Source Material

The 2020 Grammy nominees were announced last week, and as usual, the committee made one too many snubs for my liking. Granted, it can’t be an easy job to please the masses when it comes to music, but this year’s list of nominees seems extra perplexing.
Let’s take a look at some of the big awards and I’ll give you my favorite pick in each category.

*To be eligible for the 2020 Grammy Awards, music must have been released between Oct. 1, 2018, and Aug. 31, 2019.

Album Of The Year

Nominees:

“i,i” – Bon Iver

“NORMAN F**CKING ROCKWELL” – Lana Del Rey

“WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?” – Billie Eilish

“thank u, next” – Ariana Grande

“I Used To Know Her” – H.E.R.

“7” – Lil Nas X

“Cuz I Love You” – Lizzo

“Father Of The Bride” – Vampire Weekend

This is a very weird list of nominees—and looking at it, there are probably only three or four here that I think truly belong. So in the end, I’m going with Bon Iver’s “i,i.” For starters, it’s one of, if not THE, best projects by musical mastermind Justin Vernon. It features some of his most replayable songs to date, whereas usually a Bon Iver album becomes a situational listen (which is not a bad thing). The three-song-run from “Hey, Ma,” to “U (Man Like),” to “Naeem” is incredible.

Best New Artist

Nominees: Black Pumas, Billie Eilish, Lil Nas X, Lizzo, Maggie Rogers, Rosalia, Tank and the Bangas & Yola.

There’s some reaaallly good music that came out of this group over the year—but the choice for me here is Yola. The British singer’s debut album, “Walk Through Fire,” is absolutely stunning. There’s no pulling away when Yola’s voice hooks you. She’s a timeless breath of fresh air—so it makes even more sense that “Walk Through Fire” also earned her a nomination for Best Americana Album.

Best Rap Album

Nominees:

“Revenge Of The Dreamers II” – Dreamville

“Championships” – Meek Mill

“I Am > I Was,” – 21 Savage

“IGOR” – Tyler, The Creator

“The Lost Boy” – YBN Cordae

The Grammys’ track record has shown they don’t really understand rap music, so it’s not surprising to see that the best album on this list, Tyler, the Creator’s “IGOR,” isn’t even a rap album. “IGOR” should definitely win, but don’t listen to this album expecting a flurry of rapping. It’s Tyler’s best album by far—and one that belongs in the Album Of The Year category. I’ll never understand how it isn’t.

2020 Grammy Awards
Sun., Jan. 26 at 5pm on CBS

This article appears in Nov 27 – Dec 4, 2019.