The nominees for the 65th annual Grammy Awards have been announced with Beyonce nabbing the most nominations. But we’ve been here before where Beyonce has been used as a marketing tactic to draw viewers in. Since she appears to be a good sport by submitting her highly-acclaimed album Renaissance for consideration, why not make this fun by creating our very own fantasy Grammy Awards list. Let’s get right into it!
It can be confusing understanding the difference between Record of the Year and Song of the Year. Record of the Year is an award designated to the artist, along with producers, recording, mixing, and mastering engineers. Song of the Year honors the songwriters of singles or tracks.
For Record of the Year, nominees include ABBA’s “Don’t Shut Me Down,” Adele’s “Easy On Me,” Beyonce’s “Break My Soul,” Mary J. Blige’s “Good Morning Gorgeous,” Brandi Carlile’s “You And Me On The Rock,” Doja Cat’s “Woman,” Steve Lacy’s “Bad Habit,” Kendrick Lamar’s “The Heart Part 5,” Lizzo’s “About Damn Time,” and Harry Styles’ “As It Was.”
Our Pick: From an industry perspective, it’s between Beyonce and Lizzo. We really want Beyonce’s “Break My Soul” to get this award for single-handedly reviving a beloved era of music, all while courageously bridging genres together.
Song of the Year lists GAYLE’s “abcdefu,” Lizzo’s “About Damn Time,” Taylor Swift’s “All Too Well,” Harry Styles’ “As It Was,” Steve Lacy’s “Bad Habit,” Beyonce’s “BREAK MY SOUL,” Adele’s “Easy On Me,” DJ Khaled’s “GOD DID,” Kendrick Lamar’s “The Heart Part 5,” and Bonnie Raitt’s “Just Like That.”
Our Pick: The voting can be pretty difficult anytime you have major pop and genre-bending acts in one category. “GOD DID,” “All Too Well,” and “BREAK MY SOUL” all waged a persuasive campaign throughout the Grammy eligibility year. It would be ideal for Steve Lacy to have an “upset” win in this category, although Lizzo’s record has been licensed across major platforms, featured in commercials, and blasted at live events.
Album of the Year nominees consist of some of the same artists as Record of the Year with the inclusion of Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti and Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres. Other albums in this category are Voyage (ABBA), 30 (Adele), Renaissance (Beyonce), Good Morning Gorgeous (Mary J. Blige), In These Silent Days (Brandi Carlile), Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers (Kendrick Lamar), Special (Lizzo), and Harry’s House (Harry Styles).
Our Pick: Beyonce’s Renaissance is a major contender in this category, but the indelible impact of Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti may have this award in the bag.
Some of our other picks are Lizzo’s “About Damn Time” for Best Pop Solo Performance and her album, Special, for Best Pop Vocal Album. Beyonce’s “BREAK MY SOUL” for Best Dance/Electronic Recording and her album, Renaissance, for Best Dance/Electronic Music Album.
Here are some of our other picks:
Best Pop Solo Performance / Lizzo – “About Damn Time”
Best Pop Vocal Album / Lizzo – Special
Best Dance/Electronic Recording / Beyonce – “BREAK MY SOUL”
Best R&B Song / Beyonce – “CUFF IT”
Best Progressive R&B Album / Steve Lacy – Gemini Rights
Best Rap Performance / GloRilla & Hitkidd – “F.N.F. (Let’s Go)”
Best Melodic Rap Performance / (*Tie) Latto – “Big Energy” or Jack Harlow – “First Class”
Best Rap Album / Kendrick Lamar – Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers
Check out the complete list of nominees at Grammy.com. The 65th GRAMMY Awards airs live Feb. 5, 2023 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, and will broadcast on CBS.
