Here’s to another year of Kendrick Lamar wins, surprise snubs and speeches that make me cry.
Sunday Feb. 1st marked the 68th annual Grammy Awards.
Originally called the Gramophone Awards, the celebration of music and the recording industry began in 1958. In 1959, 28 prizes were awarded to winners including Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra. In the past 60 years, the number of Grammy Awards has increased as new musical genres have gained recognition: rock, rap and, crucially, Latin categories have been included since 1996. In 2011, the award show saw a shift in the category system that eliminated gender-based categories and reduced the total number of awards from 109 to 78. In 2026, the Grammy Awards gave out music and production awards in more than 95 categories.
I was born in 2005. I watched the Grammys in their entirety for the first time this year, and as a music-enjoyer, I have some thoughts.
Obviously, Bad Bunny ran several categories, winning a total of three awards including album of the year for Debí Tirar Más Fotos (I Should Have Taken More Photos). His victory marked the first time a Spanish-language album has won first prize at the Grammys. The artist’s humble reaction and soft ingenuity in his many trips to the stage to accept his awards made me profoundly speechless (but here’s a few words).
In the face of so much division, separation and violence against those who happened to be born across fabricated lines, Bad Bunny’s win felt fundamental. Seeing an artist with such heart deliver his acceptance speech—largely in Spanish—calling for ICE out of our streets on a national stage is everything we need in the United States. We need it badly.
“The only thing that is more powerful than hate is love,” he said. “So, please, we need to be different. If we fight, we have to do it with love.”
On another note, Kendrick Lamar deserves everything he gets. GNX was on absolute repeat for me and many others this year. In 2026, Kendrick won five of his nine nominations (including record of the year), making him the most awarded rapper in Grammy history. Every time I see Kendrick’s 5-foot-5 figure, dressed to the nines, ready to take more accolades from a historically white award show—which didn’t recognize rap music until 1989—an angel gets its wings.
Speaking of angels, the fact that SZA’s “30 for 30” featuring Kendrick Lamar didn’t win anything and lost to “Defying Gravity” by Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, is an absolute crime. Giving an award to a movie that has already had countless accolades is boring and late. Let’s please be done with Wicked now.
This year’s most iconic pop-darling, Sabrina Carpenter gave an incredible performance at the 2026 Grammys and was snubbed in terms of awards.
Sabrina has absolutely found her niche in a quirky and eye-catching performance style that complements her well-crafted vocals. The 26-year-old 2025 Grammy Award winner performed “Manchild” dressed as a pilot with a myriad of airport-related backup dancers and a friendly dove at her side. She also performed the iconic line-dance inspired choreography that the internet has created to her song. However, she walked away with zero wins despite receiving six Grammy nominations.
Despite the release of her seventh album, Man’s Best Friend, last year, which topped Billboard’s 200 Albums Chart and was absolutely the album of the year among my circles, Carpenter came up short. While I absolutely adore Sabrina’s album and fun-loving stage presence, it’s hard to argue for a win for her. In the face of powerhouse albums like Debí Tirar Más Fotos (I Should Have Taken More Photos) and GNX, it’s not shocking to me that Man’s Best Friend, with a focus on immature men and poor romantic choices, didn’t win. While serious-content and passing the Bechdel test are not always markers of music, when push comes to shove, I would have made the same choice as the Grammy Academy.
For my notes on Tyler, The Creator setting himself on fire and Justin Bieber’s stripped-down (literally) performance, see my next article on the 2026 Grammys.