It’s that time of year when the music industry’s top artists are prepared to face months of agony before learning if they will take home the coveted golden gramophone — or go down in history as just another nominee.

That’s right, folks. Grammys season is upon us.

With the 2020 nominations out, there are many delightful surprises, as well as some shocking snubs. 

Before I jump in, I want to highlight a few helpful reminders:

  • The Grammys eligibility period this year is from October 2018 to August 2019. That’s why something from October 2018 could be eligible for this, but something from October 2019 would not be.
  • Record Of The Year rates a song on how it sounds to a listener. Song Of The Year grades a song’s writing.
  • The Grammys are decided by the Recording Academy, a group of music industry professionals. The awards are not influenced by fan input.

This year’s nominations are an immediate eye-opener, simply based on the fact that the three artists with the most nominations — Lizzo, Billie Eilish and Lil Nas X — are all 2019 newcomers to the music scene and are all Best New Artist nominees. 

However, I was floored to see my girl Megan Thee Stallion left out of the Best New Artist category. Not only did Megan release several hit singles without even releasing an album yet – such as “Cash Shit” and “Big Ole Freak” — but she also inspired a whole culture of “hot girl summer.” That alone deserves some recognition. Here’s hoping for 2021. 

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Lizzo has generated some controversy with her hit single “Truth Hurts” being a nominee in several categories, even though it was released in 2017. It’s technically eligible in the eyes of the Recording Academy because the song was added to the track list of her album Cuz I Love You (Deluxe), but it still seems odd to have this song among nominations that were actually released in the eligibility period.

For Album Of The Year, Ariana Grande certainly deserved recognition for her smash album thank u, next. Lizzo’s Cuz I Love You (Deluxe) was another surprise to see. But it ultimately made me happy because I firmly believe that several songs on that album are better than “Truth Hurts.” 

I’ll admit that Lil Nas X had an amazing year with the record-breaking success of “Old Town Road.” But I won’t pretend that his album 7 deserved an Album Of The Year nod. Like, what?

I saw lots of Twitter fury over Taylor Swift’s Lover being left out of the category. To that, I’ll just say that not every album by your fave is an Album Of The Year winner.

Moving on to robberies, I will not be silent in the snubbing of The Highwomen’s self-titled album for Best Country Album. It was one of my favorite albums this year, and it seems weird for the project to be ignored even though Grammy-favorite Brandi Carlile is a highwoman herself. 

If I had to predict what will happen at this point, the big three categories will probably play out as: 

  • Album of the year: thank u, next, Ariana Grande
  • Song of the year: “Truth Hurts,” Lizzo
  • Record of the year: “bad guy,” Billie Eilish

Tune in to the ceremony on Jan. 26, 2020 to watch me be right!

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