Burning questions about the Grammy election: Chappell, Beyoncé, Kendrick

Another year, another round of Grammy voting begins. Earlier today, the first batch of submissions for the 2025 Grammy Awards opened to voting members of the Recording Academy, who will analyze the nearly 100 categories to filter down nominees.

But before the vote really started, many were already wondering how the chips would fall. Would Beyoncé focus solely on the country categories for her latest album, Cowboy Carter, or would she submit across the board? Will there be any surprises the size of Taylor Swift? Will Kendrick Lamar’s devastating “Not Like Us” be considered for the top categories and give the dissident titles institutional credibility? Have Drake and The Weeknd let go of their Grammy grudge and gotten back into the running?

Needless to say, there are already quite a few expected entries and surprises in the 2025 vote. With first round voting ending on October 15th and final nominations announced on November 8th, diversity takes part in the first round of voting and answers all the burning questions that come with it.

Q: Did Beyoncé venture into the country genre with “Cowboy Carter” and focus primarily on that genre category?

A: The million dollar question. After all the discussions and arguments about whether “Cowboy Carter” would be, and indeed is, a country album, the superstar singer is securing her chances by making major strides. Eight different songs across all genres were submitted, with “Texas Hold Em” nominated for Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Country Song. Then “16 Carriages” is included in Best Country Solo Performance and “Ya Ya” is included in Best Americana Performance. “Tyrant” and “Spaghettii” scored best R&B song and best melodic rap performance, respectively, while “Levii’s Jeans” scored best pop duo/group performance and “Bodyguard” scored best pop solo performance. “II Most Wanted,” her duet with Miley Cyrus, was included in the Best Country Duo/Group Performance category, while the album itself was named Album of the Year and, yes, Best Country Album. With the recent snub of “Cowboy Carter” at the CMAs, Beyoncé isn’t putting all her eggs in one basket.

Q: What about Post Malone?

A: With his latest country album, “F-1 Trillion,” Post Malone put on a cowboy hat and jumped right into the race. Among his ten previous Grammy nominations (all of which he lost), he was also nominated for some of the top categories for rap and pop tunes. This year he’s going for the Big 4 – “I Had Some Help” with Morgan Wallen was entered for record and song of the year, while “F-1 Trillion” is fighting for album of the year – exclusively in the country categories. “Yours” has been submitted for Best Country Solo Performance, while “Help” is seeking consideration for Best Country Song and Best Country Duo/Group Performance. (Plus best music video.) “F-1 Trillion” is also a contender for best country album.

Q: Who has a chance to win Best New Artist?

A: This year saw a significant wave of new artists finding success on the charts and beyond. The first round of submissions included Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan, Shaboozey, Tommy Richman, Benson Boone, Renee Rapp and Teddy Swims. And it really could be anyone’s game. Some surprising acts stand out on the list – Kate Hudson and Sophie Ellis-Bextor, to name a few – but given the overwhelming number of artists looking to make the final cut (323 in total), the focus shifts from that Person submitted Who wasn’t it? Some may be surprised to learn that Tate McRae didn’t make the cut, but it’s consistent with the Academy’s rule that you can’t submit a fourth time in the category (she had previously submitted up to the limit).

Q: Is there anything unusual for the pop girlies?

A: As suspected diversityAccording to Grammy predictions, women could make up the entire Album of the Year category and largely dominate the other Big 4 rankings. But beyond the general areas, there’s not much special in the genre-specific categories. Billie Eilish submitted “Hit Me Hard and Soft” and “Birds of a Feather” in the pop categories; Ariana Grande submitted “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait For Your Love),” “The Boy Is Mine” with Brandy and Monica and “Yes, And?” between pop and dance/electronic; Lady Gaga chose “Die With a Smile,” her duet with Bruno Mars, in the “Record and Song of the Year” and “Pop” categories. and Dua Lipa entered pop with “Radical Optimism” and its singles “Houdini” and “Illusion.” Taylor Swift did much the same thing, with “Fortnight” and “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” appearing in the pop and tech categories. The only place Swift might have an edge is in best music film, where her film “Eras Tour” is submitted alongside Céline Dion’s “I Am Celine” documentary and Gaga’s “Chromatica Ball.” It only helps Swift that Beyoncé’s “Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé” wasn’t submitted in this category for some reason.

Q: Wait, what about Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan?

A: Carpenter and Roan submitted to the Grammys as expected, with a few wrinkles. They were aimed at the pop categories and could easily be included in all four general field categories. However, there are a few things worth noting for Carpenter. She took a page from the Swift playbook by submitting “Espresso” for record of the year and “Please Please Please” for song of the year. And in the country categories, she has submitted twice with “Slim Pickins,” which is recognized in the “Best Country Song” and “Best Country Solo Performance” categories.

Q: Is rap beef good for the Grammys?

A: As soon as Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” was released in May, discussion began about whether or not the Recording Academy would consider him for a nomination. (Spoiler: Of course it would be.) And that’s it! It is the only song in the Lamar and Drake feud to be submitted in the first round of voting. “Not Like Us” was submitted for the “Record of the Year” and “Song of the Year” awards, as well as in the possible rap categories (best rap song, best rap performance). The diss track was also submitted for Best Music Video and Best Arrangement, Best Instruments and Best Vocals. Lamar could be competing against himself in several categories due to his contribution on Metro Boomin’s “Future” and “Like That,” which includes the awards list of Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Rap Song, and “Best Rap Performance” is included.

Q: Speaking of which, is Drake still mad at the Grammys?

A: Drake, of course, could have competed with Lamar in some of the aforementioned categories had he chosen to submit his songs – a reminder that he has been boycotting the Grammys for years, having withdrawn his nominations in 2022, as Weeknd was the year before snubbed for “After Hours.” As with the 2024 Grammys, Drake has a few entries for songs he appeared on — Sexyy Red’s “U My Everything” for best melodic rap performance, Gordo’s “Healing” for best music video — while The Weeknd appears as a feature on Future and Metro Boomin’s “We Still Don’t Trust You” in the best melodic rap performance. But these were probably submitted by the cover artists. The situation is similar in the “Producer of the Year, Non-Classical” category, where numerous musicians (Boi-1da, Tommy Parker) submitted their work for Drake songs. Among the Canadians missing out on next year’s ceremony is Zach Bryan, who surprisingly didn’t submit for any of the categories, including the expected country, Americana or rock tallies.

Q: What else is moving in the hip-hop categories?

A: It could very well be a veteran game at the 2025 Grammys. After all, Killer Mike won all three major rap categories earlier this year and returns with entries from his latest, “Michael & the Mighty Midnight Revival, Songs for Sinners and Saints” and the song “Humble Me.” What’s notable, however, is that many of the standout submissions come from established artists – LL Cool J, Rakim, Will Smith, MC Lyte, Common and Pete Rock, Busta Rhymes – who have very strong chances of nominations alongside artists like Travis Scott and Doja Cat .

Q: Latin music had a disappointing performance on the 2024 show. Of the major artists expected to receive nominations outside of the Latin categories, who actually has a chance at nominations?

A: There are three huge – both quantitatively and qualitatively – Latin American albums that were accepted in different categories: “Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran” with 17 songs by Shakira, “Éxodo” with 24 songs by Peso Pluma and 14 songs by Kali Uchis ” Orquídeas.” All three parent LPs were also submitted for Album of the Year, a category that received its first and only Spanish-language nomination in 2023 (Bad Bunny’s “Un Verano Sin Ti”).

Pluma had the most entries (10 total) and qualified for genre-specific categories in Latin, Global, Rap and Pop. His and Kali Uchis’ “Igual Que Un Ángel” was submitted for both Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. “Gimme a Second” appears in the Best Rap Song and Performance categories, while Cardi B’s “Put Em in the Fridge” is up for Best Melodic Rap Performance.

Like Uchis, Shakira submitted “Las Mujeres” for best Latin pop album. Shakira also appears in the “Record” and “Song of the Year” categories with “Puntería” and in the best pop solo performance with “Ultima”.

As expected, Bad Bunny submitted his 22-song trap album “Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana” for Album of the Year. However, it’s clear he’s aiming for recognition in the Record and Song of the Year categories, as three songs were submitted each: “Cybertruck,” “Monaco” and “Nadie Sabe.” (“Cybertruck” was also submitted for best pop solo performance.) However, that could ultimately go against him if the committee splits the votes between his submissions.

Q: And the question we all ask ourselves: Will it also be a bad winter?

A: Like the changing of the seasons, brat summer turned into brat fall, and if things go well for Charli XCX in the 2025 Grammy nominations, it could easily be a brat winter. The pop star goes far and wide with the songs from her latest album, Brat, which is up for Album of the Year, Best Dance/Electronic Album and Best Technical Album, Non-Classical. (It’s worth noting that she submitted the album in the dance/electronic realm, not the pop realm, where she would likely face stiff competition from artists like Taylor Swift, Chappell Roan, and Sabrina Carpenter.) She goes all out Line wildly ahead: “360”. Inclusion in “Record” and “Song of the Year” as well as best music video; “Apple” is the best solo pop performance; “Guess (Remix)” with Billie Eilish is Best Pop Duo/Group Performance; “Von Dutch” is the best dance-pop recording; and the “Von Dutch” remix with AG Cook and Addison Rae is the best remix recording. Suffice it to say, she’s going to end up somewhere and you’ll probably see her painting the red carpet slime green.