The nominees for the 2019 Grammy Awards were announced overnight, and people are both shocked by some of the successful nominees, and equally shocked by who wasn’t nominated.
The Record of the Year category includes songs like ‘Rockstar’ by Post Malone and 21 Savage, ‘The Middle’ by Zedd, Maren Morris & Grey, ‘Shallow’ from the A Star Is Born soundtrack and ‘This Is America’ by Childish Gambino.
What wasn’t included were any of the singles off Taylor Swift’s ‘Reputation’, or any of the singles off Ariana Grande’s ‘Sweetener’. Not even no tears left to cry.
I may be biased, because somehow, no tears left to cry was one of my top-played songs this year, but that song is significantly better than anything Post Malone has produced. “Ayy, I’ve been fuckin’ hoes and poppin’ pillies / Man, I feel just like a rockstar” isn’t exactly interesting, or even particularly good.
As for Album of the Year, nominees included Cardi B, Drake, Janelle Monáe, Kacey Musgraves, the Black Panther soundtrack, and… Post Malone. Seriously, again?!
Notable exclusions include ‘Reputation’, ‘Sweetener’, and Jay-Z and Beyoncé’s ‘Everything Is Love’.
‘Sweetener’ and ‘Reputation’ were both nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album, and ‘god is a woman’ was nominated for Best Pop Solo Performance, but it’s simply not good enough.
2018 was Ariana Grande’s year. If she wasn’t making headlines for her whirlwind relationship with Pete Davidson, she was making them for the consistently fantastic songs she was releasing. ‘no tears left to cry’, ‘god is a woman’, ‘breathin’, ‘the light is coming’, and ‘thank u, next’ (which wasn’t eligible for nomination for 2019, so let’s hope it’s nominated in 2020) were all released this year, and they were all amazing.
And while I’m not the biggest Taylor Swift stan, ‘Reputation’ was a solid pop album, and Swift’s fans are understandably upset by the fact that she only received one nomination. That’s one less than Post Malone.
The #GRAMMYs may have snubbed Taylor Swift, but the charts and record-breaking tour don’t lie. #Reputation was ????? one of the best albums of the year. ? We still stan a legend! ? https://t.co/UIYdIHwf9W pic.twitter.com/SdcrSPoS2t
— Entertainment Tonight (@etnow) December 7, 2018
(Confession time: I haven’t listened to ‘Everything Is Love’, but I am certain it’s better than anything Post Malone has produced.)
On the plus side, it’s great to see things like the Black Panther soundtrack, ‘Dirty Computer’ and ‘Golden Hour’ be recognised for the brilliant albums they are. And I’m crossing my fingers that ‘Pynk’ wins Best Music Video, because that video is a work of art.
One last thing: because of the Grammys’ Best Spoken Word Album category, former US President Jimmy Carter is now nominated for a Grammy in the same category as Tiffany Haddish and Questlove. Now that’s a category to watch!