You already KNOW what time it is, ya’ll!! The Grammys recently announced all the nominations for the upcoming awards show at the end of January, and… the nominations are pretty solid this year!
Let’s Talk About Last Year…
Last year, you might remember the nomination announcements… I still stand by the fact that the Weeknd and Mac Miller were robbed, but I still watched the Grammys last year. Why? Because the Grammys are the Super Bowl of music, and we love to see people that we admire win something for a talent.
Last year was pretty balanced, as Dua Lipa won for Future Nostalgia, Meghan the Stallion cleaned up like I said she would, and Nas took home his first Grammy. Now, I am hoping that we get the Rap Album of the Year on camera this year, but that’s another story
How We Finna Do This?
If you were around last year, then this one is simple: I go through a couple categories and say what I want, and then I say my actual prediction. Mind you, there are honestly… several categories that I don’t care about. That said, we’re going to go over the big four (Record, Song, Album, Best New Artist), the Best Pop Album, and let’s just go for it and do all the rap categories. Gather round, because this is Musiq Therapy’s 2022 Grammy predictions!
The Big Four
Album of the Year
Note: There are A LOT of these, and I’ll only be saying the name of the artist. You can check for producers, engineers, etc. at the Grammy website
- We Are – Jon Batiste
- Love for Sale – Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga
- Justice (Triple Chucks Deluxe) – Justin Bieber
- Planet Her (Deluxe) – Doja Cat
- Happier Than Ever – Billie Eilish
- Back of My Mind – H.E.R.
- Montero – Lil Nas X
- Sour – Olivia Rodrigo
- Evermore – Taylor Swift
- Donda – Kanye
What I Want: Not going to lie, out of this selection, I feel like Donda is the strongest. Donda had so much good on it and was so varied in its sound that I think it could win! Plus, I’d love to see Ye win the big one, even if he doesn’t need it.
What I Think Will Happen: Olivia Rodrigo was everywhere this year, and while the Grammys don’t care as much about popularity as the Billboard Awards, they are still a giant popularity contest. Because of this fact, it’ll more than likely be Sour taking home the big one.
Record of the Year
- I Still Have Faith In You – ABBA
- Freedom – Jon Batiste
- I Get A Kick Out of You – Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga
- Peaches – Justin Bieber ft. Daniel Caesar and Giveon
- Right on Time – Brandi Carlile
- Kiss Me More – Doja Cat ft. SZA
- Happier Than Ever – Billie Eilish
- Montero (Call Me By Your Name) – Lil Nas X
- drivers license – Olivia Rodrigo
- Leave the Door Open – Silk Sonic
What I Want: Let me start by saying, “Damn!” Grammys really said, “EVERYBODY is in consideration!” But seriously, there are two songs that I want to win. Montero, because it is genuinely amazing and I want to see all the homophobes have an aneurysm at Lil Nas X taking a Grammy home; and Leave the Door Open, because that Silk Sonic album S L A P P E D but it came out too late to be considered for a Grammy. Also, because it is one of the best songs of this year.
What I Think Will Happen: Like I said, Olivia Rodrigo has been everywhere, and Grammys go for popularity. It’ll either be drivers license or Montero, because Lil Nas X has been ubiquitous in 2021.
Song of the Year
- Bad Habits – Ed Sheeran
- A Beautiful Noise – Brandi Carlile & Alicia Keys
- drivers license – Olivia Rodrigo
- Fight For You – H.E.R.
- Happier Than Ever – Billie Eilish
- Kiss Me More – Doja Cat ft. SZA
- Leave the Door Open – Silk Sonic
- Montero (Call Me By Your Name) – Lil Nas X
- Peaches – Justin Bieber ft. Daniel Caesar and Giveon
- Right on Time – Brandi Carlile
What I Want: Truly, I want Leave the Door Open to win if Montero won Record, or vice versa.
What I Think Will Happen: Something is telling me Billie will take it home, because the Grammys love them some Billie Eilish (no shade whatsoever, she is mad talented and creates some BOPs.)
Best New Artist
- Baby Keem
- Jimmie Allen
- Arooj Aftab
- FINNEAS
- Glass Animals
- Japanese Breakfast
- The Kid LAROI
- Arlo Parks
- Olivia Rodrigo
- Saweetie (checks notes… yep, Saweetie)
What I Want: First off, like everyone else, we were all super surprised that Saweetie was on there, because it didn’t make sense! She’s been prominent since like 2019! What in the hell?? Now, who I really want to win is Baby Keem. I’ll let you all know how I felt about The Melodic Blue in my “Top Albums of 2021” near Christmas/New Years, but I think that Keem has a ton of potential and will truly be one to look out for this decade
What I Think Will Happen: The Kid LAROI, because TikTok. Yep, simply put, “Stay” has dominated the charts because of that app.
What About Pop?
For this one, I’m just doing pop album, because that will be the most prominent award that people will notice. (At least for me, I love all music, but y’all know hip-hop is one of my loves) However, I hope Ledisi wins for best traditional pop vocal album, because she is too damn great to be ignored!
Best Pop Vocal Album
- Justice (Triple Chucks Deluxe) – Justin Bieber
- Planet Her (Deluxe) – Doja Cat
- Happier Than Ever – Billie Eilish
- Positions – Ariana Grande
- Sour – Olivia Rodrigo
What I Want: I would say Planet Her? Not going to lie, haven’t interacted with these albums like that so please take my opinion on this one with an even smaller grain of salt than usual.
What I Think Will Happen: Y’all remember Pop Rocks? I remember them being pretty… Sour. (*rim shot*). Yeah, I think Sour is taking this one.
R A P, Let’s Go!
The moment we’ve all been waiting for: the hip-hop category. Because I’m feeling a little thankful for my website and anyone who interacts with it, especially those who do consistently, I’m feeling like doing ALL hip hop categories! Let’s do it!
Best Rap Performance
- Family Ties – Baby Keem ft. Kendrick Lamar
- Up – Cardi B
- M Y . L I F E – J. Cole ft. 21 Savage & Morray
- Way 2 Sexy – Drake ft. Young Thug & Future
- Thot Shit – Meghan Thee Stallion
What I Want: Family Ties. Either that, or My Life, but I don’t think I could quantify my level of excitement when I heard Kendrick say, “Smokin’ on your top five tonight”.
What I Think Will Win: Probably Thot Shit, because TikTok. While I want Family Ties to win, the only song I’d be genuinely pissed off at winning is Way 2 Sexy. That shit is trash.
Best Melodic Rap Performance
- P R I D E . I S . T H E . D E V I L – J. Cole ft. Lil Baby
- Industry Baby – Lil Nas X ft. Jack Harlow
- WUSYANAME – Tyler the Creator ft. NBA Youngboy and Ty Dolla $ign
- Need to Know – Doja Cat
- Hurricane – Kanye ft. The Weeknd and Lil Baby
What I Want: This one is stacked. This is lowkey hard, because I’d be okay with like three or four of them! I’d say… Hurricane. This one was well-balanced, having The Weeknd sing the chorus and bridge, Lil Baby’s autotuned voice giving a melodic flow, and Ye giving a solid verse (other than, “Everybody hurts, but I don’t judge rentals…” Love you, Kanye, but you got some corny lines sometimes).
What I Think Will Happen: Industry Baby, and I’m alright with that! That was one of my favorite songs this year, and Lil Nas X deserves his flowers. Truly, I’m cool with all of these winning, so I’ll just be happy watching this one.
Best Rap Song
- Bath Salts – DMX ft. Jay-Z and Nas
- My Life – J. Cole ft. 21 Savage and Morray
- Jail – Kanye ft. Jay-Z
- Family Ties – Baby Keem ft. Kendrick Lamar
What I Want: Jail holds the Throne returning! That felt like such a big moment. Also, let’s keep in mind that Jay now has the most nominations at the Grammys, with 83 and Ye isn’t far behind with 75, so I feel like they’ll give one to them based off of that.
What I Think Will Happen: Jail. Honestly, because of them having the most nominations. Now, I think Family Ties will win something, and it’ll be this if not Best Rap Performance.
And finally, the big one…
Best Rap Album
- Call Me If You Get Lost – Tyler, the Creator
- Donda – Mr. West
- King’s Disease II – Nas
- Certified Lover Boy – Drake
- The Off-Season – J. Cole
What I Want: Literally all of them except Certified Lover Boy. All these albums (other than CLB) are at least solid, if not great. Now, I don’t think that Donda is necessarily a rap album, as it is more of melodic pop with rapping on it; but it’s the Grammys so I digress. Truly, I think that it’s between King’s Disease II and Call Me if You Get Lost. I gotta give the edge of what I want to CMIYGL, because I am still listening to it several months later.
What I Think Will Happen: I gotta give the edge to King’s Disease II for what I think will happen, because the Grammys has been trying to retroactively give old school rappers their flowers at their ceremony. King’s Disease II is dope as hell and is another album in the new genre of adult contemporary hip-hop, but consider this a retroactive Grammy for It Was Written.
Outro.
Those are the Grammy noms and my predictions! Let me know what you think will happen at the Super Bowl of music awards shows, shop safely tonight, and take care!
MT Out!!!
All info about the Grammys and Grammy nominations can be found at https://www.grammy.com/grammys/news/2022-grammys-complete-winners-nominees-nominations-list
Photo creds: The Grammys
