Playing Along With The 61st Annual Grammy Awards

Between the icy conditions outdoors and the busy sports season (NBA Trade Deadline/Upcoming All Star Weekend, Super Bowl, MLB Free Agency stalling) it's about time I hopped back on my blog to break my 2019 silence. Yeah I was dead wrong about that awful Super Bowl but, nobody could have foreseen the lowest-scoring of all 53 Super Bowls coming. Moving on to a more fun topic... Alicia Keys is set to host the 61st Annual Grammy Awards, an award show that has never felt less relevant to the music world than it does now. Years removed from Drake and Justin Beiber skipping out on the event and only one year removed from not giving Lorde a platform when each of her fellow Album of the year nominees were invited on stage, the biggest name in music today has turned down performing at the event due to some pretty stupid production by the lead producer of a show that is supposed to highlight the biggest and best of music today. In other words, I won't feel like I'm missing out on a ton when I have to work instead of doing my annual live tweet-storm during the broadcast on CBS (7 PM CT). I'm rooting for Alicia Keys.

The nominees are a total guessing game this year with one-third of the nominations being predictable, popular choices, another third being actual quality music and then there's total wildcard picks like Brandi Carlile and H.E.R. that keep me up at night wondering, "How the hell do they choose these nominations?!". It's time to pick apart who SHOULD win each of the big awards and who ultimately WILL be crowned as Grammy winners.

Record of the Year

And the nominees are...

- "All The Stars" by Kendrick Lamar & SZA
- "God's Plan" by Drake
- "I Like It" by Cardi B featuring Bad Bunny, & J Balvin
- "Rockstar" by Post Malone featuring 21 Savage
- "Shallow" by Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper
- "The Joke" by Brandi Carlile
- "The Middle" by Zedd, Maren Morris, & Grey
- "This Is America" by Childish Gambino

Who should win? Childish Gambino
Who will win? Brandi Carlile

The Grammy committee could finally decide that they've snubbed Kendrick for far too long and finally give him a major category win for "All The Stars" (A very deserving song) but, "This Is America" is still a more interesting song, even without the all-timer music video. This could be anyone's award to win but, I don't foresee "Shallow" or "Rockstar" getting many votes when "Shallow" is a song with Bradley Cooper singing (not that he's bad but, he's not GRAMMY AWARD WINNING great) and "Rockstar" is the third or fourth most notable Post Malone song of the past calendar year. Ultimately, they'll give this award to Brandi Carlile because she is the second best songwriter here behind Kendrick and the Grammy's are really good at picking that one obscure (in the majority of viewers' eyes) artist with a guitar over the biggest name in music (right up there with Ariana, Drake and Cardi) time and time again. Just please don't make "The Middle" any more of a thing than it already is.

Album of the Year

And the nominees are...

- Beerbongs & Bentleys by Post Malone
- Black Panther: The Album by Various Artists
- By The Way, I Forgive You by Brandi Carlile
- Dirty Computer by Janelle Monae
- Golden Hour by Kacey Musgraves
- H.E.R. by H.E.R.
- Invasion of Privacy by Cardi B
- Scorpion by Drake

Who should win? Either Janelle Monae or the Black Panther Soundtrack
Who will win? Kacey Musgraves

It's very weird and telling for how little attention Kacey Musgraves gets on country channels across America in 2019 but, she won the CMA for Country Album of the Year so it's sort of the safest pick here as an already established winner. Overall, it's a pleasant yet dull listen for me outside of the singles. The Black Panther soundtrack feels like a damn Now! That's What I Call Music collection with more hip hop as every song could effortlessly slide into a hip hop or pop playlist and be a highlight of that playlist. Janelle Monae's album is the most obviously well thought out conceptual album with androids and sex dominating every song's narrative. Ultimately, I'd ideally choose one of those two for my personal Grammy (My real Album of the Year is still Beach House's 7). H.E.R.'s nomination here covers two bases that the show has had issues with in the past (It's a combination of "Why aren't black artists getting the big awards?" and "The Grammy's are so un-hip that they gave Bon Iver Best New Artist five years into his career") and realistically has no chance at winning. The popular albums nominated are either too overhyped (Invasion Of Privacy) or the most boring, sluggish albums full of filler that produced overrated hit songs (Drake and Post Malone). I'm okay with Cardi B winning but, she's received enough "ALBUM OF THE YEAR!" nods from every publication around that the album itself is severely overrated. Oh! Did I mention Brandi Carlile? I've been a huge fan of hers for over a decade now and despite having yet to release a bad album, I must say that By The Way, I Forgive You is quite possibly my LEAST favorite album of hers (and it's still good) so, I'm 100% fine with them giving her a well-earned, legacy win... I just don't want it to be for an album that was a tad too yeehaw for my tastes (It really pains me to say anything bad about her music when she is just a perfect live act).

Song of the Year

And the nominees are...

- "All The Stars" by Kendrick Lamar & SZA
- "Boo'd Up" by Ella Mai
- "God's Plan" by Drake
- "In My Blood" by Shawn Mendes
- "Shallow" by Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper
- "The Joke" by Brandi Carlile
- "The Middle" by Zedd, Maren Morris & Grey
- "This Is America" by Childish Gambino

Who should win? Childish Gambino
Who will win? Donald Glover (AKA: Childish Gambino)

Despite the controversy surrounding whether or not "This Is America" is an original song, it is still by far, the most sonically interesting entry here.

Best New Artist

And the nominees are...

- Bebe Rexha
- Chloe x Halle
- Dua Lipa
- Greta Van Fleet
- H.E.R.
- Jorja Smith
- Luke Combs
- Margo Price

Who should win? Jorja Smith
Who will win? Dua Lipa

Quite an eclectic mix in the Class of 2018. In country corner, you have Luke Combs and Margo Price... yeehaw. In R&B corner, you have H.E.R. (A heavy favorite considering her Album of the Year nod) and Jorja Smith (Had the best album of anybody listed here and it's not close). In pop corner, Dua Lipa came out with some STRONG smash hits in "New Rules", "IDGAF", "One Kiss" and "Electricity" and Bebe Rexha somehow has the biggest country song of all time with her Florida Georgia Line feature on "Meant To Be". Chloe x Halle remain interesting for future Grammy nominations as their vocals can be absolutely hypnotizing and that Beyonce' co-sign should help them garner even more attention after an outstanding performance of "God Bless America" at Super Bowl 53. Lastly, rock is not dead with Led Zeppelin's zombie reincarnation project Greta Van Fleet being another possible winner with all of the older rockheads still hanging around on the committee.

Now that I've picked apart the major awards, here are how I see some of the lesser (but still interesting!) dominoes falling this Grammy weekend...

Best Pop Solo Performance

And the nominees are...

- "Better Now" by Post Malone

- "Colors" by Beck

- "God Is A Woman" by Ariana Grande

- "Havana (live version?)" by Camila Cabello

- "Joanne (Where Do You Think You're Goin'?)" by Lady Gaga

Who should win? Ariana Grande
Who will win? Post Malone

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance

And the nominees are...

- "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" by Backstreet Boys

- "Fall In Line" by Christina Aguilera featuring Demi Lovato

- "Girls Like You" by Maroon 5 featuring Cardi B

- "S Wonderful" by Tony Bennett & Diana Krall

- "Say Something" by Justin Timberlake featuring Chris Stapleton

- "Shallow" by Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper

- "The Middle" by Zedd, Maren Morris & Grey

Who should win? I have NO strong feelings about this but... Backstreet Boys
Who will win? Maroon 5

Best Pop Vocal Album

And the nominees are...

- Beautiful Trauma by P!nk
- Camila by Camila Cabello
- Meaning Of Life by Kelly Clarkson
- Reputation by Taylor Swift
- Shawn Mendes by Shawn Mendes
- Sweetener by Ariana Grande

Who should win? Camila Cabello
Who will win? Camila Cabello

Best Alternative Music Album

And the nominees are...

- American Utopia by David Byrne
- Colors by Beck
- Masseduction by St. Vincent
- Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino by Arctic Monkeys
- Utopia by Bjork

Who should win? You already fucking know.
Who will win? Considering they have her performing with Dua Lipa (WTF?) on television, I'm optimistic about St. Vincent's odds here. Never count out Beck.

Best Rap Performance

And the nominees are...

- "Be Careful" by Cardi B
- "Bubblin" by Anderson .Paak
- "King's Dead" by Kendrick Lamar, Jay Rock, Future & James Blake
- "Nice For What" by Drake
- "Sicko Mode" by Travis Scott featuring Drake, Big Hawk & Swae Lee

Who should win? "Nice For What" or "Sicko Mode"
Who will win? Cardi B

Best Rap/Sung Performance

And the nominees are...

- "All The Stars" by Kendrick Lamar & SZA
- "Like I Do" by Christina Aguilera featuring Goldlink
- "Pretty Little Fears" by 6lack featuring J. Cole
- "Rockstar" by Post Malone featuring 21 Savage
- "This Is America" by Childish Gambino

Who should win? Kendrick or Gambino
Who will win? Kendrick & SZA

Best Rap Song

And the nominees are...

- "God's Plan" by Drake

- "King's Dead" off the Black Panther Soundtrack

- "Lucky You" by Eminem featuring Joyner Lucas

- "Sicko Mode" by Travis Scott featuring Drake, Big Hawk & Swae Lee

- "Win" by Jay Rock

Who should win? Travis Scott

Who will win? Just Drake.

Best Rap Album

and the nominees are...

- Astroworld by Travis Scott

- Daytona by Pusha T

- Invasion of Privacy by Cardi B

- Swimming by Mac Miller

- Victory Lap by Nipsey Hussle

Who should win? Pusha T (and I reallllllly like both Astroworld and Swimming)

Who will win? Cardi B

Best Music Video

And the nominees are...

- "Apeshit" by The Carters

- "I'm Not Racist" by Joyner Lucas

- "Mumbo Jumbo" by Tierra Whack

- "Pynk" by Janelle Monae

- "This Is America" by Childish Gambino

Who should win? "This Is America"

Who will win? "This Is America"

I'm not too invested in this year's show but, am fully prepared for the outrage following upsets like every year in the past. Ultimately, I just want some good performance and considering the stacked lineup of guests they'll have on stage this Sunday, they really are letting the music do the talking. Here's a list of performances taking place...

- Camila Cabello with J Balvin, Ricky Martin, Arturo Sandoval and Young Thug

- Cardi B

- Brandi Carlile

- Chloe x Halle

- Miley Cyrus

- Dan + Shay 

- Fantasia, Andra Day and Yolanda Adams

- H.E.R.

- Dua Lipa and St. Vincent

- Little Big Town

- Post Malone and Red Hot Chili Peppers

- Shawn Mendes

- Janelle Monáe

- Kacey Musgraves

- Lady Gaga and Mark Ronson

- Dolly Parton with Little Big Town, Maren Morris, Kacey Musgraves, Katy Perry and Miley Cyrus 

- Diana Ross

- Travis Scott

There might not be any "Bubble Bowl" cameos but, I get the feeling that Grammy night will destroy Super Bowl night in terms of entertainment value. If it doesn't, then why do people still have cable?

Kevin Winter/ Getty Images
The only "Sweet Victory" Travis Scott will get this Sunday is the chance to perform in front of music's biggest audience for a second weekend in a row.