This year's nominees are overall an outstanding selection of what music has offered to the world in the past year. The top four (Album, Song, Record of the Year, and New Artist) categories have the strongest selection of nominees in quite some time. Even though many have predicted that Frank Ocean will either win Album of the Year (or someone one else could, considering the rise of Mumford and The Black Keys in pundits circles), there will still be some surprises. Unlike last year, there is no front-runner. In fact, there could be four different musicians being honored in the Big 4 categories. Six different musicians are nominated six times.
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| Adele, who won 6 Grammys last year, could still win won for Best Pop Vocal Performance ("Set Fire to the Rain"), a song off the album 21, which is the same album that earned her those same 6 Grammys. |
Here are some possibilities on what could go down on Sunday night.
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| The person behind the most successful ear worm of all time. |
ALBUM OF THE YEAR Frank Ocean CHANNEL ORANGE
RECORD OF THE YEAR Gotye and Kimbra SOMEBODY THAT I USED TO KNOW
SONG OF THE YEAR Carly Rae Jepsen et. al. CALL ME MAYBE
BEST NEW ARTIST Fun.
Strangely, Goyte and Jepsen seemed to have switched places. Many believed that Goyte would vye and win for Song of the Year while Jepsen would be running for Record of the Year.
WHAT WILL MOST LIKELY HAPPEN
ALBUM OF THE YEAR Frank Ocean CHANNEL ORANGE
RECORD OF THE YEAR Gotye and Kimbra SOMEBODY THAT I USED TO KNOW
SONG OF THE YEAR Jack Antonoff et. al. WE ARE YOUNG
BEST NEW ARTIST Frank Ocean
Note: There is a possibility that a few of the folks nominated here might not be in the collective conscious of music fans a few years from now.
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| The Black Keys in concert |
MY PICKS FROM THE GRAMMY NOMINATIONS
ALBUM OF THE YEAR The Black Keys EL CAMINO
RECORD OF THE YEAR A tie between The Black Keys LONELY BOY and Kelly Clarkson STRONGER
SONG OF THE YEAR Jack Antonoff et. al. WE ARE YOUNG
BEST NEW ARTIST Alabama Shakes
I enjoyed CHANNEL ORANGE. That man knows his way around a track (Especially "Pyramids", which is the best track from there). But The Black Keys' EL CAMINO is a nonstop selection of raw, powerful, and very well mature and polished tracks that have been playing nonstop since I first got the album back December 2011.
Also, after listening to all six nominees for Record of the Year, I couldn't decide between The Black Keys and Kelly Clarkson. I enjoy both tracks. I love both of them. Each of them are at their peak here.
MY PERSONAL PICKS FROM MUSIC OVERALL (Non-nominated artists)
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| Sharon Van Etten |
ALBUM OF THE YEAR tUnE-yArDs WHOKILL
RECORD OF THE YEAR Grouplove TONGUE TIED
SONG OF THE YEAR Sharon Van Etten and Aaron Dessner SERPENTS
BEST NEW ARTIST Emeli Sandé
I honestly thought "Tongue Tied" would have been up for record of the Year, despite not charting high on Billboard. But it was a buzzworthy track, and the production was outstanding.
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| Frank Ocean began his career ghostwriting songs for numerous acts, such as Brandy and John Legend, before joining the musical enclave Odd Future. |
ALBUM OF THE YEAR Frank Ocean CHANNEL ORANGE
RECORD OF THE YEAR Frank Ocean THINKIN ABOUT YOU
SONG OF THE YEAR Fun. WE ARE YOUNG
BEST NEW ARTIST Frank Ocean
Despite having the most-talked about and critically adored album of the year, Ocean's fasincating debut, Channel Orange, hasn't made a remarkable impression on the charts. The album has yet to go gold, yet alone become a million-plus seller. He wouldn't be the first artist to win the top prize for a low-selling album. This could push sales of Channel Orange, similar to what happened to Arcade Fire, Herbie Hancock, The Dixie Chicks, and Adele (even though 21 was essentially a top seller for well over a year).
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| Fun with a period at the end. |
ALBUM OF THE YEAR Fun. SOME NIGHTS
RECORD AND SONG OF THE YEAR Fun. WE ARE YOUNG
BEST NEW ARTIST Fun.
The period at the end of the band's name used to bother the living hell out of me. I guess due to time and the band's catchy ear worms, I have grown to tolerate the period at the end.
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| It's hard to believe that Jack White released his solo debut album almost two decades into his career. |
ALBUM OF THE YEAR Jack White BLUNDERBUSS
RECORD OF THE YEAR The Black Keys LONELY BOY
SONG OF THE YEAR Jack Antonoff et. al. WE ARE YOUNG
BEST NEW ARTIST Alabama Shakes
Rock music is very prominent in this year's main categories. Rather than just one or two bands (Foo Fighters and Mumford and Sons last year), there are various bands and artists who have gathered nominations in the Big Four.
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| The Lumineers are from Denver, Colorado |
ALBUM OF THE YEAR Mumford and Sons BABEL
RECORD OF THE YEAR Taylor Shift WE ARE NEVER EVER GETTING BACK TOGETHER
SONG OF THE YEAR Miguel Primentel ADORN
BEST NEW ARTIST The Lumineers
The Lumineers have been picking up a lot of steam since December. "Ho Hey" has been featured in commericals for Blue Moon and Silver Linings Playbook and has peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100. The nominations itself has awarded them with a platinum record, hipsters and non-hipsters love them and a bright future has one of America's most promising bands.
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| Kelly Clarkson, up for 4 Grammys this year, already has 2 Grammy wins. |
ALBUM OF THE YEAR Fun. SOME NIGHTS
RECORD OF THE YEAR Kelly Clarkson STRONGER
SONG OF THE YEAR Jorgen Elofsson et. al. STRONGER
BEST NEW ARTIST Hunter Hayes
Like I mentioned before, anything can happen on Sunday at the Grammys.
Tune in Sunday for music's biggest night as millions of viewers become either excited, enraged, or bored by this spectator event involving some of the most talented acts and the biggest egos in music. #
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