With the Grammy's rapidly approaching and nominations for coveted awards like Album of the Year officially out, here are my predictions for everyone's favorite winter award show:
Album of the Year
There’s several likely winners here but I’ve narrowed it down to two: Taylor Swift and Lana Del Rey. Swift’s “Midnights" broke countless records (ugh) and with the dominance of her Eras Tour, this award is hers to lose. The only hindrance I see to her winning is the fact that a win in this category would make her the first person to ever win Album of the Year four times, leaving Frank Sinatra, Stevie Wonder and Paul Simon in the dust with their three wins.
While this would certainly be a year to cement Taylor Swift as an integral presence in the music industry, it seems odd to do it with an album that has the lyric “Karma is a cat purring in my lap,” — especially over those three powerhouse artists. I’m not hating on “Midnights,” I’m actually a fan of the album, but in comparison to the other albums she’s won this award for (“Folklore” in particular), it seems weak.
Del Rey, on the other hand, has long been consistently snubbed by the music industry, and I think this could be the year the Grammy's finally make it right. “Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd” is a work of art, an amalgamation of the career of one of the most influential artists in music, and its themes centering around her public image only serve as a reminder of why she has such influence. On top of that, Lana and SZA’s albums are the only albums I really see deserving of a win, but it seems like SZA’s moment long passed.
Who will win: Taylor Swift, “Midnights”
Who should win: Lana Del Rey, “Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd”
Record of the Year
If it was up to me, this award would be going to either boygenius’ “Not Strong Enough” or SZA’s “Kill Bill,” but as my Instagram followers like to remind me, it is not up to me.
