As the 2025 award season begins to close, the awards season for 2026 is already gaining on us. One award show that dropped its nominations already is the Recording Academy’s 2026 Grammy Awards. While the Grammys are set for Feb. 1 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, the nominations were announced on Friday Nov. 7. Since it has been a few days since the nominations were announced, there has been some discourse. I wanted to share how I felt about the nominations and who I predict will win under each category. Of course, I won’t be talking about every single category, because that would take forever. But, I do want to talk about the big ones that people have been expressing their feelings towards.
Album of the Year
DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS– Bad Bunny
SWAG– Justin Bieber
Man’s Best Friend– Sabrina Carpenter
Let God Sort Em Out– Clipse, Pusha T and Malice
MAYHEM– Lady Gaga
GNX– Kendrick Lamar
MUTT– Leon Thomas
CHROMAKOPIA– Tyler, the Creator
Some of these nominations kind of shocked me, but there were some that I expected. For starters, I honestly forgot that Justin Bieber even dropped an album, so when I heard SWAG being nominated, my jaw was on the floor. It’s not that the album was horrible, but I just didn’t see it being nominated in this category. Another one that sort of surprised me was MUTT. On the bright side, I’m happy Leon Thomas is finally getting the recognition he deserves. That being said, I predict that MAYHEM may take this win, even though my heart hopes for CHROMAKOPIA to take the win.
Record of the Year
“DtMF”- Bad Bunny
“Manchild”- Sabrina Carpenter
“Anxiety” – Doechii
“WILDFLOWER” – Billie Eilish
“Abracadabra”- Lady Gaga
“luther”- Kendrick Lamar with SZA
“The Subway”- Chappell Roan
“APT.”- ROSÉ, Bruno Mars
Again, these nominations do have me in a bit of a predicament. While some of these I did see happening like “Manchild” and “Abracadabra,” I was shocked to see “Anxiety” be nominated when thousands of people were hating on it (which was crazy). I was also kind of shocked that “WILDFLOWER” was nominated as well when Eilish already had her moment last year with her album HIT ME HARD AND SOFT. Now, I predict that “Abracadabra” may take this one, but on the other hand, I can see “luther” winning as well.
Best New Artist
Olivia Dean
KATSEYE
The Marias
Addison Rae
Sombr
Leon Thomas
Alex Warren
Lola Young
Out of all the categories, this was the one that made me the most upset. I can’t believe two Hype House members are now Grammy nominees. But the biggest snub ever in this category is Ravyn Lenae. It’s insane to me how she wasn’t even nominated in this category. She deserves to be on this list, and that’s not just because I’m being biased. In my opinion, she should switch out for Alex Warren, but beggars can’t be choosers. So in this category, I predict that Olivia Dean is going to win, and as she should, because her album is spectacular.
Best Pop Solo Performance
“DAISES”- Justin Bieber
“Manchild” – Sabrina Carpenter
“Disease” – Lady Gaga
“The Subway” – Chappell Roan
“Messy” – Lola Young
Now looking at it, these nominations are just becoming more random. I’ll be honest, big congrats to Young for being nominated, but I didn’t even know she dropped an album this year. In this category, I predict “Disease” will get the win, but I could also see “The Subway” taking this win.
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance
“Defying Gravity”- Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo
“Golden” [From “KPop Demon Hunters]- HUNTR/X: EJAE, Audrey Nuna, REI AMI
“Gabriela”- KATSEYE
“APT”- ROSÉ, Bruno Mars
“30 for 30”- SZA with Kendrick Lamar
These nominations are the ones that people are talking about the most. Mostly because an animated Netflix movie is somehow a Grammy nominated movie. Personally, I honestly wasn’t shocked when I saw “Golden” being nominated, that song has been everywhere and has dominated the charts, so we can’t be surprised that it was nominated. I can see “Golden” taking this win, but I really hope that “Defying Gravity” takes it because that song changed everyone for good. (Get it?)
Best Pop Vocal Album
SWAG- Justin Bieber
Man’s Best Friend– Sabrina Carpenter
Something Beautiful- Miley Cryus
MAYHEM- Lady Gaga
I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy (Part 2)- Teddy Swims
In this last category, I feel as though it’s pretty much a tie between MAYHEM or Man’s Best Friend for the win. I mean, obviously with Gaga’s outstanding album I can see it having more of a chance than Carpenter’s. Although, with Carpenter’s sky-rocketing career, it wouldn’t be too disappointing if she took the win as well. If I had to choose one to win though, I would definitely go with MAYHEM.
Overall, I believe that some of the artists and albums nominated this year are a bit out of place. There were a ton of snubs from other artists this year, like Lorde. I was really shocked that she wasn’t nominated for anything, especially since everyone was praising her new album and saying it was going to get an Album of the Year nomination. Whatever the case, while some of the nominations do have me side-eyeing, I still will be tuned in for the Grammys.