St. Vincent will still get her chance to compete in rock categories, as “Broken Man” will go head-to-head against unshakeable staples like the Black Keys and the Beatles for Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance, respectively.
What about the rock music that’s supposedly a little bit lighter, more creative, or less, you know, standard? Right, now that’s where women fit in: Kim Gordon’s The Collective, Brittany Howard’s What Now, Clairo’s Charm, and the aforementioned All Born Screaming are all up for Best Alternative Music Album, with Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds’ Wild God in the running as a little treat. At least they’re all in great company.
–Nina Corcoran
They’re Not Like Kendrick
Even when they’re not nominating Taylor Swift, they’re still nominating “Tailor Swif”—A$AP Rocky’s song, that is—and for Best Music Video, of all things. But while the Recording Academy’s favorite pop star is very much here and present on this year’s lengthy nominations list, she actually falls behind two rappers when it comes to total number of nods: Kendrick Lamar and Post Malone. (Malone, nominated primarily in the country categories, may no longer consider himself a rapper, but who can forget how much saucin’ he used to do?) What’s more, Lamar earned most of his nominations on the back of one inescapable, savage song: “Not Like Us.” What does it mean for a spiteful diss track to become a five-times-Grammy-nominated single? For starters, that rap fans want to have fun spectating drama again, as it’s the lone rap song to be nominated for Song or Record of the Year. It also means Lamar just slipped in a bonus jab at Drake, who famously loathes the Grammys.
The Recording Academy must have been paying pretty close attention to the Drake-Kendrick beef because voters recognized Future and Metro Boomin’s We Don’t Trust You (along with “Like That” and “We Still Don’t Trust You”) and even J. Cole’s surprise Might Delete Later mixtape. That’s some pretty patient revenge for all the years Drake snubbed them.
–Nina Corcoran
Album of the Year: A Hand of Safe Bets and One Thrilling Wildcard
Each year, the Recording Academy compiles its Album of the Year roster the way a funky aunt assembles an outfit: sensible shirt, shoes, and slacks, with just a couple kooky accessories to spark a convo. This season, the practical, inevitable nods went to Grammy MVPs Taylor Swift (The Tortured Poets Department), Billie Eilish (Hit Me Hard and Soft), and Beyoncé (Cowboy Carter)—the latter of whom now boasts a whopping 99 nominations across her career. And then there’s Jacob Collier (Djesse Vol. 4), YouTuber–turned–Recording Academy fave with six golden gramophones under his belt. In a bid to be Brat (or perhaps, so Julia), Charli XCX (Brat) is on the ticket, as are Sabrina Carpenter (Short n’ Sweet) and newcomer Chappell Roan (The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess). But the most surprising—and delightful—of all the AOTY nominees is André 3000, nominated for his dazzling jazz flute LP New Blue Sun. It seems unlikely that a 90-minute new-age incantation will best a pack of industry darlings and pop divas, but its ranking among them is nonetheless cause for celebration.
