2016 Grammy Nominees

It’s the most wonderful tiiiiiime of the year! The nominations for the 58th Annual Grammy Awards were announced this morning, and there weren’t too many surprises with the top awards, but definitely some interesting choices and unfortunate snubs. But before we talk about all of that, let’s get to the nominees!

Record of the Year
“Really Love” – D’Angelo And The Vanguard
“Uptown Funk” – Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars
“Thinking Out Loud” – Ed Sheeran
“Blank Space” – Taylor Swift
“Can’t Feel My Face” – The Weeknd

Album of the Year
Sound & Color – Alabama Shakes
To Pimp A Butterfly – Kendrick Lamar
Traveller – Chris Stapleton
1989 – Taylor Swift
Beauty Behind The Madness – The Weeknd

Song of the Year
“Alright” – Kendrick Lamar
“Blank Space” – Taylor Swift
“Girl Crush” – Little Big Town
“See You Again” – Wiz Khalifa featuring Charlie Puth
“Thinking Out Loud” – Ed Sheeran

Best New Artist
Courtney Barnett
James Bay
Sam Hunt
Tori Kelly
Meghan Trainor

Best Pop Solo Performance
“Heartbeat Song” – Kelly Clarkson
“Love Me Like You Do” – Ellie Goulding
“Thinking Out Loud” – Ed Sheeran
“Blank Space” – Taylor Swift
“Can’t Feel My Face” – The Weeknd

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance
“Ship To Wreck” – Florence + The Machine
“Sugar” – Maroon 5
“Uptown Funk” – Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars
“Bad Blood” – Taylor Swift featuring Kendrick Lamar
“See You Again” – Wiz Khalifa featuring Charlie Puth

Best Pop Vocal Album
Piece By Piece – Kelly Clarkson
How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful – Florence + The Machine
Uptown Special – Mark Ronson
1989 – Taylor Swift
Before This World – James Taylor

Best Rock Album
Chaos And The Calm – James Bay
Kintsugi – Death Cab For Cutie
Mister Asylum – Highly Suspect
Drones – Muse
The Gray Chapter – Slipnot

Best Alternative Music Album
Sound & Color – Alabama Shakes
Vulnicura – Björk
The Waterfall – My Morning Jacket
Currents – Tame Impala
Star Wars – Wilco

Best Urban Contemporary Album
Ego Death – The Internet
You Should Be Here – Kehlani
Blood – Lianne La Havas
Wildheart – Miguel
Beauty Behind The Madness – The Weeknd

Best R&B Album
Coming Home – Leon Bridges
Black Messiah – D’Angelo And The Vanguard
Cheers To The Fall – Andra Day
Reality Show – Jazmine Sullivan
Forever Charlie – Charlie Wilson

Best Rap Album
2014 Forest Hills Drive – J. Cole
Compton – Dr. Dre
If You’re Reading This Its Too Late – Drake
To Pimp A Butterfly – Kendrick Lamar
The Pinkprint – Nicki Minaj

Best Compilation Soundtrack For Visual Media
Empire: Season 1
Fifty Shades Of Grey
Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me
Pitch Perfect 2
Selma

(For the complete list of nominations, head to grammy.com.)

To be honest, my initial reaction to the Grammy nominations was just overwhelming excitement for Lianne La Havas, who is up for Best Urban Contemporary Album for Blood. That album is deserving of all the praise and more. And her reaction to her nom was amazing!

OMGGG IM NOMINATED FOR A GRAMMY

— Lianne La Havas (@liannelahavas) December 7, 2015

I am disappointed that both Carly Rae Jepsen’s Emotion and Nate Ruess’ Grand Romantic were overlooked. Carly’s album is one of the best pop albums of 2015 and to not receive any recognition from the Grammys is disappointing. At the very least, I thought that Nate would receive a Pop Solo Performance nom for “Nothing Without Love.” I would have given him the nomination over Taylor or The Weeknd.

I was a little surprised that “Uptown Funk” was not nominated for Song of the Year. And personally, I think that Nicki Minaj deserved an Album of the Year nomination for The Pinkprint. That album is simply a force to be reckoned with. There are a couple albums that probably received nominations on the strength of their singles, whereas The Pinkprint showed artistic growth and solid lyricism.

Other than that, nice to see Maroon 5 grab a nom for “Sugar.” I am super stoked that Tori Kelly is nominated for Best New Artist. You could also argue that she deserved a nomination for Best Pop Solo Performance. But as long as she keeps releasing solid material, she’s a name we’ll continue to see pop up at the Grammys for years to come. Her voice is too good to be denied. Also pleased with 50 Shades Of Grey picking up a nomination for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media. That’s one of the best curated soundtracks of the year. Like, even if you didn’t care for the movie, the music was superb.

And finally, anyone else sensing a possible Chris Stapleton Album of the Year upset?

Share your thoughts and reactions to the 2016 Grammy nominations in the comments or on Twitter!

 

Featured photo courtesy of RCA Records.