2021 Grammy Nom Reaction
In case you missed it in your preparations for a socially-distanced Thanksgiving, or your post-election stupor, or your binge-watching of the beginning of college basketball season, ten days ago today, the nominees for the 63rd Grammy Awards were announced. And if you did miss it, kudos, because boy, people were sure talking about them.
A year that has been understandably disjointed and relatively lacking in both quantity and quality of music releases was always going to make for an interesting Grammys in 2021. Music fans including myself didn't know what to expect from nominations in such an abnormal year, just as we don't know what to expect from the January ceremony itself (will the show be totally virtual? Only artists present? Still in the Staples Center with fans, but with limited capacity/masks?). Besides, at least in recent years, at least a handful of shocking nominees or snubs has become the norm. Ergo, it’s not a stretch to say most everyone expected the unexpected; I know I did.
Still, when the nominations dropped on Thanksgiving Eve, the notably universal reaction was:
...wut.
There are so many talking points from this set of nominees, it was hard for me to even condense them into a piece without it turning into a 30-minute treatise. Let’s just say, it’s not surprising people on social media had #thoughts. Let’s get into some of mine:
(For reference: here is the full list of nominees.)
The Snubs
Where in the World is The Weeknd? In case you’ve been living under a rock, this has been THE talking point since last Wednesday. The coming Grammys was, in the eyes of many, supposed to be a coronation for The Weeknd, a huge pop talent with an ardent following, who has put out some of the most popular and most acclaimed music of the year. Any questions of whether this was the Year of The Weeknd were surely put to rest by the announcement that he’ll be the Super Bowl Halftime Show performer this year. He was the odds-on favorite to not just be nominated, but to win Album, Record and Song of the Year. And yet, when the nominees were unveiled, his name was nowhere to be seen. The uproar from all corners of the Internet might seem dramatic, but if we’re being honest, this is not only the biggest snub of the year, it’s already one of the most infamous snubs of all time. In truth, I personally am not too shocked by Album of the Year snub for After Hours, despite recently calling it a "lock" in my preview piece. It was well-received, but other than its hugely successful smash single, it's short on truly memorable tracks, and its genre of R&B-pop isn’t one that’s always a recipe for Grammys recognition. But ZERO nominations? Zero?!? ”Blinding Lights" is absolutely, through-and-through, 100%, the song of 2020. It should win Record and/or Song of the Year, let alone be nominated. And the fact that he couldn't even get Genre nominations (such as the recently rebranded “Progressive R&B” categories) for that song or for his album is downright fishy. The Weeknd snub is so egregious that it has spawned multiple conspiracy theories, all of which are hard to completely dismiss.
Ladies, Ladies, Ladies, Ladies: Fiona and The Chicks It’s hard to put Fiona Apple, who is relatively unknown to the current pop crowd, on the same level of snubbery as The Weeknd. However, there’s no question most everyone expected Fetch The Bolt Cutters, the indie icon’s first release in eight years, to be among the most highly nominated of the night, considering its universal acclaim. Bolt Cutters currently has a 98 score on Metacritic, easily making it the best-reviewed of the year, and in fact the second-highest scoring album of all time on the review aggregator website. Yet, though Apple received some attention in Genre categories, her album did not receive an Album of the Year nod, nor did any of its tracks get a conciliatory nomination in Song or Record of the Year. Fiona Apple wasn’t the only beloved, respected female artist snubbed on the night. Country trio The Chicks (formerly The Dixie Chicks) released their first new album since 2006’s Taking The Long Way, which helped them sweep Album, Record and Song of the Year at the 2007 Grammys. Gaslighter, along with its lead singles “Gaslighter” and “March March,” was very well-received and perceived to not only be a frontrunner for Country categories but a contender for the general awards. Yet, somehow, the esteemed trio were also nowhere to be seen on the list of nominees released, except as part of the discography for producer Jack Antonoff’s nomination, confounding critics and fans alike.
Actually, Country in general It was a rough performance for Country Grammy prognosticators, as just about every Country artist that media outlets— including yours truly —marked as ones to watch completely struck out. We mentioned The Chicks before, but given their turbulent relationship with the Country industry, their snub might not have even been the most surprising. Rising star and solid ‘country bro’ Morgan Wallen seemed to be a shoo-in nominee for Best New Artist, but wasn’t nominated there nor anywhere in the genre awards. Luke Combs, Best New Artist nominee in 2019 and one of the genre’s biggest current stars, saw zero nods for his well-received release What You See Is What You Get. And The Highwomen, a recently formed supergroup of esteemed female Country artists, got just one nomination, for their song “Crowded Table.”
The Old Guys and The Young Guys It made surprisingly little waves, but two of the most revered artists in modern history released new albums this year. Bob Dylan, recent Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, announced his return with the 17-minute opus “Murder Most Foul” then followed up shortly thereafter with the universally acclaimed album Rough And Rowdy Ways. Fellow folk rock icon Neil Young also released new material this year in the form of his 40th studio album of his illustrious career. Homegrown was largely recorded back in the heyday of Young’s career, but even a release of “archive tracks” from this particular artist is better than a whole lot of music you hear today. In what has become a trend over the last decade, though, the Grammys forsook the older legends to recognize a considerably younger demographic of artists, and neither Dylan nor Young took home a single nomination. But in a Grammys as wonky as these promise to be, there wasn’t even enough space for many of the best and brightest young artists, either. Twitter exploded with celebration of world superstars and K-Pop group BTS’ first Grammy nom, as well as celebration of the first recognition for Harry Styles as a solo artist. Yet, the next wave of social media responses from the passionate fans of these two artists confronted the reality that the nominations were significantly smaller in scope than expected (and, in the eyes of their fans, than deserved). BTS is, quite possibly, the biggest group in the world today, and their reach has spread to America and yet they were able to snag only a lone nomination for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. That the nominated track “Dynamite” was their first, and to date, only English-language song feels like an extra slap in the face. As for Styles, nominated only for two Pop category awards, the One Direction alumnus has proved he is much more than teenybopper, his musical deftness on full display in Fine Line. For him to miss out on Album of the Year is one thing, but for the omnipresent and infectious “Watermelon Sugar” to make zero appearances in the Record and Song of the Year fields is absurd.
The Surprises
The various "H.E.R."s of 2020 The R&B artist H.E.R. has almost become an online meme because of the Grammys’ strange infatuation with her. Make no mistake, she is a remarkable talent but she also was a virtual unknown, and out of nowhere snagged 10 nominations in the last two years, including two Album of the Year nods. (She’s nominated again this year for Song of the Year, albeit with a bit more exposure this time.) She didn’t have an album in 2020 to make another surprise splash, but that didn’t stop the Grammys from once again plucking artists out of relative obscurity. This time, arguably more than half the field for Album of the Year are stunners. But the “H.E.R.-adjacent” nominees more specifically are Jacob Collier and Black Pumas. Collier is an English artist whose music incorporates elements from many musical genres. That was verbatim from Wikipedia, because again I don’t think anyone in the States knows who this guy is. Black Pumas, meanwhile, are pretty much the antithesis to The Weeknd at these Grammys. Virtually nobody had them on their radar, they have almost no radio presence, they barely even had an album this year (Black Pumas was just a deluxe edition of their 2019 EP, for which they were nominated for Best New Artist)….and yet, here they are, poised for a big Grammy night, with three nominations on the night, including for Album and Record of the Year. Finally, fellow Album of the Year nominees Jhené Aiko and HAIM probably don’t deserve the “who?” label, as they have carved out a decent following in the music world. Still, their 2020 releases were underground enough that a nod for the Grammys’ highest honor was pretty shocking.
“Black Parade” marches through nominations Beyoncé being nominated for a number of Grammys is, of course, not at all new. But being the most-nominated artist of the night in a year in which she released no new album and one new song is a development few saw coming. Yet, Queen B enters Grammy night with 9 nominations. A few of them come as a featured artist on Megan Thee Stallion’s smash hit “Savage,” but the vast majority are thanks to the aforementioned one new song “Black Parade,” which Bey released on Juneteenth amidst Black Lives Matter protests and in anticipation of her visual album Black Is King. It’s a stirring, evocative and symbolic song, to be sure, and its nominations for Best R&B Performance and Best R&B Song fairly understandable. However, it received very little radio play—not that that was the point of the song —and in fact, relatively little media attention by Beyoncé’s standards, so its double nom for Record and Song of the Year was surprising.
Coldplay for Grammys…in 2020? Coldplay is of course still a huge name; more so than just about any group from the early 21st century, they’ve adapted with their times and found ways to maintain their stadium band status. And in fairness, Everyday Life was a well-received release, garnering their strongest reviews of any album since A Rush of Blood to the Head. But it also was released in late 2019, as opposed to this calendar year, and it was easily the most low-key of any of their album releases since their debut, with no real tour associated with it either (worth noting that this was an intentional, environmental choice by Chris Martin and co.). The general bemusement at their nod for Album of the Year speaks to the fact that virtually nobody expected this album to be the one to break their decade-plus absence from major Grammy nominations.
Loads of love for Justin Bieber Justin Bieber is still one of the biggest pop stars in the World— and it seems silly to add the “still” qualifier when he’s just 26, but I suppose that’s what happens when your career starts at 14 —so it stands to reason that a new album of his might grab some Grammy attention. But, especially with so many other big names left off of lists this year, I don’t know that many expected him to grab four nominations on the night for Changes, which received a thoroughly mixed reaction from critics and hardcore fans alike.
The Phoebe Bridgers Breakout Party? Phoebe Bridgers has been the indie-lovers’ best kept secret over the last few years. The 26-year old rock artist is a remarkable songwriter and musician, packing a lyrical gut punch with her soft, almost raspy vocals. Unsurprisingly, she’s developed an ardent following, but it’s been a pretty underground one all the same. That might change now. Bridgers claimed a surprise four Grammy nominations on the night, including a nod for Best New Artist, in which an upset victory is somewhat feasible, in the event Megan Thee Stallion and Doja Cat split the “popular female hip-hop artist” vote. All her nominations, and the outpouring of support for them, might also lead to a live Grammy performance.
Favorite Storylines
Taylor and Dua's deserved representation I didn’t expect two of my favorite albums of the year to come from mainstream Pop artists, and I definitely didn’t expect one of those artists to be Taylor Swift. But 2020 was short on albums that really impressed me start to finish, and folklore and Future Nostalgia were among those select few. With such a shocking set of Album of the Year nominees, some heavy contenders were always going to get the shaft, but I’m just so happy that it wasn’t one of these two albums. The albums' lead singles “Cardigan” and “Don’t Stop Now,” respectively, were also terrific, and it’s nice to see them nominated in the Record and Song of the Year categories. Given how prominently featured Lipa and Swift are in the Pop categories, too, they look favored to be the big winners of the night, and that’s fine by me.
"Everything I Wanted" and "Black Parade" I wondered if given the tumultuous summer we had with police killings and ensuing Black Lives Matter protests, there might be more of an emphasis from the Grammys this year on recognizing protest or black celebration songs, and the answer was, a little bit. I didn’t expect that recognition to partially come in the form of “Black Parade,” though, and while it might be easy for the cynical to say they only singled this particular one out because it’s Beyoncé, I’m still delighted to see how well its performed amongst the nominees. Similar to her groundbreaking “Formation,” it seamlessly incorporates black imagery and musical themes. Unlike “Formation,” though, it’s not a radio-ready beat, which makes its nomination even more surprising and delightful. “Everything I Wanted” is less of a surprise, given that Billie Eilish basically won all the Grammys just a year ago. But still, I didn’t necessarily expect it to get nominated for anything, as it was a bit under-the-radar and was overshadowed by Eilish’s singles released since then. I was happy to be wrong, though; “Everything I Wanted,” heartbreaking and beautiful, is among my favorite individual tracks of the year, an instantly calming listen.
Coldplay for Grammys…in 2020!! Screw all the haters. People love to pile on Coldplay anyway, and especially in the wake of a surprising nomination for Album of the Year, the knives were out for the lads in the Twittersphere in particular. Look, I’ll admit my bias here; Coldplay is one of those groups I’ve loved since my childhood that, despite being able to objectively recognize some flaws, I will never not love. But seriously guys, Everyday Life is actually a really good album. There’s a couple tracks that sound like the same old band, sure, but by and large, this was the most they stretched themselves musically perhaps in their entire career, and the lyrical themes on race, multiculturalism and faith were some of the most profound and best-realized in their discography. I don’t know that I’ll be cheering for them to win, per se, but I may be one of the few Grammy watchers not screaming in anger should it happen.
Netflix delights One of the best shows I got turned on to in the last year was Season 1 of Rhythm + Flow, Netflix’s ‘American Idol for Rap.’ It combined the known reality television format with judges who are stars in the industry and a wealth of young talented artists in a genre that is severely underrepresented in musical talent shows. It’s a very addictive binge, and I can’t recommend it enough; but the reason I bring it up is because my favorite contestant from the very start was a guy who called himself D Smoke. Because I want you to watch the show if you haven’t, I won’t spoil how his stay on the show works out, but regardless, it’s the same D Smoke that finds himself a double nominee in the 63rd Grammys, and it’s two big ones: Best New Artist and Best Rap Album. He’ll be a big underdog in both races, but either way, he’s on his way to the big time, no doubt. And speaking of singable Netflix content, I was recently treated to the absurd and delightful Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga. The Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams comedy is so stupid but so sweet and is chock full of extremely satisfying tunes. So I am absolutely elated to see it snag a nomination for “Best Compilation Soundtrack,” because whether it wins or not, the potential to see “Jaja Ding Dong” performed on the Grammy stage is there.
In quick summation: we already knew the 2021 Grammys would be a show unlike any other before, but based off of these nominees, it’s shaping up to be quite a crazy night. As we get closer to the ceremony, I’m sure I will work on an extended outline of predictions and races to watch. But one thing I can confidently say from here is that while there may be some favorites, there’s gonna be a whole lot of unknowns going into these awards. And from a ‘what will happen next?!’ standpoint, that’s a change I’m going to find pretty refreshing.*
*I reserve the right to change my optimistic outlook if Post Malone just ends up winning everything okay thanks byeeee
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