The Grammy Awards claim to be music’s biggest night, an exciting spectacle of live performance and major upsets honoring the best in the biz. With 84 categories, it’s easy to get lost in the fanfare of an awards ceremony that is as self-congratulating -- members of The Academy, i.e., people who have won a Grammy previously or qualify as an industry professional -- as it is exhaustive, recognizing everything from Record of the Year to Best Album Notes.
This year’s ceremony, which airs on Sunday on CBS live from Los Angeles, promises some historic moments, including in memoriam tributes to Prince and George Michael, Katy Perry’s first performance of “Chained To The Rhythm,” her new song featuring Skip Marley, and a genre-scrambling union of Lady Gaga performing with Metallica.
For those who want to play catch up on a year of music or want a guide map of what to expect when it comes to the winners and losers, Vanyaland presents its prediction of the winners in 10 of the Grammys’ biggest categories.
Best New Artist
Kelsea Ballerini
The Chainsmokers
Chance The Rapper
Maren Morris
Anderson .Paak
Who Will Win: This was Chance The Rapper’s year. Talented, charismatic, truthful, and innovative, Chance’s songs, and mixtape, The Coloring Book, sounded like nothing else. He also releases his songs independently (take that, big money!), has been working his way through certain music circles for some time and has only now broken into the public consciousness (finally!). He is the epitome of the Best New Artist award. Expect The Academy to award him accordingly.
The Dark Horse: With comparisons to Nickelback and the ubiquitous annoyance of their songs played everywhere, The Chainsmokers were too hot for their own good this year. They reached peak status with “Closer” and now it seems the public’s consensus is that they just need to go away. Out. Maren Morris is a contender here, but where country Grammy winners like Kacey Musgraves appeal to The Academy for genre innovation, Maren Morris feels like a re-tread of what’s already been done. The one to watch for is Anderson .Paak, whose featured crooning or raps had been bubbling under for a while prior to the release of his excellent own record, Malibu. He can’t be pinned down, and this inability to define him is what makes him deserve the Grammy.