The Grammy Awards are, for lack of a better word, poop. Year after year the Grammys have the opportunity to award artists for their art, but fail and give awards to artists who sometimes even admit themselves that they are not deserving. This has sadly given the Grammys their horrible reputation of being a popularity contest. However, this is a new year and new nominations, and if the Grammys follow my brilliant choices then maybe, just maybe, they can regain the glory they once had.
For these predictions I will not be covering every category. Only categories that were considered most important were predicted. The categories and predictions will be listed and each genre will have a roundup at the end.
Best Pop Solo Performance
- Heartbeat Song – Kelly Clarkson
- Love Me Like You Do – Ellie Goulding
- Thinking Out Loud – Ed Sheeran
- Blank Space – Taylor Swift
- Can’t Feel My Face- The Weeknd (pick)
Best Pop Album
- Piece By Piece – Kelly Clarkson
- How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful – Florence + The Machine
- Uptown Special – Mark Ronson
- 1989 – Taylor Swift (pick)
- Before the World – James Taylor
Pop
It has certainly been an interesting year for pop music, with Taylor Swift being the dominant force. The Weeknd did deliver some amazing songs this year but really “T-Swift” rules the pop charts, and from the looks of things she is not going anywhere. Other favorites that stick out from the year are songs like Uptown Funk and Can’t Feel My Face and those songs did do well but simply can not live up to the size of Swift’s brand. She has it in the bag in my mind.
Best Alternative Music Album
- Sound & Color – Alabama Shakes (pick)
- Vulnicura- Bjork
- The Waterfall – My Morning Jacket
- Currents – Tame Impala
- Star Wars – Wilco
Alternative
Pretty disappointing category this year, to be honest, but the clear winner in my mind is Alabama Shakes. They had a groundbreaking performance on Saturday Night Live and released arguably one of the best albums of the year, period. They were also completely unexpected, the band did not really have a large presence, especially not as much as some of the other bands in the category. So not only did the come out of nowhere but they delivered a new unique sound infused with not only classic rock but indie rock as well. Definitely have my pick.
Best Rap Song
- All Day – Kanye West Featuring Theophilus London, Allan Kingdom & Paul McCartney
- Alright- Kendrick Lamar (pick)
- Energy – Drake
- Glory – Common & John Legend
- Trap Queen – Fetty Wap
Best Rap Album
- 2014 Forest Hills Drive- J.Cole
- Compton – Dr. Dre
- In You’re Reading This It’s Too Late – Drake
- To Pimp A Butterfly – Kendrick Lamar (pick)
- The pinkprint- Nicki Minaj
Hip-Hop
Kendrick, Kendrick, Kendrick….Kendrick, Kendrick. This category is a no brainer, really any person with a functioning brain can see that. Please do not snub this man again (Macklemore won best rap album the last time Kendrick was nominated and was considered by many to be a very poor decision, including Macklemore himself). He has worked so hard, inspired protest walks, given back to communities, broken down racial barriers with his lyrics and no other album on this entire list has done that. Do the right thing Grammys, do the right thing and give him the Oscar he deserves because Kendrick Lamar did not only make the best rap album, he made a piece of art within Hip-Hop and he deserves every bit of recognition for that.
Best New Artist
- Courtney Barnett (pick)
- James Bay
- Sam Hunt
- Tori Kelly
- Meghan Trainor
Best New Artist
I can not really think of why Courtney Barnett should not win this award, the album she released last year could stand up to any of the albums nominated easily and she is the only on that really
Song Of The Year
- Alright – Kendrick Lamar (pick)
- Blank Space – Taylor Swift
- Girl Crush – Little Big Town
- See You Again- Whiz Khalifa Featuring Charlie Puth
- Thinking Out Loud – Ed Sheeran
Best Song
Alright was the theme people marched in the street to to end police brutality. Has any other song in this category done that? The answer is no. Maybe it was not blasted in peoples cars or within schools, but Alright solidified Kendrick’s album as the voice of a people who are ready for change, not just another song you hear on the radio. That is why it deserves to win, not because it is catchy (which it is) or because it is Kendrick but because it makes an important statement.
Album Of The Year
- To Pimp A Butterfly – Kendrick Lamar (pick)
- Sound & Color – Alabama Shakes
- Traveller – Chris Stapleton
- 1989 – Taylor Swift
- Beauty Behind The Madness – The Weeknd
Album of the year
Kendrick needs to win, he just does. Give it to him. I know i keep repeating myself but it’s true, no other album has spurred as much conversation and made such a cultural impact as To Pimp A Butterfly.
Record Of The Year
- Really love – D’Angelo And The Vanguard
- Uptown Funk – Mark Ronson Featuring Bruno Mars (pick)
- Thinking Out Loud – Ed Sheeran
- Blank Space – Taylor Swift
- Can’t Feel My Face – The Weeknd
Record of the Year
All of these choices are kind of weak but if i had to choose then it would be Uptown Funk, one of the most energetic fun songs to come out last year, it definitely deserves the recognition out of the choices.
Final Thoughts
Now these are simply my thoughts and predictions, I most likely got all of these wrong but these artists deserve credit for what they have done. It was a great year for music and hopefully 2016 will give us even more great music to have.
