SZA, “Barbie” Songs and Young Women lead the nominees for the gramophone awards
The Music Awards 2017: The Music of a Superstar, a Pop-Folkie, and a Star of the Future
The candidates for best new artist include Monét, the banjo-playing pop-folkie Noah Kahan, Jelly Roll, the British Dance producer known as Fred again, and the R&B singer and actress Coco Jones.
This year’s female nominees will be seen as a sign of progress for the industry, since in the past years the Grammys have failed to adequately reward female artists. Still, the key will be who ultimately wins.
Many in the industry had expected a record of the year nod for the country solo performance of “Fast Car.” Instead, they got a nod for across-Generational smash with a reverently faithful version of Tracy Chapman’s 1988 song “Fast Car.” (“Fast Car” was not, however, eligible for song of the year, since it had already been nominated for that award in the ’80s.)
Zach Bryan, an admired songwriter who found chart success this year with a self-titled album, was recognized only in country categories, for that LP and for “I Remember Everything,” a duet with Kacey Musgraves. And Morgan Wallen, a streaming titan whose album “One Thing at a Time” was a blockbuster this year, is absent completely — a sign, perhaps, that the coastal industry mainstream has not forgiven Wallen for his use of a racial slur two years ago, as establishment Nashville seemingly has. While Wallen was not among the four writers of the song, it is up for best country song.
Harvey Mason Jr., the CEO of the Recording Academy, said in an interview that the nominations only reflect the judgement of the 11,000 or so voting members.
There are a lot of songs from the Greta Gerwig movie “Barbie” in this year’s nominations. Both ” What Was I Made For?” and “Dance the Night” received nominations for record of the year and song of the year. “Barbie World” by Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice will compete for best rap song. Tracks from the soundtrack also hog up four of the five available slots in best song written for visual media. CARAMANICA
The category of msica urbana is unusual. Its three — only three — nominees are deserving: the reggaeton producer Tainy, the electronics-loving pop experimenter Rauw Alejandro and the Colombian songwriter Karol G, whose 2023 album, “Mañana Será Bonito,” was the first Spanish-language album by a woman to reach No. 1 on the Billboard 200. But música urbana — encompassing reggaeton, Latin hip-hop, dembow, Latin trap and more — is a crowded, competitive, hugely popular format. The Grammys couldn’t find five nominees? All they had to do was turn on the radio. JON PARELES
The best rock Song category is one of the more reliable at the Recording Academy, but it has an unexpected delight this time around: It goes up against the Rolling Stones. “Angry,” pitting some of this year’s oldest nominees (average Stones age: 78) against one of the youngest (at 20, Rodrigo is still not old enough to order a celebratory champagne). Rodrigo is the only nominee in the category who isn’t part of a band, but her track has the fewest number of writers: just two, herself and the producer Daniel Nigro. (The other competitors include boygenius, Foo Fighters and Queens of the Stone Age.)
“Ballad of a Homeschooled Girl,” built on a classic Stones song with plenty of room to breathe, is an example of the social awkwardness that draws on ’90s rockers like Veruca Salt. Both describe uncomfortable situations; both sound like a load of fun. It is pleasing to see that the latest album from Rodrigo, dubbed Guts, has a good reputation in the rock field. CARYN GANZ
If anyone should have gotten respect from the Grammys it was Paul Simon. His 2023 album, “Seven Psalms,” plays as a thoughtful, complex, tuneful farewell, anticipating his death. It is a statement that awards show claim to recognize, as it is couched in intimate acoustic arrangements. Simon won 16 Grammys over the course of his career, which started with Garfunkel. When it came to high-profile categories, including album of the year, and only one obscure nomination for best folk album, Simon’s “Seven psalms” was shut out and replaced by Joni Mitchell at Newport. The Grammys used to reward late-career albums by musicians like Steely Dan (“Two Against Nature”), Bob Dylan (“Time Out of Mind”) and Tony Bennett (“MTV Unplugged”). Simon’s battle with mortality seems to have gotten stuck between generations. PARELES
