By: Scott Daniels
In my opinion, 2019 has been a bit underwhelming for the music industry.
Not only did big projects like Jesus Is King by Kanye West not meet overly-high expectations, but more successful and critically acclaimed albums, like IGOR by Tyler, The Creator, were surrounded by unintentional controversy.
Regardless, the announcements for the 2020 Grammy Awards nominees are finally here.
After looking through the list, it seems 2019 is not done disappointing just yet.
It seems as if this year the Grammys are more focused on plays than ratings.
Lizzo’s third album Cuz I Love You definitely left a major impact on the music industry this year, sporting a body-plus-size-positive mindset and avoiding mediocre ratings with the addition of emotional, theatrical structure to her already versatile sound.
Although there are great songs on the album like “Juice” and “Better in Color” as well as the iconic “Truth Hurts,” I do not agree in the slightest with it receiving eight nominations total, including Album of the Year, Song of the Year and Record of the Year.
Don’t get me wrong, I think Lizzo deserves to be in and even win a lot of these categories, it feels like the Award show is determined to put trends (I’m looking at Billie Eilish and Lil Nas X) over true artist inclusion.
Fortunately, there were a few nominations that actually surprised me.
For Best Country Song, Eric Church’s “Some of It” and Best Dance Recording’s nominee Bonobo’s “Linked” are sure to give these long-running contenders some proper recognition.
In general, the nominations have set up some true competition.
For Song of the Year, Lizzo is nominated against big names like Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift and Lana Del Rey.
Out of all of them, I’d say realistically Lizzo or other nominee Billie Eilish will win since they’re more fresh and trendy.
For Best Rap Performance, I’d place my bet on Dreamville or the J. Cole single “Middle Child” because each are the safe bet.
If the Grammys are truly choosing winning artists based on accessibility, it really shows how flawed their system can be.
Hopefully, this year’s winners or next year’s nominations can change my mind about how the Grammys are actually awarding artists.
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