Every Single Album - Instant Reactions to the 2026 Grammy Nominations

Episode Date: November 7, 2025

Nora and Nathan react to the 2026 Grammy nominations, which were announced today. They talk about the very interesting Best New Artist category, which features artists like Olivia Dean, Addison Rae, and Alex Warren (1:00). Then run through a few other categories, like Song of the Year (13:24), Album of the Year (23:18), and Best Pop Vocal Album (30:23), before talking about the surprising people who were shut out this year (41:53). Hosts: Nora Princiotti and Nathan HubbardProducer: Kaya McMullen Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello and welcome to every single album. As always, I'm Nora Pryanti and I am joined by my friend Nathan Hubbard on a Grammy nomination's announcement Friday. Happy Friday, Nathan. Happy Friday. This is like a refreshingly fun list of stuff. It is a fun list. It is like we, it's not a year like last year where there are these really, really clear like juicy narratives, particularly in pop, but all over. music. It's a little bit more open-ended. But I think now that we've actually seen on paper

who wound up with these nods, it's kind of given way to a fun slate. That's how I'm feeling an hour and six minutes after these things got put out into the world. So we're just going to spend some time today reacting to the four big categories and then the pop categories. Before we start doing that, though, I just want to give, can people, hear me clapping into my microphone. I just want to give a round of applause to prognosticator Nathan. Zach Top, Youngblood, some predictions, and I think also some preferences that you stated on our last episode. They really came through. I mean, congratulations. Thank you, Nora. I made zero dollars off of that prediction. I know, but I'm impressed. Where can we bet this stuff? Polymarket, come on.

I'm, I don't, I don't want to get involved in that. But I'm just, I'm impressed that you saw where some of the tea leaves were going and pointed out that there are quite a few nominees who we have spent some time on this podcast discussing in depth. And we'll get a chance to do a little bit of a bit more of that today. So why don't we just start going through these categories? What I want to do is I want to go through the big four best new artist, song of the year, album of the year, record of the year. And then we'll go back and go through the pop-specific categories because that's where a lot of our faves are popping up. And then we can talk about anything else that that came out of this after that. But why don't we start with Best New Artist? So let me just read for you the nominees. So we have Olivia Dean, Katzai, the Marias, Addison Ray, Somber, Leon Thomas. Alex Warren and Lola Young. Is there any...

This is a fun category. This is a really fun category. There are some people that got buried here who didn't get bigger attention in the major categories. Are you talking about Alex Warren? I'm talking about Alex Warren. Yeah.

Who, you know, had that ubiquitous song Ordinary that is aptly named. And I think that's maybe why it didn't get a nomination for record. song of the year. We feel pretty clear now that the Grammy voters feel that it is aptly named. I mean, here's my question about that. I think going into this, I felt like that song, which I have to say, I don't care for. I thought it was going to get way more nominations. I thought it was going to be all over the big categories. It is not. Yeah. And I feel like that cuts one of two ways in this category,

which is either, this is the makeup call and Alex Warren ends up winning. But honestly, in my heart of hearts, I think it goes the other way, and this slate of nominations tells me that these voters are not that into Alex Warren, and now I feel like this is Olivia Dean's category to lose. Interesting. Look, there's a couple of things at play here that are worth talking about. First of all, there's two people in the Best New Artist category who were in the hype house together. That's crazy. That is really crazy.

And that's Addison Ray and Alex Warren, but that is somewhat indicative of, like how creators, these are best new, new being the operative word, and some of these artists aren't quite as new as you might think, but... It's like the new Mickey Mouse Club. How we're discovering and breaking artists is super interesting, right? You've got two hype house people on here. You've got Katzai who really kind of broke through thanks to a gap commercial. And so there's all of the, there's just little, if you're paying attention. There's very interesting tells about the state of the music business.

We'll talk a little bit about the K-pop Demon Hunter stuff, what it did get, what it didn't get. It sneakily is an interesting bellwether for where the music industry is headed. And when you look at these nominees, I think it tells you that. Maybe it's Olivia Dean. I think the marias have a great shot here. Okay. The marias have sort of quietly parked three songs on the Spotify top 200 for a very long time. I think the somber record is really good. Like, it's really good. And Leon Thomas is the only person on this entire list who got a nomination in one of the major categories. And that includes album of the year. Right.

Somewhat fitting in the wake of the death of DiAngelo that, not necessarily the era parent, but there are definitely some DeAngelo vibes in that Leon Thomas album. And then Lola Young, who, you know, I think has a very, very interesting record for sure. She's been struggling as of late. You know, I think we talked about how she fell over on stage at all things go. And so there is a wonderful mix here. Sometimes this is kind of a throwaway category, and it has historically been a little bit of a curse to win this.

But you look at this list and you feel like this is a group of our, artists that are going to be around for a while, don't you? Yeah, I think it's really solid. But I still, I, I, I, sometimes there's something clarifying about just seeing it on the piece of paper. And I know that my gut reaction, and by the way, we did this last year, and we'll revisit some of these before the actual, uh, awards show. And half of it, I'd completely changed how I felt, but just, uh, my gut reaction to seeing

this lineup and particularly that in combination with feeling some ambivalence from the voters towards Alex Warren, because of this group, I certainly grant you that the Marias have had this sort of, like, subtle but also very, like, countably demonstrative success this year. But the two artists on this list who have had, like, mainstream big, one with a bullet type songs are Olivia Dean and Alex Warren. And there was something about seeing those two things. her name on this list, his name just not popping up that much.

And I just, my brain just went, oh, she's winning. She's going to win this. I think it's a reasonable prediction for sure that this one just always seems to split people in a bunch of different ways. And, you know, the thing that might, the thing that could work against Olivia is if people for whatever reason are attracted to the Addison Ray vote or the cat's eye vote, you know, You just never know how eight new artists get split as people look at them and how they weigh. You know, Olivia, is she really new?

She's had songs that have charted before. She's new in the U.S. eyes, that's for sure, I guess. But, you know, is she that maybe there's somebody who dings her for that? It's hard to tell how the voters are going to go here. But, I mean, listen, again, Leon, voters gave him album of the year nomination, and Leon Thomas. So he's got some backers, clearly. Yeah.

That's the dark horse. Addison is an interesting one because I think she's campaigned a bit. I mean, she did a performance at the Grammy Museum. And just seems... Oh, they almost all have in some capacity. She seems like she's sort of tried to get herself in front of those people who are not always the most receptive to something quite so high-class. concept and quite so, you know, camp adjacent. Yeah.

I wonder if it's going to hurt her that, like, best new artists, this category is often such a mess because half of these people are not remotely new artists, but the idea is that it's sort of an artist who had their breakthrough in the eligibility period, which is the end of of August of 24 to the end of August of this year. And I just feel like Addison Ray's. breakthrough was diet Pepsi. It wasn't this album. As much as I love fame as a gun and I'm totally into it,

that feels incorrect to me. But I do think that she's put some effort into mounting a campaign. Here's a question. Is it right for me to be a little bit disappointed that our girl, Audrey Hobert, didn't get any love here? Yeah, I'm super disappointed. Me too. I think that the reason that I didn't really say anything about her last week is because I just assumed that it wasn't going to happen because there just hasn't been enough time.

The album came out in August and it just is what it is. So, yeah, but she'll, I certainly wouldn't say that the Grammys historically have been a reflection of all things that are great. You know, note, Taylor Swift is never one song of the year, for example. So this is a nice little validation of people's careers. And I think for the most part, it also is a political lobbying contest. And so no artists should feel badly. You know, I also will say just at a macro level, like, country artists are completely shut out of the four major things this year. Well, yeah.

And they've also completely bastardized the country categories and it's ridiculous. Right, right. And so Morgan Wallen also declared that he wasn't going to submit. And that's the second most streamed album of the year. So it's a little bit, again, the weekend not here. Yeah, the weekend made all those overtures to re-engratiate with the Grammys as an institution appear not to have worked out for the weekend. Yeah.

Think about any movie that you've seen where there's like some dance. damaged airplane and the pilot's just like holding on trying to get the thing to the runway. That's kind of what it feels like at the moment for the Grammys. As much as I think this is actually a pretty interesting list for this year, it's a little bit like, I don't know. It's like when people declare themselves champion of the world in sports, but they really only won in the U.S. or whatever, you know, it's like, oh, we're world champs. Well, maybe you are.

But the pool of, it's like when, um, it's like when, um, When, like, lacrosse players, like, get a little too high on their own supply about, like, winning a national championship. It's like, broke. Ah, yes. Something we all have so much experience with. The best lacrosse player ever was Jim Brown, and he was a football player. And this is not a sport that necessarily is attracting all of the best athletes in the world. So take it easy there.

I love a lacrosse tangent. A lacrosse tangent, 12 minutes into the Grammy's pod. Anyway, back to cat's eye. Well, yes, it's the thing that's interesting to me about, about Audrey not being here is that I thought we might see something for that's so true. And the Gracie Audrey industrial complex did not fare particularly well, which I think is unfortunate. Yeah. And a little bit surprising. It is a little surprising.

It's a, it's an omission that we should note. And it's a huge, I mean, what's being a Nepo baby good for, if not Grammy nominations? Like, what's going on here? I mean, look, Haley Williams got a couple nominations, right? There's some, there's some stuff across here. Bonnie Ver got an alternative music. Grammy nomination and an album nomination. So there's some from sort of that world that slid in here. But it is, I mean, if there's something that's, there's a lot of hip hop. And this feels like after

two years of let's go reward female pop, maybe, maybe, maybe the voters were like, hey, it's time to turn the attention elsewhere this year. Well, so let's go to Song of the Year. So this is the songwriters award where the songwriters get the, you know, the first person that you're going to see listed is the lead songwriter. And so the songs are abracadabra, anxiety, apote, Debbie Taramos Photos, Golden, the K-pop Demon Hunter's song, which again, a good name Nathan prediction that that was going to fare pretty well. Clearly people are listening to their kids because that is all over the place is maybe too strong, but there are quite a few knobs. Luther, Manchild, and then Billy Elish's Wildflower. And this is kind of, this, this feeds into

a little bit of what I wound up thinking about in reaction to some of who's missing and some of who's here, like, there are just a lot of choices that I think in the absence of super clear narratives and just sort of undeniable artists, songs, there are a lot of selections that are very, very Grammys. Like, we have a song that Bruno Mars was involved in. We have a song like anxiety, which is very, like, constructed in a way that I think Grammy voters are apt to appreciate. Like, Kendrick, obviously, a long time, Grammy's fave. Wildflower, have we talked about this song ever? Do you like that song? I like that whole album. That was one of my favorite albums of the year, and I was bummed that it got

boxed out last year. This feels like a makeup. Yeah. Yeah. And it, it, it. it doesn't, to me, like, it doesn't feel representative of, of, no. The best of that album. No, the only reason it's here is... Because they love Billy Elish. Well, it's because they love Billy Elish, but she released it as a single in the window.

The album itself came out 18 months ago. Right, right. So it wouldn't be eligible, but it just, like, I don't know. That feels to me like something that, is here for the purpose of making up for something that happened last year and also just taking someone who the Grammys really, really, really love. And that's fine. I mean, that happens every year to an extent. Do you have any sense of the frontrunners in this category? Man, I don't. And I think, but I do think the winner here is going to be indicative of where we're

going. I think from 30,000 foot, view, it looks like a Kendrick verse bad bunny thing to me. But, you know, the Bruno Mars song is one of his, like, highest streaming songs ever.

I don't think it's realistic that Billy's going to win for this. I think Manchild is awesome, and I actually really like this song. I think I like that song more than you do. I think it has a chance. I think Cabra-Cadabra does not.

I'm surprised that it's here, not because I think it's a bad song. Oh, interesting. I don't think it's a bad song at all. I just am surprised that it got this nomination for a song of the year. Oh, I'm interested in how that relates to how you feel about the album of the year. Nominees and Chances, but we can talk about that when we get there. Yeah, this one is sort of a mystery.

to me. Like, if the K-pop Demon Hunter's song won, I wouldn't even be shocked. Yeah. But look, I wouldn't either. Notice, I mean, that song has been crushing all summer. Notice Amy Allen is on three of these songs. Yeah. Yeah. So very reasonable that she would be nominated for Song of the Year, or Songwriter of the Year. You've got Jack in a couple places turning up on Luther. So there are some somewhat interesting storylines here, but I feel like this could be Bellwether. You know, we've had weird out-of-the-blue things happen here before.

You know, the year that Bonnie Raid won, a lot of people felt like there was split voting. It really depends on how you're going to vote. I mean, where do you lean here? I don't, because it's, I'm trying to think of it in combination with record of the year, which has all the same nominees, except it doesn't have the K-pop Demon Hunter's song,

and it does have Chapel Rones the subway. Yeah. I guess I feel like the songs that are going to win, I think Bad Bunny is going to win one of these categories. I guess I think it's more likely to be song than record, just because I think some of these other songs are, are maybe more likely, like the Bruno Mars song, I think is more likely to be rewarded as sort of like,

we love Bruno Mars. That song's been streamed like crazy. It's everywhere. It does kind of fit into the types of songs that the Grammys typically reward. And I think that to me feels more like a record of the year win than a song of the year win. And I guess I think that Kendrick is more likely to win. in album. So I wonder if song therefore ends up being the bad bunny category.

But I have to say that the record and song feel very hazy and up in the air to me. Yeah, to me too. Like why was the subway, the recording of that, what's going to get the nomination, but not the actual quality of the songwriting? Like that, it seems to me that that might have been reversed, but... Yeah, I mean, I think, like, is it because the vocal on that is really kind of where it shines? Probably. I totally agree, because that's a song that didn't make a huge...

Like, I think it's a really fun song. It did not make a huge impact, right? Like, that was not a... Wow, Chapel's done it again, and everybody's singing the subway in the way that they were singing hot to go or stuff like that. And her show... Yes. fit nicely into the set. So I think from a fan-based perspective,

it did pretty darn well. But yeah, I'm not sure. It wasn't hot to go. That's to your point, though, that that's often the type of song that gets a song of the year when, whereas record of the year, you think of it as the like espresso

or a thing that was really, really big like that. Yeah. I think if Manchild has a, I think Manchild is more likely, to, if it has a shot, it would be in record to me and not song. We'll see. I mean, again, Amy Allen nominated for songwriter of the year, and she's one of those writers. So you think that that would be just sort of a reflection of the voters wanting to reward her?

I think it's a combination of her and Sabrina. I mean, we should just say, I mean, Sabrina's got six nominations here a year after she put out another album that got a ton of nominations in the major categories. I think there was some reason to question the strategy of basically being completely on for what's going to end up being three plus years. And it seems to have been vindicated. And I think we talked about our feelings about the album overall. We liked it.

I thought Manchild was great. I didn't feel like there was another one that was going to come behind it that was going to crush. and in particular, I missed some of the ballady stuff from short and sweet. But like, you're really going to run Sabrina through a bunch of these major nominations two years in a row and not throw on her way? I'll be surprised. They should have submitted House Tour. I mean, House Tour should be the second single. I would have loved it.

I think every once in a while some of these artists, particularly someone who, you know, it's maybe not Billy. level, but Sabrina is really turning into a Grammy's Darling, it seems. Like this institution... Everybody darling, darling, yeah. Yeah. Who doesn't love Sabrina? But that doesn't always track

across the Grammys, particularly you know, there's a silliness to Sabrina that I'm... I give them credit that they get it. No, that's right. That's right. Because I don't think that that's necessarily a given. But at some point I want her to submit like, like, how

tour or something wacky like that and see if you can get that song of Grammy. House tour was this album's Juno from my perspective, which was buried late but fucking the best and is traveling live very well. And I understand why they made tears the second one, because if nothing else, the dance break part has afforded her tons of opportunity to do funny-ass shit in live performances. Totally. But. Okay.

So let's do album of the year. So bad bunny, debaterer, most photos, Justin Bieber's swag, Sabrina Carpenter, man's best friend, clips, push a tea and malice, let God sort them out. That was, this is one where this is probably the most surprising. This and the Leon Thomas nomination were the ones that like if you were looking at predictions and betting markets, those are sort of the upsets. Mayhem Lady Gaga, GnX, Kendrick Lamar, Mutt, Leon Thomas, chromocopia, Tyler, the creator. To me, this is this is Bad Bunny,

it's Kendrick, or I think it's Gaga. Really? Which I think you're going to tell me you think is crazy. I really think that this is a three-man race and it is between those three artists. And one of them is Lady Gaga, for Mayhem.

Did you just call Lady Gaga a man? It's gender neutral. Look, I think when the Clips album came out, there was a lot of chatter amongst the cool kids about that album. Yeah, but the cool kids don't vote for the Grammys. Well, but they, some of the, like, you know, some of the, I don't know,

there's some of the influencers that maybe have an impact on it. I don't think the Clips album's going to win either. I just wasn't as surprised to see it because of the chatter about it. That's great. It's a surprise, complimentary parentheses. Yeah. I think man's best friend

has a better chance than the Gaga album. Why do you think the Gaga album has a shot? I think that... You didn't like it that much. No, I know. I liked it quite a bit. But I... And I don't know.

Is this possibly making me overestimate its chances because I feel like it has had this trajectory where that album came out and there was a reasonable amount of, like, apathy is too strong, but there was a B plusiness to, I think, a lot of the critical response to it, mostly leaning on the lack of new territory that was being unveiled, I think,

musically. And then since them, I think largely because of Coachella, in part because Aberadabra has really hung on. And I think clearly, you know, it's not my favorite song, but clearly was the right single and has had a life of its own. That album has sort of worked its way into a much more lasting place, I think, in her catalog, in kind of recent pop catalog than I thought it would at that point. And I just wonder if that means that it has some momentum. She got quite a few nominations. They put disease up in one of the categories and that got nominated and then Abercadabra got nominated. I just, I feel like there's a lot of Gaga momentum. Well, maybe you're right.

I mean, this is why the Grammys need to sort of rethink themselves. Like, we do need an, and maybe this is what the VMAs were supposed to be, but we do need a, you know, artists that were at the forefront of culture and consciousness kind of award. Because Gaga certainly was there because of just the, I think, the, you know, the live performances, right? Yeah. Was it last year's Super Bowl where there was that awkward thing with Roger Goodell standing around and her? Yeah, she's playing the piano. What a year in Gaga. It really, there's been a lot of Gaga.

Do you think that Michael is behind the scenes, just like shaking every hand, kissing every voter baby? He's out there doing the campaign, pounding the pavement, the mastermind behind all of this? No. But I think he's been involved, and I think the label pushed hard and, you know, they're...

You don't think any of this has to do with Michael? No. I'd love to make it about Michael. I know. I think this category... Should they have submitted the Beast? No, they definitely should not have submitted the Beast. They should have submitted how bad do you want me.

Oh, great song. I know. Because that's a really good song. But I think this category is about Kendrick versus Bad Bunny. I'm very happy to see the Justin Bieber album here because I think it's a lot better than yeah, I think it's actually a really enjoyable album but I do think this is a Kendrick first bed bunny year

and the voters are just going to find a way to pick one of those too and we're going to have to watch the betting markets which aren't always correct but to help us get a better sense. I guess I Heart of hearts, I think Kendrick's going to win. Yeah, I do too. But I guess I mostly agree with you, but I do think that, I do think that there's going to be,

I just feel like Gaga has momentum. And, you know, there's some possibility. What if the Kendrick voters and the Bad Bunny voters split a little bit. It's not out of the question, which I just, again, I'm not, I'm not betting that it's going to happen. I wouldn't. I don't bet on these things. I don't know how. And if I did know how, I wouldn't do it anyway.

But I, I just, it's just a feeling. It's just a feeling. Do you think on the Beaver point. Yeah. I think generally speaking, at least in, in a category like this, the win is being nominated. The thing that I think is going to be interesting is if Dijon, who's nominated for production, ends up taking that home. Because I think that that seems very possible, if not likely, to me, which would be cool. Yeah, I mean, Dijon is kind of like everybody's favorite, it's like favorite artist, favorite artist at the moment.

You've had Bebbs at his show. You've had Maddie Healy side stage at his show. So he's definitely getting some attention. And, you know, McGee was on this thing. A lot of the cool kids were tangentially involved in swag. So I don't think it's going to win album of the year. I'm happy to see it. I liked it a lot more than I thought I was going to. Well, let's talk about some of the pop categories then.

Because I agree with you that I don't think that it's going to win album of the year. do you think it could win best pop vocal album? It's competing with man's best friend with something beautiful by Miley Cyrus, which I will be honest, I thought had a real chance of getting blanked and did not, and I think that's great. Mayhem, Gaga,

and I've tried everything but therapy part two, Teddy Swibbs. Well, I think this is going to, I know it's supposed to be about the vocal, but I think this is going to tell us a little bit about how mayhem's going to do. Yeah. Because, I mean, you've got three of the album of the year nominees in this category alone. Yeah. It would be strange to me if the winner of Best Pop Vocal Album is not,

or the loser of Best Pop Vocal Album wins album of the Year. So I think it does have a chance. I think it does. This has been a category that's been one, by a female pop girl the last couple years, I don't know. I just, again, I tend to think that the nominations are a bit more of a positive signal than the actual trophy itself at this point, just because there's so much thinking about, it just feels like thumbs get on the scale is really what I'm saying.

Like, I'm sure that there is a fully auditable process. It just sometimes it just felt like, you know, there's a little too much routing of awards based on campaigning and politics and all those things. Do you think artists campaign more for nominations or for wins once they're nominated? I think for nominations. Okay. Yeah. That's where a ton of the work goes. Between swag man's best friend and Mayhem?

Yeah, that's what I was going to ask you. I think Sabrina's going to win this category. Wow. Okay. And that would, like, if we're watching and that happens, I completely agree that I will then go, there's no chance that Mayhem wins album of the year. Yeah. So that'll be an interesting.

This category often is like, especially the last few years because the pop nominees have tended to be pretty strong. I think they're less strong this year. But this category often feels a little bit like a harbinger. Or like it tells you something about the big ones. Yeah, I mean, don't forget. Miley sang very, very well on something beautiful. It was definitely the best presentation of her voice ever, I thought.

I don't disagree with that. I guess I think I just you know for whatever set of reasons I don't think that that album which I think is really wonderful managed to capture

people's attention and I think if the Grammys were going to go really hard against that grain we would see more like we would see some bigger nominations for her.

But I could be wrong. That's just how I feel. Let's see. Do you want to do Best Pop solo performance or duo performance? Well, solo performance is largely the same group, right? The only question there is it's Bieber, Sabrina, Lady Gaga, it's Chapel for the subway and it's messy with Lola Young. It's really just, are they going to try to give Chapel something here?

How I would be I just don't see I like the subway And I was at the show And it totally hits with the fans And it's really really fun And she sings her behind off on it Why that song

Other than the obvious things about You know the submission window Like that would it would be such a strange song Within her catalog To end up getting it this. I would find that to be surprising. Yeah. I wonder if it's that it's a way to involve Chapel Rhone in the Grammys because Chaparone brings eyeballs. Sure. Sure. And because Chaparron is great.

I think it's, I think this is one word where Bieber could absolutely. Yeah. The more that we're talking about this, the more that I'm feeling like this is the Bieber category. Daisy's is a really big song. Yeah. And a really good song. I'm rooting for that. I feel like that would be the right win. And it would feel, like, it would feel earned. It would feel like a nice, not full circle, but just a nice completion of a certain type of comeback for him. Well, get ready, because he's going to be playing, you know, Coachella only a month or two after this. So it feels like perhaps the stars align in that way for him to grab something. Yeah.

Yeah, I think that would be, I would like to see him, you know, get up and give a speech. I think that would be a nice moment. And this feels like the right place for it. Okay. Group. Why do I feel like this category has gone to a song that has involved Bruno Mars for the last 20 years? I understand that Bruno Mars hasn't been like an active popular musician for that entire time period. but like it does feel to me that that's what has happened.

And again, with Rose, he is nominated. Also 30 for 30, Sisson Kendrick Lamar. Gabriela for Katzai in the group part of the equation as opposed to a duo. The Huntrix Golden song. And I don't know why it like didn't occur to me that this was going to get nominated when we talked about this before, but of course it is defying gravity from Cynthia Revo and Ariana Grande.

I was staring at this when it came out and thinking, first of all, it's a very interesting category. Yes. Because you've got the Cape Up Demon Hunter's thing in here, you've got a movie, you've got...

Has this category single-handedly gotten Bruno Mars out of debt? Like this Grammy category, category and all of the songs that Bruno Mars has been part of to win or be nominated in this category. I just feel like, like, they should rename it after him. The Bruno Mars Honorary. The Bruno Mars Honorary, like, crazy. But, like, we got the second Wicked Movie coming.

This is going to go to them, right? Yeah, yeah. Like the entire next, like the months between when voting, between now and when voting ends, the cultural saturation of Wicked, if it's anything like the first movie and the first movie's press campaign, will be so dominant. I almost can't imagine anything else happening, despite the fact that I do feel like Bruno Mars made a deal with the devil or someone, that he has to win this. Well, I also think, like, I don't really believe in most, like, Grammy conspiracy, you know, they rig it so that they can have whoever at the show.

But if that means that Ariana and Cynthia attend the Grammys, that will be to everyone's benefit, I think. Well, and I think that's why they're here. Yeah. Yeah. Can't wait to see the nails, you know. Good for us for covering a lot of these albums. I don't feel like there's anything super glaring that we whiffed on. Like the best pop. Yeah, the only best pop vocal album, one that we haven't covered is Teddy Swims.

Yeah, I'm okay with that. Yeah, I'm fine with that too. No offense to Mr. Swims. I'm fine with that too. Can I tell you? I was very happy to see Blueist Flame get nominated for Best Dance Pop. up recording.

Why? The one song from the Selena Gomez album that I mostly don't care for that I like because it's just a Charlie XX rip. Yeah, I mean, I like that other I like the other Selena song.

Well, you liked when he filled the bathtub with Koso. You were super into that. That I definitely was not into. But yeah, it's fine that they, I think that was like, can we get Selena and Benny on the red carpet? sure and again like why not and that's the right song to do it with if if if that's the move do you have any other like so i think those are the categories that go with our interests most

closely but is there anything else big picture names that you are surprised not to see anywhere you know one person that i'm not shocked we haven't mentioned but big picture is sort of interesting is Lord. Yeah. Nothing. I don't really know how to, it was something that I thought about after our pod last week. Like, there's just no Lord. And I don't know.

I mean, how do you feel about that album? I think the Audrey Hover album is terrific. And I think I would, I listen to that more than I come back to the Lord album. But I do come back to, like, if she could see me now. Yeah. A lot. I think I don't, you know, I love the Audrey Hobert album. I do come back to it more than the Lord album.

I have a hard time saying that it is better. I think the Lord album is, it's difficult. It's like she put out a pretty difficult piece of music that I think has been pretty resonant in fan spaces. I think it's been pretty effective as fan service and something that the people who are really, really, really into it are really, really into. But it probably suffered in a weird way, similarly to life of a showgirl

from this idea that it was going to be like straight bangers top to bottom and just seriously was not. Yeah. And so I think it just became a difficult listen for a lot of people, which is sort of a bummer. Because I, like, there were ideas there. There was really hard work. There's interesting music. But it just, it wasn't quite relatable enough to people, I think.

Maybe. Yeah. It just didn't have the bangers, I think. It is that simple. Yeah. Yeah. And then the other, I mean, you're going to laugh at me for this. I thought Tate McCray might pop up in a pop category or two. She's on here, but buried.

Yeah. I mean, in Best Dance Pop Recording, and I think this is something that has to do with, like, eligibility windows. But specifically, just keep watching from F1 the movie. movie was the submission. So whatever gets it done, yeah. Yeah, sure. Okay. I don't know.

Sports car was a big song. Yeah. I don't know. I think I think she can do better. I really do. I think my, the way that I think back on that album, first of all, her touring

has cemented her as like a legit artist. Like it's worked. So she's in the conversation. So that's not up for debate. I still come back on that album too. I thought that her voice got put in a box and that there wasn't a whole lot of range that was demonstrated and that the songs were just okay.

But do you hear those songs out in the world? Because I feel like I really do. Like I hear them on the soundtrack at the stores, but I also, I hear them in workout classes. I hear them on people's playlists. I hear them. I don't turn them off if they come on in the car. Like, there's just, there are a lot of touch points

where I feel like there was this moment. And I think I liked that album a little bit more than you did. You did. But still felt kind of like, I acknowledge that there's sort of wishy-washiness or lack of something to laugh. on to. Now I feel like Tate McCrae is a part of my life. Okay. Well, she is. Yeah. She is. But I feel about the Tate album kind of the way that I felt about the Gaga album,

which is the more that they toured, the more sort of ubiquitous their music got, but that it was as much about the live show and the presentation, the celebrity as it was the music. Sure. Sure. Where I feel a little bit differently about some of these other artists that got the actual nominations that there was a little more substance to the music. But regardless, you are right that it is between her and Gracie, there's eyebrows up on some of the omissions. Anybody else you feel like got snubbed? No, but it's, look, it's just weird that Morgan Wallin with the second biggest streaming album of the year is not a part of this. It's just a strange.

and they didn't submit, so it is what it is. But it is a problem with the Grammys. And I think last year they tried to effectively save themselves in their legitimacy by giving the award to Beyonce. Great. Box checked. Now we have a very- Well, sure, but then now, like, then they go and do this thing where, to me, where they divide the country category into traditional country and contemporary country. And to me, that reads completely as like, oh no, we let Beyonce win a country award. And now we have to identify that that type of country music, scare quotes, is somehow

illegitimate as like real country music. And it's just like really, really, I think the tone of that is so icky. I think it sucks for the artists. I think it makes, it gives the impression that. like the country categories that the Grammys are throw away and like don't matter. And so it's like they had this moment where here's this genre that has had a weird relationship with this institution for a long time. There's a lot of tension around what was going to be awarded last year. And it was a meaningful moment for them with Beyonce.

and in some ways it seemed like they saved, yeah, they saved a lot of face. They got a certain type of legitimacy. And then they trashed it. They turned around and were just like, guys, why don't we act embarrassing when it comes to country music again? It's so ridiculous to me. Yeah. It's an ongoing strangeness and a flaw with this entire process.

So I think it is why you can sell it. and it's fun to talk about, but there is this sort of massive elephant in the room, which is that there are missing artists, there are some missing genres, and they seem to not always be the leading indicators, but the trailing indicators. And it's why, at the end of the day,

I think Kendrick Lamar is going to win these categories, and in part that is going to be a make-good for years of ignoring hip-hop. And in a lot of ways last year was a make-good for you was a make-good for years of ignoring Beyonce. And I would so much rather see them with a little more focus on what's next. And I think if you look underneath the surface, they've done a decent job of that this year across the categories and a few of the subcategories.

But in the aggregate, there still is that big old elephant in the room. The flip side of that is that I'm always excited for the show. The choices, the messaging, the way the campaigns work, Like the Grammys are always so deeply flawed in all of those respects. For the last few years, you know, some have been better than others. But I think they tend to put on a good show. And there have been some real moments. I mean, I think about Dochi, like that was really special.

Where it's just a fun night. And I think a lot of, you know, people do tune in. It's sort of surprising. but I believe, I forget if it's the last like three years or something, but their ratings have actually gone up, even though there's been this sort of complicated thing about where it's going to be broadcast and who has the rights to the show. But I always really look forward to watching it. So I don't expect them to get it right.

I don't expect them to be tastemakers of real value in that sense. But like, you don't want it to be a total mess because I do. still really, really enjoy watching it. And for the people who win, it's, it's really, really meaningful. And I think, I think this seems more like, I don't know, there's more, there were more categories that I looked at this year and went, okay, yeah, that feels about right. And that's interesting. And that could lead to some interesting choices than the opposite, although there were certainly some where it went the opposite. Well, I'm excited for the show, too. And, um, I don't think we know any performers yet. No, no, no, no, no, no, we don't.

It'll be a minute. Yeah, it's going to be a little while because that doesn't happen until February. So these things are out. Great, we got our nominations. It's going to be weird that there's going to be, by the way, no Taylor Swift either. Like the two big 2025 streaming albums, one missed the window and one didn't submit. So there's this, whatever, again, kind of weird. But I expect there maybe will be a few surprise performances from some of the

albums that come out. And then, you know, look, we've got a Charlie X-E-X album that's coming out with the Wuthering Heights movie. You know, there is definitely Harry Styles in the Wings. There's definitely some other fun surprises that are coming. And so I don't know, some of those might even, we might even see before the Grammys. Looking forward to it. All right, this has been every single album. As always, I'm Nora Pinsiotti. He's Nathan Hubbard. Thank you to Kai. I'm a Mullen for producing this episode. And to you for listening. We'll talk to you next week.