2021 Grammy Nominations
The 63rd Grammy Awards nominations are here! Announced this past Tuesday, nominations from all 83 categories have been released for music’s most biggest night. The Grammy’s are one of many awards ceremonies that continue to air in accordance to Covid-19 restrictions.
Here is the list of nominees for general categories:
Record of the Year:
- Black Parade – Beyoncé
- Colors – Black Pumas
- Rockstar – DaBaby featuring Roddy Ricch
- Say So – Doja Cat
- Everything I Wanted – Billie Eilish
- Don’t Start Now – Dua Lipa
- Circles – Post Malone
- Savage – Megan Thee Stallion featuring Beyoncé
Album of the Year:
- Chilombo – Jhené Aiko
- Black Pumas (Deluxe Edition) – Black Pumas
- Everyday Life – Coldplay
- Djesse Vol. 3 – Jacob Collier
- Women in Music Pt. III – Haim
- Future Nostalgia – Dua Lipa
- Hollywood’s Bleeding – Post Malone
- Folklore – Taylor Swift
Song of the Year:
- Black Parade – Denisia Andrews, Beyoncé, Stephen Bray, Shawn Carter, Brittany Coney, Derek James Dixie, Akil King, Kim “Kaydence” Krysiuk and Rickie “Caso” Tice, songwriters (Beyoncé)
- The Box – Samuel Gloade and Rodrick Moore, songwriters (Roddy Ricch)
- Cardigan – Aaron Dessner and Taylor Swift, songwriters (Taylor Swift)
- Circles – Louis Bell, Adam Feeney, Kaan Gunesberk, Austin Post and Billy Walsh, songwriters (Post Malone)
- Don’t Start Now – Caroline Ailin, Ian Kirkpatrick, Dua Lipa and Emily Warren, songwriters (Dua Lipa)
- Everything I Wanted – Billie Eilish O’Connell and Finneas O’Connell, songwriters (Billie Eilish)
- I Can’t Breathe – Dernst Emile II, H.E.R. and Tiara Thomas, songwriters (H.E.R.)
- If the World Was Ending – Julia Michaels and JP Saxe, songwriters (JP Saxe featuring Julia Michaels)
Best New Artist:
- Ingrid Andress
- Phoebe Bridgers
- Chika
- Noah Cyrus
- D Smoke
- Doja Cat
- Kaytranada
- Megan Thee Stallion
Best Pop Solo Performance:
- Yummy – Justin Bieber
- Say So – Doja Cat
- Everything I Wanted – Billie Eilish
- Don’t Start Now – Dua Lipa
- Watermelon Sugar – Harry Styles
- Cardigan – Taylor Swift
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance:
- Un Dia (One Day) – J Balvin, Dua Lipa, Bad Bunny & Tainy
- Intentions – Justin Bieber featuring Quavo
- Dynamite – BTS
- Rain on Me – Lady Gaga with Ariana Grande
- Exile – Taylor Swift featuring Bon Iver
Best Pop Vocal Album:
- Changes – Justin Bieber
- Chromatica – Lady Gaga
- Future Nostalgia – Dua Lipa
- Fine Line – Harry Styles
- Folklore – Taylor Swift
With Grammy nominations, comes discussions of snubs and an abundance of feelings. This year, one of the major snubs is The Weeknd who did not receive any nominations, despite the huge success of his album “After Hours” and hit single “Blinding Lights.” Following the nomination broadcast, The Weeknd took upon a tweet that stated, “The Grammys remain corrupt. You owe me, my fans, and the industry transparency…”
On a social media post, Halsey has also spoken up in defense of The Weeknd and her lack of nominations this year for her album, “Manic” which included one of her biggest hits “Without Me.”
In her post, she says, “The Grammys are an elusive process. It can often be about behind the scenes private performances, knowing the right people, campaigning through the grapevine, with the right handshake and ‘bribes’ that can be just ambiguous enough to pass as ‘not bribes.’” She added, “The Weeknd deserved better, and ‘Manic’ did too.”
Despite the backlash, many first-nominated artists celebrate their nominations. Megan Thee Stallion brought to social media to express gratitude for her four nominations. BTS celebrates their first nomination for “Dynamite,” becoming the first South Korean group to be nominated. However, a controversy surrounds their lack of nominations in which critics claim that is due to xenophobia. Many critics have discussed that despite the huge success of the group’s breakthrough to the western industry with non-English music, there is a lack of recognition. Nonetheless, the Grammy’s are notorious for discrimination in nominations with people of color such as placing African-Americans in Urban related genres, in which Tyler the Creator criticized last year.
Lastly, Beyoncé, Taylor Swift and Dua Lipa dominate the nominations. Beyoncé received nine nominations in eight categories, becoming the most nominated artist overall. Taylor Swift got six nominations and Dua Lipa has 2 (plus one for Song of the Year which is specifically for songwriters).
The 63rd annual Grammys will be hosted by “The Daily Show” host Trevor Noah and broadcast on CBS on January 31.
For the complete list of nominees, visit the Grammy’s website.