2025 Grammy nominations: 10 takeaways : NPR

The pop music panorama has been awash in famous person juggernauts (Taylor Swift, Beyoncé), headline-grabbing beefs (Drake vs. Kendrick Lamar, et. al.) and a freshly minted gaggle of hit-makers corresponding to Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan, Charli XCX and Shaboozey. Appropriately sufficient, every of the aforementioned artists — besides Drake, who stopped submitting his music for Grammy consideration some time again — acquired a great deal of nominations when subsequent yr’s Grammy Awards contenders have been introduced Friday.

That isn’t to say that every little thing performed out precisely as anticipated. And there are many subplots and storylines to unpack as we await the Grammys telecast on Feb. 2, 2025:

1. It’s been an enormous yr for girls in pop. Bear in mind again in 2018, when Neil Portnow, then head of the Nationwide Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, mentioned that ladies wanted to “step up” after that yr’s Grammys have been overwhelmingly received by males? Yeah, he sucked. This yr, ladies dominate the most important classes: In report of the yr, track of the yr and album of the yr, six of the eight nominees are headlined by ladies, although a number of share billing with male counterparts. And, whereas the most effective new artist subject is break up 50-50, the overwhelming frontrunners (Roan and Carpenter) are each ladies.

2. As anticipated, Beyoncé leads the sector. The 2 most closely nominated musicians of all time share a family: Till Friday, Beyoncé and Jay-Z have been tied with 88 nominations apiece, whereas Beyoncé holds the all-time report for Grammy wins with 32. Now, Queen Bey has a surprising 99 nominations to her title, as Cowboy Carter and an assortment of its songs have racked up a field-leading 11 nods. It helps that Cowboy Carter sprawls throughout a number of genres and brings in a great deal of collaborators, which made her eligible in additional classes than, say, Chappell Roan, who lacks eligible collaborations and didn’t submit in any genres outdoors pop.

3. Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter be part of a choose group. The Grammys have 4 common, cross-genre classes, which have collectively come to be often called The Large 4: album of the yr, report of the yr, track of the yr and greatest new artist. Within the historical past of the awards, solely 13 artists have been nominated in all 4 classes throughout the identical yr — most just lately Olivia Rodrigo three years in the past. (FINNEAS kinda did it that yr, too, however it didn’t depend; he was nominated for greatest new artist as a solo act, however his different nominations in that yr’s Large 4 have been headlined by his sister, Billie Eilish.) Within the newest spherical of nominations, Roan and Carpenter are up for every of The Large 4; if both occurs to brush, she’ll change into solely the third artist ever to take action, after Christopher Cross in 1981 and Eilish in 2020.

4. Wait, Sabrina Carpenter — whose Brief n’ Candy is her sixth album — is up for greatest new artist? Yeah, the class of greatest new artist may actually use a rebrand, maybe to one thing like “greatest breakthrough artist,” as a result of newness may be very a lot within the eye of the beholder right here. However Carpenter broke by means of in an enormous manner in 2024, so she was eligible. (The foundations are extra byzantine than that, however that’s the gist of it.) Similar goes for her fellow nominee Khruangbin, which has been cranking out albums since 2015, however pretty just lately grew to become fashionable sufficient to fill stadiums.

5. Talking of complicated classes… Grammy viewers have lengthy been baffled by the distinction between report and track of the yr. Because it seems, so are Grammy voters, who heard Shaboozey’s chart-topping “A Bar Track (Tipsy)” and nominated it for track of the yr, however not report of the yr. Track of the yr is an award for composition, whereas report of the yr is an award for the whole package deal: the manufacturing, the efficiency, the vibe. “A Bar Track (Tipsy)” is terrific; it’s nice enjoyable. However it’s extra of a “report of the yr” sort of track than a “track of the yr” sort of track.

6. The report of the yr subject does embody one very previous track. “A Bar Track (Tipsy)” famously interpolates J-Kwon’s 2004 hit “Tipsy,” however the Recording Academy went even additional again for the awards’ premier class. John Lennon wrote and recorded his demo of The Beatles’ “Now and Then” someday round 1977, however the track wasn’t completed or launched till late 2023. Naturally, it got here out with an enormous surge of fanfare, although it’s extra curiosity than traditional; nonetheless, it’s one in all eight songs nominated for report of the yr in 2025. If it wins, it’ll be the primary time a Beatles track received a Grammy since all the best way again in… February 2024, when a remastered reissue of 1966’s “I’m Solely Sleeping” received greatest music video.

7. The album of the yr subject options two excessive darkish horses. Six of the eight nominees for album of the yr have been just about mortal locks: Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter, Sabrina Carpenter’s Brief n’ Candy, Charli xcx’s Brat, Billie Eilish’s HIT ME HARD AND SOFT, Chappell Roan’s The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess and Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Division. These six albums dominated 2024 — not solely based mostly on gross sales and streaming, but additionally by way of their total cultural footprint. The subsequent two? Not a lot.

One is Jacob Collier’s Djesse Vol. 4, which marks Collier’s first album of the yr nomination because the one he obtained for, um, Djesse Vol. 3. With credit score to NPR Music editor Jacob Ganz, who referred to this nomination as “filling the Jon Batiste jazz-but-with-smiling spot,” the nod to Collier feels unusual coming from such a crowded subject of powerhouse contenders. Nonetheless, it’s not as surprising because the nomination for André 3000’s New Blue Solar — which is, bear in mind, an epic-length assortment of flute-forward instrumental odysseys. OutKast was a Grammy staple, certain, and many individuals have been inquisitive about André’s first report in 17 years. However… album of the yr? Actually?

8. After all, there have been snubs. Getting not noted of a subject of 5, six or eight nominees isn’t technically a “snub” — it’s simply math, actually — however there have been nonetheless surprises amongst this yr’s Grammy omissions. Dua Lipa’s Radical Optimism didn’t carry out in addition to its predecessor, and the sector of girls in pop was unusually crowded and robust this yr, however her lack of nominations feels notable. (See additionally: Ariana Grande, who did choose up three nominations however was shut out of The Large 4.) Followers is likely to be stunned to see Zach Bryan absent from the sector, given how properly his information carried out in 2024, however he refused to submit any of his music for consideration, so he’s out. The largest shock of all could also be Vampire Weekend, whose Solely God Was Above Us was thought-about a lock to be nominated in a number of classes — presumably even album of the yr — however obtained not noted of all of them.

9. Talking of which, Ye’s Grammy star might lastly be fading. The artist previously often called Kanye West has been nominated for 75 Grammys, and received 24 of them. Even an extended string of controversies did not dampen the Grammys’ enthusiasm for him, on condition that Donda was nominated for album of the yr simply three years in the past. However Ye’s newest album, the Ty Dolla $ign collaboration Vultures 2, yielded only one nomination, for greatest rap track (“Carnival”). Ye is both matched or exceeded by a powerful assortment of girls, as this yr’s rap classes embody nominations for Cardi B, Doechii, GloRilla, Beyoncé (joined by Linda Martell), Latto and Rapsody (with Erykah Badu).

10. By no means, ever overlook Taylor Swift. Wait, did you simply learn 12 paragraphs and solely one of them talked about Taylor Swift? Is that even authorized? Actually, how dare you? Swift picked up six extra nominations this yr, bringing her complete to 58 total, with 24 wins — together with 4 album of the yr gramophones. She’s picked up her seventh nomination for album of the yr (for The Tortured Poets Division), is within the operating for track and report of the yr (for “Fortnight”) and… hey, the place are you going?