The 63rd Annual Grammies: An Overview of the Nominations

Quinn Willerton, Staff Writer

On January 13, 2021, the 63rd Annual Grammies will be held. This is one of the biggest music events during the entirety of the year, and recently the nominations were released. Today, I will be looking at three categories: Album of the Year and Song of the Year.. I will also be sharing some of my predictions for the winners.

Let’s begin with Record of the Year. This is one of the most prestigious awards, and for good reason. A one-hit wonder could make song of the year; but album of the year needs to have many songs, all of which are incredible. First nominee is an Jhené Aiko’s album “Chilombo,” followed by “Black Pumas” by Black Pumas. I honestly do not know much about either of these artists, but they are in the running for a very sought-after award. Next is Coldplay’s “Everyday Life.” Coldplay is a group that has been popular for about a decade, and they are well-known for their catchy, but also melancholy lyrics. The next two are Jacob Collier’s “Djesse Vol. 3” and Haim’s “Women in Music Pt. III.” Again, I have never really listened to either of these musicians, so I can’t give much background on these two albums. The final three are, in my opinion, the frontrunners in this category. The first of the pack, Dua Lipa’s “Future Nostalgia” was very highly received by critics, and shows that the artist can truly create this new genre of music that only she is in. The second in the group is “Hollywood’s Bleeding” by Post Malone. This album was also very highly received, and also contains one of Malone’s biggest songs, “Circles.” It is a bit more of a rap-meets-pop album, so it would most likely go under either melodic rap or R&B. The final nomination for this category is Taylor Swift’s “Folklore.” This album sort of returns to the pre-2010 Taylor, and I think we are all here for it. My prediction is probably Dua Lipa. I feel as though her album really had no defined genre, and the album being in the running for Album of the Year really speaks to how truly revolutionary it is.

The next category is the Song of the Year. This category is again very prestigious. To state it in an obvious way, there were millions of songs released this year, and these were dubbed to be the best songs throughout the duration of it. The first nominee is “Black Parade,” from Beyoncé. Beyoncé is (obviously) one of the most important artists during the 2010s, and this song proved that she is still crucial to the female artist scene, even in a new decade. Next is Roddy Ricch’s “The Box.” This song was received very well for the incorporation of seemingly random door-type sounds. Many who have listened to more than thirty seconds of the song will understand exactly what I mean. “Cardigan” by Taylor Swift is the next nominee. Again it is a return to the former Taylor Swift that got her famous. The next entry is “Circles” by Post Malone. As aforementioned, this is one of Malone’s biggest songs, and fore good reason. It’s a good melodic rap that almost focuses more on the melody rather than the rap. And, although there are more nominees, I believe that “Circles” will end up probably winning the award. It is honestly very out-of-character for Malone, and it was very good and well-received.