The Nominees: Record Of The Year
- Daniel Woodiwiss
- 7 hours ago
- 8 min read
Lady Gaga's return to the Pop throne started with the release of a lead single during last year's Grammys ceremony. Can "Abracadabra" provide a full-circle moment and make Gaga a big winner at this year's Grammys?
We're just onnnnne week away from the 2025 Grammys! That means it's time to preview another general category at the ceremony. In case you missed it, here is my breakdown of the Best New Artist field, and of the Song of the Year nominees. Next award up in our pre-Grammys bonanza: Record of the Year!
Just a refresher from our last piece: Record of the Year is one of two awards to serve as a prize for a song in a general capacity, rather than a genre field (like Best Pop Performance, or Best Rap Song, etc.). The other, of course, is Song Of The Year. Annually, the inevitable question from reasonable people-- myself included --is, what is the difference between the two? To be honest, I've never really known a good answer, so, from the horse's mouth: "The Record Of The Year category recognizes the artist’s performance as well as the overall contributions of the producer(s), recording engineer(s) and/or mixer(s) if other than the artist. The Song Of The Year category recognizes the songwriter(s)."
Essentially, I think what this is saying is that Record Of The Year is more a trophy for the general production of a song, while Song Of The Year is more about the bare-bones music and lyrics. That hasn't necessarily held up when considering the last decade of winners: Adele's "Hello" beat Beyoncé's "Formation" for both awards, despite the latter having unequivocally more impressive production. In 2018, Bruno Mars' "24K Magic" beat out the extremely favored summer smash hit "Despacito." And just last year, Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us" became the 7th track in the last decade to win both awards, which provided little clarity. So, despite what the award's stated intentions are, voting might simply come down to which one of the big radio hits the voters liked the most. All that being said, here are the nominees, in order from least to most likely to win, according to odds from GoldDerby.com.
"Anxiety" - Doechii
Odds: 0.57%
Peak Chart Position (General): 9th
Peak Chart Position (R&B/Hip-Hop): 2nd
Daniel's Production Value Rating: 5/10
The irony of "Anxiety" being nominated for 'the producer's award' is that the production in question is essentially just using “Somebody That I Used To Know” by Gotye. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a phenomenal song to sample! But for one, it was released in 2012 and oh by the way, already won this very award. As a result, it's tough to rate, because the original is produced brilliantly, but the nominated parties are not Gotye but rather Doechii and Nicolas De Porcel, and I don’t know what those two did differently from Gotye, if anything. I suppose you can say Doechii’s vocals are blended well with this one, though the large number of detractors that this song has might argue otherwise. Anyways, I guess what I'm saying is there’s probably a reason this is the longest shot to win, but both the artist and the very song she samples are previous winners of significant Grammys, so there’s no reason to think this winning is out of the question!
"The Subway" - Chappell Roan
Odds: 1.13%
Peak Chart Position (General): 3rd
Peak Chart Position (Pop Airplay): 26th
Daniel's Production Value Rating: 8/10
I mentioned at the top that it's a common occurrence for songs to be nominated for both Song and Record of the Year, and this year, "The Subway" is somewhat amazingly the ONLY nominee to not also earn a nod for Song of the Year, taking the spot of Huntrix's "Golden" in this field. I personally find this very ironic, as not only do I tihnk it was snubbed for a Song of the Year nomination, it probably would straight up be my pick of winner; it's totally a music-and-lyrics driven track, making the most of Chappell’s powerhouse and evocative vocals. All that being said, I'm happy to see it here, and it is great production from Daniel Nigro per usual, in fairness. It starts with a nice touch at the top, with the quiet sound of a train leaving the station segueing into the strummed intro, and Chappell’s harmonies are layered beautifully throughout, especially at the end. The simplicity of the production and the underperformance of this single relative to other Chappell Roan records-- and fellow Pop nominees --probably make this a long shot. But I happen to remember an exciting, up-and-coming Pop starlet winning Best New Artist in 2020 and then coming back with a surprise Record of the Year win one year later for a soulful, emotional track that didn’t chart as well. So there is precedent!
"WILDFLOWER" - Billie Eilish
Odds: 1.36%
Peak Chart Position (General): 17th
Peak Chart Position (Pop Airplay): 10th
Daniel's Production Value Rating: 8/10
I touched on why this is such a surprise nomination in my Song of the Year preview earlier this week, but honestly, it's probably an even bigger surprise nod in this field, as the production is much less the star of this track than Billie’s own voice and lyrics are. Still, this is more good stuff from Producer of the Year Grammy winner Finneas, beautifully mixing his and Billie’s harmonies behind her strong melody. There's a good instrumental crescendo at the end of this, too, without being overbearing. The arguments for and against "WILDFLOWER" are similar to those of "The Subway," truthfully: this was not a huge hit, especially by Billie Eilish's own lofty benchmarks, and the production isn’t the star of it the way it is with other nominees. But it is a lovely little song, and there is plenty of star power behind it; it is, after all, the team that owns multiple Record of the Year wins already and 11 Grammys in general between them.
"DtMF" - Bad Bunny
Odds: 2.95%
Peak Chart Position (General): 2nd
Peak Chart Position (Latin): 1st
Daniel's Production Value Rating: 9/10
Bad Bunny is one of the most nominated artists on the night, and this track is responsible for two major nominations. "DtMF" was not only the best-performing single from DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS, it was also one of his best-performing ever. It reached # 2 on the Hot 100, but also topped the Streaming Songs charts, marking only his second single to accomplish that feat, and remained in the charts for over 40 weeks, the longest stay of any of Bad Bunny's songs. The title track is also the first of this bunch so far that feels like the production really was as big a star as the music/lyrics themselves. Benito sounds great here, and the lyricism is important, don’t get me wrong. But the driving plena beat is used masterfully here, cutting in and out like the memories in the song, and the little electronic synths are such an addictive touch, elevating the nostalgic feel of the song. This is less of a sure thing in its race than some of Bad Bunny’s other categories on the night, but I think there's a good chance the superstar is in for a big night, and a personal record-setting single winning Record of the Year could certainly be part of a big night.
"APT." - ROSÉ & Bruno Mars
Odds: 4.99%
Peak Chart Position (General): 3rd
Peak Chart Position (Pop Airplay): 1st
Daniel's Production Value Rating: 6.5/10
The unlikely success of ROSÉ and Bruno Mars's collaboration vaults it all the way into Record of the Year contention, an award many would argue is the highest honor a song can receive. I stated in my Song of the Year preview that the cadence of this track felt like the “Hey Mickey” song, and wondered if that might be an oversimplification. But in fact, listening to the instrumental without vocals makes that even clearer; it's the same basic beat, almost the same as Taylor Swift's “Shake It Off." That makes up a good part of the production in this song, but it does kick up a few notches in the latter half, though, which helps build the energy, and the spacey synths in the background are a good touch as well. There's nothing mind-blowing about the production, but it's at least a more sensible nod than for the 'songwriter's award.' Given the chart performance of this one, and more importantly its diverse and unique genre appeal, it could have a fighter’s chance.
"Manchild" - Sabrina Carpenter
Odds: 13.15%
Peak Chart Position (General): 1st
Peak Chart Position (Pop Airplay): 1st
Daniel's Production Value Rating: 2/10
Sabrina Carpenter is a double nominee for this track, but so too is frequent collaborator Jack Antonoff, who produced and co-wrote "Manchild." Antonoff is wildly hit or miss for me, but I did think his collaboration with Sabrina mostly worked really well on Short n’ Sweet, especially in the hit song “Please Please Please”, which feels like the template for what he was trying to do here. Alas, in this case we got Bad Antonoff. He is doing the absolute most here (not in a good way), to the point of overshadowing-- and in some cases literally drowning out --Sabrina’s honey-sweet vocals. The build of vocals in the bridge feel poorly stacked here, too. I can't stress how much the production on this otherwise fun little track irks me; it basically feels like the production equivalent of this. The good news for Sabrina and Jack is that my opinions matter not for the purpose of a Grammys race, and they both have carved out quite the positive reputation among Academy voters. That, and the success of this single from a Pop heiress, make this a strong contender.
"luther" - Kendrick Lamar & SZA
Odds: 31.41%
Peak Chart Position (General): 1st
Peak Chart Position (R&P/Hip-Hop): 1st
Daniel's Production Value Rating: 10/10
Now THIS is how you flip a sample. Take notes, “Anxiety”! The segue of Luther Vandross’ "If This World Were Mine" into the soft beat drop is simply beautiful, eliciting this sort of reaction from the listener off the bat. Sounwave, the credited producer on this track, is a frequent collaborator of Kendrick Lamar's and he delivered once again; the bouncy beat and the lush strings in the chorus are so much of the magic of this song. It’s production perfection on top of already the beautiful vocals and lyricism from SZA and Kendrick. Were it as simple as Record of the Year actually being "the producer's award," this would be the runaway winner, in my opinion, but of course, more goes into the voting than that criteria alone. Fortunately, "luther" was also the biggest song among all nominees here, and was the hit single of 2025 for the most-nominated artist of the night, so there's plenty of reason to believe it can win, no matter the criteria used.
"Abracadabra" - Lady Gaga
Odds: 44.44%
Peak Chart Position (General): 13th
Peak Chart Position (Pop Airplay): 6th
Daniel's Production Value Rating: 9/10
Lady Gaga's smash single off of Mayhem, which itself is nominated for multiple awards, faced longer odds in the Song of the Year race, but is the runaway betting favorite for this trophy heading into the final week. It makes sense from a storyline angle: the Pop queen has never won a major Grammy despite her storied career, and with a horse in the Song, Record and Album of the Year races, has a real chance to end that drought this year, thanks to a hit released during this awards ceremony last year that kicked off a huge 2025 for Gaga. But it also makes sense from a quality angle: the production here from Gaga, Andrew Watt and Cirkut is immaculate. the guitar licks in the pre-chorus are almost reminiscent of Moby or some other late 90s/early 2000s alt-rock, but the verses and chorus are nonstop and pulsating, anchored by a relentless techno beat. The electronification (it’s a word) of Gaga’s backing vocals in the pre-chorus and chorus also add another dimension to an already trippy and hypnotic part of the track. If this is to be Lady Gaga's big Grammy breakthrough, it would be a deserving one.
Comments