To no one’s surprise, Beyoncé is yet again the most nominated artist in the Grammy Awards, which will take place on February 2, 2025. Thanks to her country album Cowboy Carter, the singer leads the pack with eleven nominations (including major categories like Record of the Year, Album of the Year, and Song of the Year). Following her, we find Charli xcx, who clearly dominated the cultural conversation this summer with brat, and has received nine nominations (also including Record of the Year and Album of the Year). But there’s so much more to unpack, here’s what you need to know.
Besides Charli, there’ve been two other pop girlies grabbing the headline this year: Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan. The former, who released her album Short n’ Sweet at the end of August, which includes the hits Espresso and Please Please Please playing non-stop in every radio station, is nominated to eight categories including Song of the Year (Please Please Please), Record of the Year (Espresso), Album of the Year, and Best New Artist (although she isn’t new at all…). The latter, who’s experiencing a meteoric rise to fame, is nominated to six different categories, including Record of the Year (Good Luck, Babe!), Album of the Year (for her 2023 album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess), Song of the Year, and Best New Artist.
In the category Album of the Year, one of the most relevant ones, besides the aforementioned, there’s also Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft, Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department, André 3000’s New Blue Sun, and Jacob Collier’s Djesse Vol. 4. But there are more categories nominating albums, and we’re happy to see titles like Kaytranada’s Timeless and Justice’s Hyperdrama in Best Dance/Electronic Music Album; Ariana Grande’s Eternal Sunshine in Best Pop Vocal Album; Fontaines D.C’s Romance in Best Rock Album; St. Vincent’s All Born Screaming and Clairo’s Charm in Best Alternative Music Album; Kali Uchis’ Orquídeas and Anitta’s Funk Generation in Best Latin Pop Album; or Bad Bunny’s Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana and Young Miko’s Att. in Best Música Urbana Album.
Another highly nominated artist is Kendrick Lamar, who’s had a pretty busy year topping the charts and beefing with Drake. The rapper’s Not Like Us https://metalmagazine.eu/en/post/kendrick-lamar-vs-drake is nominated to Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Music Video, Best Rap Song, and Best Rap Performance. Speaking of rappers, it’s also been quite a year for Doechii, with four nominations, including Best New Artist, Best Rap Performance (Nissan Altima), and Best Rap Album (Alligator Bites Never Heal, which she actually insists is a mixtape, not an album, but I’m pretty sure she’s happy about the nomination in that category).
In addition to Doechii, Sabrina, and Chappell, the other nominees to Best New Artist are Benson Boone, Khruangbin, Raye, Shaboozey (his single A Bar Song (Tipsy) is nominated to Song of the Year, by the way), and Teddy Swims, so you better have a listen now. You’ve been warned! Because they’ll possibly be topping the charts in the coming months and years.
There’s always a lot of speculation about who’s going to win and, more importantly, who deserves to win. Will Beyoncé sweep all of the categories, as we’re used to? She has great contenders like Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish, with seven nominations (from her collab on Charli XCX’s Guess to Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Pop Vocal Album). So there might be surprises in February. All we can do now is wait, wish, and maybe even bet with our friends to see who’s right.