2022 Grammy Nom Reaction
In case you missed it in your preparations for Thanksgiving, or amidst the nonstop cavalcade of tragic news events, or among the endless tweets about the current season of Succession, or your binge-watching of the beginning of college basketball season, two weeks ago today, the nominees for the 64th Grammy Awards were announced. And if you did miss it, kudos, because yet again, people were sure talking about them.
Last year was understandably disjointed, and the ensuing lack in quantity of music releases perhaps should have primed us to expect the unexpected. But this year, while not completely free of the effects of the pandemics and not without its significant world events, definitely felt more like a 'normal' year, and for some reason I guess I thought that might mean a more normal Grammys? That logic may not exactly check out, but I don't think I was alone in my feelings that we surely wouldn't see the level of surprising inclusions and exclusions from the nomination announcement that we saw last year.
Yet, when the nominations dropped on Thanksgiving Eve, the notably universal reaction for the second straight year 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.)
General Fields Following Last Year's Pattern
Part of the reason last year’s Grammy nominations caused such a furor wasn’t just about the names that weren’t on the list for the major award, it was about the ones that were. Thinking of Album of the Year as the most prominent example, nobody last year could have been surprised to see eventual winner Taylor Swift, or pop stars Dua Lipa and Post Malone among the nominees. However, absolutely nobody— and I mean NOBODY — could have predicted Jhene Aiko, Black Pumas or Jacob Collier to be listed either.
This year the Academy might not have reached quite as far into the depths of the music industry for surprises, but the nominations for the General field have in a sense picked up where 2020 left off, in that essentially each of the major awards has a field evenly split between obvious contenders and shock candidates. Let’s start with Album of the Year: you may recall in my preview for this award from two months ago that I absolutely guaranteed Olivia Rodrigo’s SOUR and Billie Eilish’s Happier Than Ever to be included in the nominees, and that came to fruition. I also considered Taylor Swift’s evermore, Li’l Nas X’s MONTERO, Doja Cat’s Planet Her and H.E.R.’s Back Of My Mind serious contenders, and was not surprised to see any of them listed among the nominees (although the latter may have surprised and irked many… more on that in a minute). But Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett’s Love For Sale? Kanye’s DONDA?! Justin Bieber’s ‘The Weeknd, by way of MLK and Jesus’ album?!?! Sure, I had them as albums to keep an eye on simply because you can’t write off the name recognition of those artists, but no way did I think they would actually be nominated. (Ironically, even though I am most incensed by Justice’s nomination, it’s Kanye’s that is the most shocking for me… you’re telling me My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Yeezus, The Life Of Pablo, all among the best albums of the 2010s, can’t score nominations for the top honor, but DONDA can?!) And I thought this might finally be the year where I snap the streak of completely whiffing on at least one of the nominees, but Jon Batiste’s We Are came from completely off the radar for me. The jazz musician and singer and Stephen Colbert bandleader ended up as the most nominated artist of the night. Who had that on their prediction sheet?
The same trend followed in the Record and Song of the Year categories. Rodrigo’s “drivers license” was a shoo-in in each, and will probably be the favorite for both awards, and fellow double nominees “Happier Than Ever,” “Kiss Me More,” “Leave The Door Open,” and “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” were all sensible inclusions based on the year they had. But Justin Bieber’s “Peaches” and especially Brandi Carlile’s “Right On Time” were double nominees that I don’t think many, if any at all, would have expected to see nominated for one of the two major awards, let alone both. Carlile is a double nominee in Song of the Year, as her duet with Alicia Keys “A Beautiful Noise” scored a completely unforeseen nod, and against all odds, H.E.R. has a chance to defend her title after “I Can’t Breathe” won Song of the Year in a stunning upset last March, and she may have an even better chance this year. “Fight For You” is likely a song you’ve never heard of, but it’s the reigning Oscar winner for Best Original Song. The Record of the Year field is even more bonkers. Joining the seven aforementioned double nominees is that man Jon Batiste again, with “Freedom,” Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett again for “I Get A Kick Out Of You,” and ABBA — yes, ABBA! — for “I Still Have Faith In You.” If you haven’t heard any of these tracks, you’re far from alone. None of them even charted in the United States. “I Get A Kick Out Of You” was written in 1936. “Freedom” doesn’t have a Wikipedia entry and so far as I can tell, wasn’t even released as a single by Batiste; it’s just a song on his album.
There are some truly confounding names up for the biggest award of the night, but I guess that’s more likely to happen when you suddenly widen the playing field for the award. Which brings me to the next major takeaway from these noms…
Is The Academy Still Sketchy?
After being publicly called out by The Weeknd and several other artists in the wake of his stunning snubs last year, the Recording Academy, especially its CEO Harvey Mason, Jr. made a big show of the fact that they were finally doing away with the ‘secret votes,’ which saw the final ballots come to be through a whittling down process by anonymous “nomination review committees.” This long-standing step of the process had been explained as a method to protect the integrity of the awards, but it increasingly came under fire in recent years due to increasingly stunning inclusions and exclusions; when The Weeknd’s After Hours was snubbed for Album of the Year and “Blinding Lights” for Record and Song of the Year in 2020, it was not at all surprising that many voiced their skepticism about what went on with these committees behind closed doors.
Yet, even with this much-needed step towards transparency, the nominations once again yielded more questions than answers. The move to expand the field for general awards may genuinely have been a “thoughtful, well-intentioned process that was also data-driven,” as co-president Valeisha Butterfield Jones told the New York Times. But the move to do so at the 11th hour comes across as shady, especially when you look at some of the names that benefitted from this move: Li’l Nas X, Doja Cat, and SZA, all some of the buzziest performers of today. ABBA and Brandi Carlile, go-to favorites of the old guard. And most notably in the Album of the Year category, Taylor Swift and Kanye West. Mason, Jr. was adamant that the ninth and tenth nominee in each case were simply the ninth and tenth highest vote getters, the two that would have originally been ‘the first two out’ under the previous fields of eight. And that well may be true, but there also might be a chicken-or-egg debate here. Did they decide to expand the field to ten nominees, and the random beneficiaries were Taylor Swift and Kanye West? Or did they see that the artists left out of the Album of the Year were two of the most known musicians in the entire world, who oh by the way, just happen to have a well-documented, much-publicized feud with each other, and decide to go ahead and expand the field by a couple? Inquiring minds would like to know.
There’s also the fact that the academy has returned to a select few artists that they seem to have just made their pet favorites. I love Billie Eilish, but the sheer amount of awards she’s won is already a touch ridiculous, let alone the sheer amount of total nominations she’s now scored to date. And I need to know who on the nomination committees is related to H.E.R. I’m a big fan of the multitalented musician as well, but that is now FOUR years running that she has scored major award nominations, despite getting little to no hype from the internet, from the radio, nothing. As a friend— one who, it should be noted, is much more tuned-in to R&B than I am —said to me, “H.E.R. is great and is putting out great work… but like, so are Ella Mai, Jorja Smith, Jessie Reyez, etc.” Why does the 24-year old randomly just have a lock on all things R&B at the Grammys?
Surprises Pleasant and Unpleasant
This topic has been touched on already in this piece, but only lightly; it’s mostly been danced around. So let’s get into it! What are some of the worst snubs of all?
There was no snub quite on the level of the The Weeknd not being nominated for any awards last year; what few songs and albums that approached the level of cultural relevance “Blinding Lights” and After Hours had last year found their way into the nominations this year. That said, several artists reserve the right to feel jilted. Perhaps none more so than BTS. Look, I don’t particularly get why the K-pop group is so huge, either, but they are huge. As in record-breakingly so. They’re the most popular musical act on the planet, and it’s not particularly close, and literally two days before these nominations were announced, they cleaned up at the American Music Awards, including winning Artist of the Year, so it’s not exactly like you can make the argument their global superstardom hasn’t permeated these United States. And yet, for the second year in a row, the Grammys threw the group a single bone, nominating hit song “Butter” for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. For an awards show that’s clearly interested in maintaining relevance, their lack of interest in BTS is truly bizarre and inexplicable.
BTS is the only General fields absence that well and truly surprised me, but once you venture into the Genre-specific categories, many more become noticeable. If Taylor Swift’s evermore getting an Album of the Year nod was a mild surprise, the bigger surprise was that it was the only nod for the reigning Grammy queen on the night. No Pop (or even Country, or Folk) nominations for evermore, nor hit songs “willow” or “no body, no crime.” And speaking of slighted Album of the Year winners from the last few years, if you were craning your neck looking for more Kacey Musgraves, join the club. Kacey got nods for Best Country Song and Best Country Solo Performance (both for “camera roll”), but that was it; no Song of the Year nod, nor album love, not even in in the Country field, for star-crossed. Two is the same number of nominations Tyler, the Creator got, despite releasing easily the most acclaimed Rap release of the year. He’ll have a chance to repeat his 2020 victory for Best Rap Album, and is nominated as well for Best Melodic Rap Performance, but I expected a good amount more love for one of the most respected, innovative rappers in the game today. And if we’re talking snubbed rappers, Megan Thee Stallion is foremost on my mind (well, she always is foremost on my mind, but that’s not what we’re talking about here); the reigning Best New Artist saw virtually no love for her well-received release Good News, tallying up only one nomination on the night, for Best Rap Performance. Also, I get that many were not as high on Solar Power as I was, but zero nominations for Lorde? Zero?? That’s a pretty intense level of repudiation for one of the most unique young talents in the music world.
Finally, pour one out for Bo Burnham. His captivating, wildly acclaimed and popular Inside was admittedly a dark horse contender for Album of the Year, but it would have been a deserving nominee, and an awesome move by the Academy to diversify the options and types of material recognized. And alas, not only did Bo miss out on any major award noms, he wasn’t even considered for the Grammy for BEST COMEDY ALBUM. If nothing else, he seemed a surefire bet to win that one, but instead was relegated strictly to Best Music Film, leaving the Comedy field to be populated by everyone’s non-problematic faves Louis C.K. and Kevin Hart.
But, lest this turn into merely a sour grapes piece, I assure you I did find at least a couple of the surprises from the nominations announcement quite pleasant, too! The Best New Artist field followed suit with the other General fields in terms of being populated with half no-brainers, half total wild cards. But unlike in the other major categories, I was generally delighted with (albeit confused by some of) the nominees here! Glass Animals have been making music for over a decade, and Pakistani vocalist and composer Arooj Aftab has for nearly as long, but it was still cool and unexpected to see both nominated, as it was to see Japanese Breakfast and Arlo Parks, the latter of whom is responsible for one of my favorite albums of the year. Come to think of it, other than The Kid LAROI, there really isn’t a single Best New Artist nominee who could win that would make me angry; it’s a moot point of course, because it will absolutely go to Olivia Rodrigo, but that sentiment is just a nice departure from last year, where I was ready to hunt and kill if it went to someone other than Megan Thee Stallion or Phoebe Bridgers.
Both Japanese Breakfast and Arlo Parks also feature in the field for Best Alternative Music Album, home to my other favorite surprise: Fleet Foxes! When I listed Shore in my Album of the Year preview, I owned up to the fact that it was a pipe dream, but I am ecstatic to see any sort of Grammy recognition for my old indie-folk faves at all. Also, if we’re going to throw in completely unexpected major Grammy contenders, as is what appears to be the norm now, I’m happy with them being someone as talented and exciting as Jon Batiste. And finally… I’ll admit it, I like the DONDA love. Sue me! Of course I’m annoyed that it’s for this album, at this point in Kanye’s life and career, but you know what? It’s about damn time the Grammys put some respect on his name, and DONDA is hardly a failed project.
Hottest Races Of The Night
I’ll shy away from bona fide predictions, since that’s something I will be doing as we get closer to awards time, but I will go ahead and alert you to the races I’m most excited to see play out.
This year, unfortunately, they will primarily be within the Genre categories, and thus likely won’t be televised save for a select few. I’m excited to see the major award winners, mind you, but I’ve got an inkling that Olivia Rodrigo is poised for a huge night not unlike the one Billie Eilish had just two years ago. That said, Record and Song of the Year will be ones to watch. Where Rodrigo seems like a slam dunk for Best New Artist and probably Album of the Year, “drivers license” may face some stiffer competition in the two prestigious individual track categories. Will we see the Grammys do the old ‘double winner’ move they did so often over the last decade, or will we see a repeat of last year, where not only did two different songs win the two awards, both winners were massive surprises? Could we see Batiste or ABBA or Brandi Carlile pull a Record of the Year upset based on admiration within the music community? Could Li’l Nas X or Silk Sonic’s star power see one or both of them take one or both awards from Rodrigo? Will we see a repeat of H.E.R.’s Song of the Year stunner from Carlile, or Alicia Keys and Carlile both, or, well, H.E.R.?
Within those Genre awards, though, there’s a whole lot more drama bubbling. The Pop races, both for albums and for songs, are once again loaded with serious contenders. The Best Pop Vocal Album category, for example, features four nominees for Album of the Year, plus a little-known singer named Ariana Grande. Rodrigo will likely be the favorite for most if not all of these awards, too, but has she really put that much distance between herself and the field to complete a clean sweep over the likes of Grande, Justin Bieber, and Billie Eilish?
I’m excited for a genuine contest for Best Rap Album, too, for what feels like the first time in at least 4 years. The field features some real heavy-hitters: the last two winners of the award appear here, Nas and Tyler the Creator, the latter of whom had the best-reviewed release of them all. But they’re joined by J. Cole and Kanye West, two of the biggest and most beloved names in all of rap. And the rap song categories offer good opportunities for female rappers, largely shunned by the awards this year, to pick up some wins, as Cardi B’s “Up,” Megan Thee Stallion’s “Thot Shit,” and Doja Cat and Saweetie’s “Best Friend” will likely be among favorites in their respective fields. What makes these races is even more exciting is that one person who won’t be winning is Drake, who withdrew his nominations, which weren’t even deserved in the first place.
Finally, it’s definitely been true for the last few years, and it’s true once again: the best field of any award is, sneakily, that Best Alternative Music Album category I referenced earlier. Halsey was a surprise inclusion, but a worthy one after the pop star’s more alt-rock turn in If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power, and in Arlo Parks, St. Vincent, Fleet Foxes and Japanese Breakfast, you have four artists who music nuts absolutely love but who all have virtually no Grammys pedigree. An exciting contest with no clear frontrunner, but also no bad choice of winner? That’s my favorite kind.
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