2023 Grammy nominations are officially out and on trial in the court of public opinion.
On Tuesday, Nov. 15, the Recording Academy released its complete list of nominees for the 65th Annual Grammy Awards. Unsurprisingly, nominations repeatedly highlighted artists such as Harry Styles, Adele, Beyoncé, ABBA and Kendrick Lamar, with albums like “Harry’s House” (2022), “30” (2021) and “Renaissance” (2022) dominating most of the major categories. Doja Cat and Taylor Swift also make an inevitable appearance, with “Woman” and “All Too Well (10 minute version) (The Short Film)” showing up in several categories.
Despite the vague nod of public approval that accompanied nominations for some of the highest-grossing and generally most popular albums of this year, there always seems to be a few things that the Academy gets wrong.
Starting off with Album of the Year, nominations for this category feature several artists with the potential to take home the title. Based on her past popularity with the academy, Grammy Awards veteran Beyoncé may be the favorite to win for her album “Renaissance,” however Adele’s “30” will not be going down without a fight. In a matchup similar to the 2017 Grammy Awards where Adele’s “25” (2015) faced Beyoncé’s “Lemonade” (2016) and won, these two powerhouses appear to be the front-runners in this category of the awards once again.
Other strong contenders in the Album of the Year category include Harry Styles’ “Harry’s House,” Kendrick Lamar’s “Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers” (2022) and Bad Bunny’s “Un Verano Sin Ti” (2022).
“Un Verano Sin Ti,” while receiving its well-deserved nomination for Album of the Year as the first-ever Spanish album in a major category, surprisingly did not break through into the Song or Record of the Year categories, leaving Bad Bunny fans upset at the Puerto Rican rapper’s absence in major areas of the awards.
Similarly, another large cause of public outcry against this year’s nominations is the obvious lack of attention to Rosalía’s “Motomami” (2022), which earned an impressive eight nominations at the Latin Grammy’s and a mere three at these awards, none of which are in major categories. Rosalía’s surprising snub sits alongside other female artists such as Nicki Minaj, Megan Thee Stallion and the K-pop girl group BlackPink, all of whose names were interestingly excluded from this year’s nominations. Florence and the Machine also shockingly only received one nomination in the category of Best Alternative Music Performance for her song “King,” snubbing “Dance Fever” (2022) of any nominations in the alternative album category.
In regards to Song of the Year, the fight between Adele and Beyoncé — as well as Harry Styles, Kendrick Lamar and Lizzo, — now has a new contender: Taylor Swift. Receiving a nomination for “All Too Well (10 minute version)(The Short Film),” this song is an interesting contender among the mix, seeing as it is a re-released version of a song originally debuted back in 2012 on Swift’s album “Red.” During its original release, “Red” was shockingly snubbed of receiving any awards, leaving fans hopeful that “All Too Well (10 minute version)(The Short Film),” as well as “I Bet You Think About Me,” — which is nominated in two country categories — will not face the same fate.
Despite the undeniable success of “All Too Well (10 minute version),” it’s not necessarily a clear-cut favorite to win, with Adele’s “Easy on Me,” Beyoncé’s “Break my Soul” and Harry Styles’ “As It Was” all being incredibly successful nominations in the category. While “All Too Well (10 minute version)” may be more successful in the Best Music Video category, Swift is still a strong contender across the categories for which she is nominated.
Other notable nominations at this year’s awards include Ozzy Osborn for “Patient Number 9” — with Osborn being nominated in four rock and metal categories — Wet Leg, who received an impressive five nominations for a new artist, the cast of “Encanto” and Coldplay for “Music of Spheres” (2021).
