The 2021 Grammy Awards' Main Category Nominations
Discussing the Grammy Nominations for 2021
11/28/2020
The Grammy Awards have always been one of the most exciting times of the year for musicians across the world. So naturally, seeing who might win of all of your favorite artists, songs, albums and performances is a very exciting moment. The official list of nominations for next years Grammy's was released four days before this was released, on November 24th, and it's simply more of the same. Every year we've received a few select artists, the albums and songs they were chosen for, and they get about ten nominations each. This leaves smaller indie artists hidden deep within this nominations list and dissolved into obscure awards that never get presented or even acknowledged in the actual event. The Grammy nominations for this year were, admittedly unsurprisingly, the same. A handful artists were even chosen again to be one of the lucky few, which is pretty heartbreaking because so many other artists have had so much better projects and musical ventures. Occasionally it feels like the ones who choose the nominations are completely out of touch with what the obvious best song is. Billie Eilish, for instance, walked away with all four of the big Grammy's last year; a phenomenon, mind you, that has only happen one other time in history. Though, in terms of the nominations, we see the same unfairness and unjust picks like we do every year.
The first big Grammy award to discuss today would be "Record of the Year", which is strangely just another form of "Song of the Year", and yet they are both apart of the big four. The first nomination was Beyoncé's "BLACK PARADE", which I personally enjoy overall despite its tacky and played-out flows and structure. Though, if the Grammy's were to choose a recent black protest song, "Lockdown" or "Wash Us in the Blood" would have been fifteen times better of picks. Next is "Colors" by Black Pumas, which is a wonderful song released as a single for an album from June of 2019 that was only nominated now due to said album's deluxe edition. Next is DaBaby's "ROCKSTAR", which is a fine song, but in my opinion it remains one of the worst singles off his April album. Next is the iconic "Say So" from Doja Cat, which brings a wonderful vibe and punchy yet basic groove to the table, but was likely nominated only for being a smash hit with TikTok bitches. Next is Billie Eilish's "everything i wanted", which I'm not really a fan of, and I guess I should save my hopes for "Therefore I Am" getting nominated next year. Next is Dua Lipa's "Don't Start Now"; a slightly worse and slightly more popular version of "Say So" with more intricate production but a disgusting chorus drop. Next is "Circles" by Post Malone; a decent indie-pop ripoff that was overplayed into the depths of sheer ass. Finally, we have "Savage" by Megan Thee Stallion, which I won't listen to, but will rather assume it's just another Megan Thee Stallion song picked for her success.
The second big Grammy award to discuss today would be "Song of the Year", which is pretty much the same as "Record of the Year". The first new nominee here is "The Box" from Roddy Richh, which was the decent meme song that a fair amount of people started to take seriously. Next is "cardigan" by Taylor Swift: a great track from one of the strangest and most unsettling stylistic switch-ups of this year. Next, the nomination simply says "I Can't Breathe", so I am assuming it's the song from H.E.R. I was unfamiliar with this one before the writing of this essay, and it seems to be a pretty fair black protest song with a nice lyrical execution of the message. Finally, we have what's a very strange song to turn out as a hit by whoever JP Saxe is and Julia Michaels. It's not a bad song inherently, but if it is one of the overplayed songs on TikTok, it's easy to see it becoming utterly horrible. Also, I felt like it was worth pointing out that the visual performance in the music video is one of the most awkward that I've seen in recent memory.
The third big Grammy award to discuss today would be "Best New Artist", which seems to pick the oldest artists it can find that have been at least somewhat relevant this year regardless of how new they really are. First, we have someone I personally don't know about, and therefore don't really give much of a shit about. Then we have one of my personal favorite artists of all time "Phoebe Bridgers" get nominated. This is perhaps one of the biggest abominations of the 2021 Grammy Awards nominations list; not because I don't think she's our 21st century Messiah, but because she is not new. Perhaps this is a completely normal occurrence in the Grammy's, but picking someone like this as best "new" artist is ridiculous. Arguably, it's a complete disrespect to their long past and wonderful discography, and shows just how little whatever dumbass who picks these nominations cares about these artists and their diverse pasts. She released her major label debut, mind you she was likely experimenting with many other things musically before this, at the age of twenty-one years old. In this debut 7-inch, she released "Killer", "Georgia" and "Steamroller". In 2020, Bridgers is now twenty-six years old. My worst fear here is anyone else feeling the same as I do pertaining to this situation about artists here or in older lists. Perhaps their artists had bigger and more important events way beyond what Bridgers did. Then again, "best new artist" could mean throughout the decade, so I'll continue hoping none of this matters as much as I thought it should. This wasn't necessarily a rant about Phoebe Bridgers in particular, but rather this whole medium and some of its other slightly less ridiculous "Best New Artist" picks. The other nominees aren't really artists I care about, so I think it's fair to move on now, and I'll let you formulate your own opinions.
The final big, and debatably the most big, Grammy award to discuss today would be "Album of the Year". The first nominee here is Jhené Aiko's "Chilombo", which is yet another project I was personally unfamiliar with. Though, upon a pretty quick skim through and listen, it's one I wish I hadn't missed out on, because it's full of some great personality and ideas executed with a very pretty style. Next, we have the deluxe edition of the self-titled album from Black Pumas, and you can find my thoughts on this in the fourth topic of the 5th "Fanboy Roundup" from September. Next, we have Coldplay's "Everyday Life"; a shallow pop album with hardly any unique or interesting moments or ideas throughout its entire duration that lasts far too long. Next there are two albums I haven't listened to, but I've heard great things about "Women in Music Pt. III". Next is Dua Lipa's "Future Nostalgia", which is a pretty good pop record, but is sadly here only due to the success of its lead single "Don't Start Now". Next is "Hollywood's Bleeding" by Post Malone, which is honestly a real step back from his last two albums. This new album from September of 2019 was shallow and devoid of any truly decent or meaty. There is a handful of interesting song concepts here, but they all sadly feel like small demos instead of fleshed-out ideas. Anything more akin to Post's normal style falls short in almost every way in comparison to 2018's wonderful "beerbongs & bentleys". Finally comes Taylor Swift's "folklore", which is an album I am personally too torn on to discuss thoroughly.
After all of my shit-talking, many of you may wonder if my picks are any better for these genres, so I will go over them in this next paragraph-and-a-half and try not to ramble on. Unlike the Grammy's, in an effort to be inclusive, I will pick something from a different album and artist for each category of the big four. First, I give "Record of the Year" to Stone Temple Pilots for their song "Years" from their February album "Perdida". This was one of the most wonderful albums to come out this year, and even though it distinguishes itself from the band's usual 90s rock brand, it still makes a wonderful venture. "Years" is a beautiful track that explores some very pretty and unique themes through absolutely stunning instrumentation. Second, I give "Song of the Year" to Mac Miller for his song with Baro Sura "Hand Me Downs" from Miller's January album "Circles". This entire album is chill, honest and intimate with every musical aspect it carries with it; making one of the greatest posthumous records of the past decade, and respect to Mac as an artist. "Hand Me Downs" was my personal favorite representation of these philosophies, and I can't stop enjoying this track. Third, I give "Best New Artist" to Billy Cobb. This was an interesting one to pick, because the Grammy's guidelines for this category are pretty subjective, but mainly discuss making their first major commercial breakthrough somewhat recently. I practically said damn this genre and chose this artist because he has released two notably wonderful projects this year. The first being "Zerwee, Pt. 2"; a Weezer-like album akin to the self-produced style of "Pinkerton". The next being "Who Shall Its Folds Divide?" for being an innovative and unique masterpiece of sorts in its respective style and tone. The final being "Graduating Life", for being undeniably one of the most uniquely produced, best executed and most well-written projects to come out of the deeper indie scene this year.
Finally, I give "Album of the Year" to Phoebe Bridgers for her album "Punisher". Before we continue, I'm fully aware that I gave this album a 7.5/10 as a score, but this album has grown on me considerably since that first listen. It proved that listening to it once and reviewing it the day after release was somewhat dumb, especially for such a big and important project. This album is a beautiful mastery of folk, rock and pop strung together by the strings of its raw instruments and an absolutely stunning voice. Ever individual piece of this album feels honest, personal and true to itself and its respective musical style. Thanks to the medium of the indie genre as a whole, it allows Bridgers to take risks far beyond what you would see elsewhere. It grabs the listener from the start, brings them on a wonderfully immersive roller coaster of experience and hurt. Then it proceeds to drop you off at its end in something so fun that it went so quick, yet so jam-packed with diverse ideas and execution that it could have spanned days. This album is a true master of its craft, and while it may have some minor flaws as mentioned in my review, it is still simply a masterpiece. In conclusion, the Grammy nominations this year were somewhat disappointing yet expected and predictable. Every year the team of people aim to please the public more than anything rather than taking a deep dive into the depths that music saw this year. Many are complaining online about how The Weeknd got snubbed, and I personally think Halsey did as well, but I leave you with the true and most important snub this year. Where the hell was Mac Miller?
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