The Grammy nominations are always contentious. From nominating artists in categories they have no place in, to nominating artists who don’t necessarily deserve it, The Grammy’s picks for music’s highest honour often rub some fans the wrong way. But, where it hits us the hardest are the artists that they snub. And so, to catch you up to speed, here are the biggest snubs from the 2020 Grammy nominations.
Peppa Pig
The 7-foot-tall, 4-year-old has been nothing short of iconic in 2019. With her first album, aptly titled My First Album, being released in April this year, she’s given her hardcore stans all the timeless bops they needed whilst simultaneously impacting the Irish, Scottish and UK charts. Reasons why she was snubbed are unclear – it could be her infamous beef with Iggy Azalea or the London Fire Brigade, but hopefully, The Grammy’s will listen to her plea to be taken seriously.
Taylor Swift
Yes, she was nominated for Song of the Year for ‘Lover,’ Best Pop Solo Performance for ‘You Need to Calm Down,’ and Best Pop Vocal Album for Lover. But when we’re talking about Taylor, this is considered a snub. Notably, T-Swizzle is absent from the Album of the Year category, one that she has won on two separate occasions, leading Swities around-the-world to lose it. Given all the drama that’s unfolded this year, it’s not hard to see why Swifties are mad that TayTay losing the chance to win AOTY for an LP that she actually owns.
BTS
With the drop of their album Map of the Soul: Persona, the seven-piece K-pop machine rose to critical and commercial acclaim. The LP also earned them their third chart-topping album within an 11-month period. So, why the hell are the biggest boy-band in the world being snubbed from music’s highest honour? Who friggen knows. All we do know is, the constant snubbing of K-pop artists leads to an even bigger divide between the Academy and the actual interests of everyone. Mic drop.
Megan Thee Stallion & City Girls
The Grammy’s have never been good when it comes to acknowledging rap music. With this set of nominations, we see rap music being largely shut out of the major four categories (yet again) and only men dominating the other rap categories. As such, the biggest issue here is the lack of acknowledgement to Megan Thee Stallion & City Girls who have arguably shaped the rap-music scene much more than their male counterparts in 2019.
“thank u, next” – Ariana Grande
The title-track of Ariana’s latest LP will go down as one of the greatest pop songs of this decade. It’s unclear why the wildly contentious, quasi-problematic 7 Rings has snagged a Record of the Year shoutout and thank u, next hasn’t. I would like to speak to the manager, please.