne (The Pinkprint)
- “All Day” – Kanye West Featuring Theophilus London, Allan Kingdom & Paul McCartney
Weird as it may seem, I think 2016 may be Fetty’s (second) lucky year.
18. Best Rap/Sung Collaboration
- “One Man Can Change The World” – Big Sean Featuring Kanye West & John Legend
- *“Glory” – Common & John Legend*
- “Classic Man” – Jidenna Featuring Roman GianArthur
- “These Walls” – Kendrick Lamar Featuring Bilal, Anna Wise & Thundercat
- “Only” – Nicki Minaj Featuring Drake, Lil Wayne & Chris Brown
A song about racism and oppression with John Legend’s sweet, sweet vocals on the hook – how could it not win?
19. Best Rap Song
- “All Day” – Too many damn songwriters (Kanye West Featuring Theophilus London, Allan Kingdom & Paul McCartney)
- “Alright” – Kendrick Duckworth, Mark Anthony Spears & Pharrell Williams, songwriters (Kendrick Lamar)
- “Energy” – Richard Dorfmeister, A. Graham, Markus Kienzl, M. O’Brien, M. Samuels & Phillip Thomas, songwriters (Drake)
- *“Glory” – Lonnie Lynn, Che Smith & John Stephens, songwriters (Common & John Legend)*
- “Trap Queen” – Tony Fadd & Willie J. Maxwell, songwriters (Fetty Wap)
See No. 18.
20. Best Rap Album
- 2014 Forest Hills Drive, J. Cole
- Compton, Dr. Dre
- If Youre Reading This Its Too Late, Drake
- To Pimp A Butterfly, Kendrick Lamar
- *The Pinkprint, Nicki Minaj*
I want Nicki to win, but the Grammys kind of hate her so it’ll probably be Kendrick. (But they kind of hate him too, you’d know if you tuned in last year.)
21. Best Country Solo Performance
- “Burning House” – Cam (Welcome To Cam Country)
- *“Traveller” – Chris Stapleton (Traveller)*
- “Little Toy Guns” – Carrie Underwood (Greatest Hits: Decade #1)
- “John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16” – Keith Urban
- “Chances Are” – Lee Ann Womack (The Way I’m Livin’)
Did you know about this guy before he sang with JT on the CMAs? Neither did everyone else – but it’s okay because he’s pretty good!
22. Best Country Duo/Group Performance
- “Stay A Little Longer” – Brothers Osborne
- *“If I Needed You” – Joey+Rory (Country Classics)*
- “The Driver” – Charles Kelley, Dierks Bentley & Eric Paslay
- “Girl Crush” – Little Big Town (Pain Killer)
- “Lonely Tonight” – Blake Shelton Featuring Ashley Monroe
With the tragic events surrounding the country duo at the moment, I wouldn’t be surprised if the couple automatically gets this win.
23. Best Country Song
- “Chances Are” – Hayes Carll, songwriter (Lee Ann Womack)
- “Diamond Rings And Old Barstools” – Barry Dean, Luke Laird & Jonathan Singleton, songwriters (Tim McGraw)
- *“Girl Crush” – Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna & Liz Rose, songwriters (Little Big Town)*
- “Hold My Hand” – Brandy Clark & Mark Stephen Jones, songwriters (Brandy Clark)
- “Traveller” – Chris Stapleton, songwriter (Chris Stapleton)
It’s pretty catchy and was also nominated for Song of the Year (“Traveller” wasn’t).
24. Best Country Album
- Montevallo, Sam Hunt
- Pain Killer, Little Big Town
- The Blade, Ashley Monroe
- Pageant Material, Kacey Musgraves
- *Traveller, Chris Stapleton*
Still think Stapleton will pull out on top, though.
25. Best Musical Theater Album
- An American In Paris, (George Gershwin, composer; Ira Gershwin, lyricist) (Original Broadway Cast)
- Fun Home (Jeanine Tesori, composer; Lisa Kron, lyricist) (Original Broadway Cast)
- *Hamilton (Lin-Manuel Miranda, composer & lyricist) (Original Broadway Cast)*
- The King And I (Richard Rodgers, composer; Oscar Hammerstein II, lyricist) (2015 Broadway cast)
- Something Rotten! (Karey Kirkpatrick & Wayne Kirkpatrick, composers/lyricists)
If you’re a Broadway fan, you look at this category and say, “Oh for heaven’s sake – just give this man the Grammy and his Tonys already.”
26. Best Song Written For Visual Media
- “Earned It (Fifty Shades Of Grey)” – Ahmad Balshe, Stephan Moccio, Jason Quenneville and Abel Tesfaye, songwriters (The Weeknd)
- “Glory” – Lonnie Lynn, Che Smith & John Stephens, songwriters (Common & John Legend)
- “Love Me Like You Do” – Savan Kotecha, Max Martin, Tove Nilsson, Ali Payami & Ilya Salmanzadeh, songwriters (Ellie Goulding)
- “See You Again” – Andrew Cedar, Justin Franks, Charles Puth & Cameron Thomaz, songwriters (Wiz Khalifa Featuring Charlie Puth)
- *“Til It Happens To You” – Lady Gaga & Diane Warren, songwriters (Lady Gaga)*
Every record in this category is award-worthy, but I have to stick with Gaga who absolutely slays in this song.
27. Best Music Video
- “LSD” – A$AP Rocky
- “I Feel Love (Every Million Miles)” – The Dead Weather
- “Alright” – Kendrick Lamar
- “Bad Blood” – Taylor Swift Featuring Kendrick Lamar
- “Freedom” – Pharrell Williams
Anything Pharrell touches turns to gold (i.e. Grammys), but I’ll pretty much be happy with anything that wins besides “Bad Blood.”
Will my picks prevail with prizes? Will there be one winner to rule them all? Will Kanye upstage someone else? (Of course he will.) To find out, make sure you tune in to CBS at 8/7c on February 15 to watch the 58th Grammy Awards.
Photo credit: www.huffingtonpost.ca