The day the Grammy Awards nominations come out is like Christmas morning to me. There is quite possibly nothing I enjoy more than opening Pitchfork that morning and scrolling through, hoping to see my favourite albums and songs of the year nominated for their respective categories. Does it ever happen? Usually not. I have vivid memories of last year’s ceremony, sitting on my couch, watching my TV with my fingers double crossed, praying that Beyonce’s RENAISSANCE would win Album Of The Year (AOTY). Of course, that didn’t happen. Instead, Harry Styles won for Harry’s House. As Beyonce’s second work following her magnificent 2017 album Lemonade—which was also tragically snubbed—she deserved to win because of that loss and because of what RENAISSANCE meant to Black listeners. I could list my years of disappointment over AOTY winners, but it would sadly be endless.
This year, though, I am allowing myself to have hope. With three and a half of my favourite albums of the year being nominated for AOTY, I’ve calculated a 43.75 per cent chance that I will be satisfied while watching this year’s award ceremony.
My Hopes:
I would be most ecstatic with Lana Del Rey (LDR)’s ninth studio album Did You Know That There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Boulevard? (DYKTTATUOB) taking the trophy. But, I will still be almost as happy if SOS by SZA or the record by boygenius wins. I might be content with Taylor Swift’s Midnights, but definitely not happy—thus the half chance.
On the topic of LDR, I believe she deserves to win something. Even just one Grammy. After being notoriously snubbed in 2019 when her album Norman Fucking Rockwell! didn’t win AOTY (or anything else!), it’s important that she wins now. DYKTTATUOB is her second-best album—the record has such a high quality of lyricism, with intimate familial themes woven throughout. Her winning either AOTY—or for one of the other categories she was nominated for—will restore some of my faith in the Grammys.
I hope that either SZA or boygenius sweeps this year. SZA’s win would be justified after losing the Grammy following the release of Ctrl—her critically acclaimed debut album—and the success of boygenius’ the record in bringing visibility and joy to the queer community should not go unrecognized. And in a perfect Venn diagram of the two, I’m rooting for SZA and Phoebe Bridgers to win Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for their song “Ghost in the Machine” on SOS.
Seeing Ice Spice get nominated for some awards made me incredibly happy. As a fellow New Yorker, she will always have a special place in my heart. I hope to see her win Best New Artist, and she and Nicki Minaj definitely should win Best Rap Song for “Barbie World” as the song is super fun and upbeat, and was incredibly popular this past summer.
Overall, I’m proud to see so many of my favourite artists nominated, just as I am proud that women artists have received the majority of nominations this year. A bit of my faith in the Recording Academy and their decisions has been restored. Who they decide to give the awards to, however, will most likely make me lose such faith all over again.
My Predictions:
My actual prediction, however, is that the Recording Academy will absolutely rip all of our hearts out again. My expectations are that I will sigh, like always, after every award category, with the exception of maybe one or two. Like the realist I am, I’m aware of how unlikely it is that my faith will remain, thus continuing my endless cycle of hope to disappointment that comes every year following Music’s Biggest Night.
The Grammys will air live on Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024 (8:00 to 11:30 p.m. ET) on the CBS Television Network and will stream on Paramount+.
