The Grammy Awards nominations are always full of “yass!”es and “boo!”s, and the 2024 list, which was led by SZA and Phoebe Bridgers, is no exception. Following is our hot take on snubs and surprises, see the full list of 2024 Grammy nominees here.
SURPRISE: Women take all. Well, not all, but you get the idea. After former Grammys president and CEO Neil Portnow’s comments to a Variety reporter that women need to “step up” in order to secure nominations, the Recording Academy responded this year with a majority number of female nods. Women hold the lion’s share of nominations in record of the year, album of the year and the pop categories. To put it in perspective, in album of the year, Jon Batiste is the sole male nominee of the eight contenders. Across the board, SZA leads the pack with an overwhelming nine nominations, spanning everything from three of the four top categories (excluding best new artist, obviously) and with five different songs appearing across five different categories. Alongside her group Boygenius, Phoebe Bridgers scoops up seven nominations — six with the band, one with SZA — while Victoria Monét matches her seven. Further down the tally, Brandy Clark, Miley Cyrus, Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo and Taylor Swift all walk away with six nods. If the nominations are any indication, it’s fair to assume that the 2024 Grammy Awards will be a strong rebuttal to Portnow’s comments.
SNUB: Latin artists take the backseat. After Latin music took its first steps into the general categories last year with Bad Bunny, Anitta and others, Spanish-language artists have been largely shut out from getting a big look at this year’s awards. Karol G’s “Mañana Será Bonito” had a fair shot at earning an album of the year nod but was recognized only in the best música urbana category where a total of three albums received nominations (Tainy’s “Data” and Rauw Alejandro’s “Saturno” being the other two). Less than 40 records were submitted in this category (which was first added in 2022) but it would’ve been great to see full-lengths from Feid, Myke Towers, or Eladio Carrión get their flowers since all three albums helped propel these artists to new heights, both artistically and commercially.
“Mañana Será Bonito” also had one of the biggest hits of Karol’s career – “TQG,” a collaboration she shares with Shakira, who is absent from the list altogether despite submitting hers and Bizzarap’s global streaming hit, “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53,” to multiple categories. Peso Pluma, who was largely left out of the Latin Grammys after launching into near-instant superstardom this year, did not receive a best new artist nod as expected. Instead, his latest “Génesis,” appears as the only record from a male artist to be nominated for música Mexicana album (including Tejano).
SURPRISE: Victoria Monét’s breakthrough. The R&B singer-songwriter has long been a behind-the-scenes secret weapon who penned hits for Ariana Grande and Chloe x Halle, and secured Grammy nominations for those songs along the way. So it comes as a surprise that this year is her year, securing seven total nominations to bring her career total up to 10. Monét is nominated as best new artist, which is just another head-scratcher for those who have followed her career over the past decade. But beyond that, she has top honors for “On My Mama” in record of the year, while her full-length project “Jaguar II” appears in best R&B album and best engineered album, non-classical. She’s also got a few other songs that pop up in the R&B categories, including “How Does It Make You Feel” in best R&B performance and “Hollywood” featuring Earth, Wind & Fire and her newborn daughter Hazel Monét in best traditional R&B performance. To the latter: Hazel Monét is only two years old, making her what could be the youngest Grammy nominee in history.
SNUB: Rap categories are a mixed bag. It’s surprising to scan the nominees for the rap categories because of what’s not included. Forecasters predicted that Travis Scott, whose “Utopia” album was one of the biggest hip-hop records of the year, would have a game-day finish, but it doesn’t look like that’s happening as he received just one nomination for best rap album. Gunna is nowhere to be found, and neither is DJ Khaled. It’s worth noting some of the standouts, though. Killer Mike has only been nominated once for a Grammy, and won, for his feature on Outkast’s “The Whole World” in 2003. This year, he secured three nominations as a leading artist, including two for his track “Scientists & Engineers” and a best rap album nod for “Michael.” Drake, who has been very vocal about his disdain for the Grammys and historically stopped submitting, appears in the four rap categories for his collaborative work with 21 Savage as well as for songs that Metro Boomin, who’s up for producer of the year, non-classical, helmed for him. Coi Leray secures her first nomination for “Players” in best rap performance, while Ice Spice nets four including a coveted best new artist inclusion.
ANOTHER SNUB: Country. Sure, you’ve got Zach Bryan and Brandy Clark appearing in expected categories. But the final list didn’t end up fully honoring what was predicted. Lainey Wilson and Jelly Roll were all but guaranteed to lead the pack based on their respective massive years, but that isn’t the case. Wilson was skirted for best new artist, and only received a solo nod for “Bell Bottom Country” in best country album. She does appear in best country duo/group performance alongside Jelly Roll, but that’s about it. And speaking of Jelly Roll, he’s included in the best new artist lineup, but aside from his nomination with Wilson, that’s it.
UNSURPRISING SNUB: Morgan Wallen. No one in Nashville will be shocked to see Morgan Wallen has been entirely shut out. His hit “Last Night” is in the lineup for best country song, but he doesn’t even have a writing credit to earn him a Grammy since it’s a songwriter category. This is surprising, considering that Wallen had one of the strongest years to date in the entire music industry, but it wasn’t enough to convince the voting committee that he was worth the honor.
SURPRISE: Pop music got some things right. Would you believe that the newly-minted best pop dance recording category seems… very fair? Kylie Minogue appears here for her runaway summer hit “Padam Padam,” marking her first Grammy nomination since 2009, while Troye Sivan’s “Rush” earns him his first Grammy nomination ever. (“Rush” is also nominated in best music video, despite all the social media criticism about its portrayal of body image.) Lana Del Rey makes a strong showing in top categories and in pop and alternative, while the predictable Mileys, Olivias and Taylors dominate pop.
