Every year, new music and new artists rise to stardom. In early February, the Grammys recognizes the new big contributions to music from the past year, as winning a Grammy award is the highest recognition that a musician can receive in their career. This year, the 66th Annual Grammy Awards will be held at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Sunday, February 4, at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
One award that people look forward to is the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. This award is the most impressive award in the Grammys. This year, the nominees include Did You Know That There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd by Lana Del Rey, GUTS by Olivia Rodrigo, SOS by SZA, The Record by Boygenius, World Music Radio by John Batiste, The Age of Pleasure by Janelle Monét, Endless Summer Vacation by Miley Cyrus and Midnights by Taylor Swift. These albums were all very influential in pop culture over the past year, with majorly successful concert tours and creating new music-lovers all over the world.
In my opinion, Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd should win this title. Even though Taylor Swift did a fantastic job of using Midnights to create a strong, dedicated fanbase and launch her notorious Eras Tour, I feel as though the music on Lana Del Rey’s album is superior. She blends pop music with something deeper, integrating more personality. Her unique lyricism and voice both make her stand out against artists like Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo.
Although The Record by Boygenius has beautiful music that evokes more emotion than any other album on this list, it was less recognized across all music genres and did not make a giant splash in the industry, similar to World Music Radio and The Age of Pleasure. SOS was extremely successful, but wasn’t groundbreaking, similar to Midnights.
While I believe that Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd is a greater album than Midnights, my prediction is that Midnights will come out on top due to its extreme publicity and popularity this year across the world.
Another title that gets awarded at the Grammys is The Best New Artist. There are quite a few candidates for this award: Coco Jones, The War and Treaty, Noah Kahan, Fred Again, Gracie Abrams, Victoria Monét, Ice Spice and Jelly Roll. Although all these artists all worked hard to make a name for themselves this year in music, a couple of them made a bigger impression than the others.
Noah Kahan, Gracie Abrams and Ice Spice were popular on all social media platforms and released multiple albums and songs that quickly gained relevance and stayed well-known throughout the entire year. Noah Kahan gained popularity this year through Tiktok, promoting his 2023 album expansion, Stick Season (We’ll All Be Here Forever), and building excitement for future projects. Gracie Abrams used Instagram and YouTube to build her platform, gaining an audience of all ages. Although she started getting attention in 2020, the release of her album Good Riddance in early 2023 launched her career and opened her up to opportunities like performing as an opener for Taylor Swift. Ice Spice first began her rise to fame in late 2022, but quickly made a name for herself when her song “Munch (Feelin’ U)” went viral on Tiktok. Throughout 2023, she collaborated with other popular artists and released her debut EP Like…?, charting at #15 on the US Billboard 200.
I think any of these artists would make an acceptable winner of this award since they all accomplished a similar amount throughout this past year. They all play very different genres of music, so it’s difficult to compare them.
One of the last awards that considers music from every genre is Record of the Year. The contesting records are “Worship” by Jon Batiste, “Not Strong Enough” by Boygenius, “Flowers,” by Miley Cyrus, “What Was I Made For?” by Billie Eilish, “On My Mama,” by Victoria Monét, “Vampire” by Olivia Rodrigo, “Anti-Hero” by Taylor Swift and “Kill Bill” by SZA. Most of these songs are from each artist’s album that was nominated for the Album of the Year Award as well.
Two records that will probably not win, in my opinion, are “On My Mama” and “Worship.” Along with rarely hearing these songs on the radio and online, these songs are not that enjoyable to listen to. I believe that “Not Strong Enough” is the best song out of all these options, not considering the major commerciality of “Vampire” and “Anti-Hero.”
I think “What Was I Made For?” by Billie Eilish will win this award. Featured in the hit movie Barbie, this song impacted watchers worldwide and has a more important message than any of the other songs up for the award.
I think “Anti-Hero” and “What Was I Made For?” are the top contenders for Record of the Year because they made the biggest impact across the board. “Vampire” has a good chance of winning as well, but I’m not sure if anything will be able to beat “Anti-Hero” since it’s a Taylor Swift song and she was extremely prominent throughout this past year.
Next month, the Grammy Award Show will air and the awards will be granted to the artists and the music that deserve it the most in the eyes of The Recording Academy, an academy for music professionals in every field.
