The Grammys: Who will win, who should win and the underdogs

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Photo credit: LION

This Sunday CBS will host the 59th annual Grammy Awards. These awards usually carry the same results: deserving artist getting robbed of what they earned (throwback to last year when Taylor Swift beat out Kendrick Lamar’s, “To Pimp A Butterfly, an album that possessed mass social and cultural awareness and was even praised by the former president of the United States Barack Obama).  

This year is a battle between Beyoncé and Adele, two of the most extensive female music figures of the last decade. Beyoncé leads the awards with nine nominations for her visual album, “Lemonade,” which is dynamic and inspired conversation about social injustice. Adele may not be second in nominations, however, she is still Beyoncé’s largest competitor. “Hello,” her most noteworthy track yet, has become the most recognizable song off of just one word.

Other categories such as Best New Artist, Song of the Year, Best Urban Contemporary Album, and Best Rap Album should stir up some controversy. Artists such as  Chance The Rapper, Rihanna, Justin Bieber, Kanye West, Drake and The Chainsmokers are all nominated. It will be interesting to see if the winners tonight are accepted by the viewers or provoke backlash like in 2014 when Macklemore’s “The Heist” beat out Kendrick Lamar’s critically acclaimed “good kid, m.A.A.d city” (Lamar just can’t catch a break).

Here are my picks on who will win, who should win and the underdogs in the most popular categories.


Album of the Year

Nominees
Adele: “25”
Beyoncé: “Lemonade”
Justin Bieber: “Purpose”
Drake: “Views”
Sturgill Simpson: “A Sailor’s Guide To Earth”

Who will win: Beyoncé, “Lemonade”
Beyoncé proved once again that she is the queen of our generation with “Lemonade.” The album hit every note possible. It brought awareness to problems in society and the hardship of women. “Lemonade” is more than an album, it is a work of art that stimulated its audience visually and acoustically.

Who should win: Beyoncé, “Lemonade”
Beyoncé showed more than just her vocals and musical abilities in this album. She showcased her artful mindset. Even though Adele’s third album “25” was number one in sales in 2016, it still have the impact that “Lemonade” had. “Lemonade” is a mixture of all genres that worked off of each other to create a masterpiece that was appreciated by listeners across the globe.

Underdog: Drake, “Views”
The one and only Drake. The perfect fusion of rap, pop and those songs that put you in your feels. “Views” did damage this year. It made a case for the future of the music industry. Not only did Drake create an album that had the sound everyone wanted, it also proved that streaming is the future of how the majority of people will listen to their favorite artists.  ”Views” achieved quadruple-platinum status and ended the year at number two on the year-end Top Billboard 200 Albums, all while being eighth in album sales. If Drake were to win Best Album it would show that the Grammy voters have a new understanding of where the music industry is and where it is heading.


Record of the Year

Nominees
Adele: “Hello”
Beyoncé: “Formation”
Lukas Graham: “7 Years”
Rihanna: “Work”
Twenty One Pilots: “Stressed Out”

Who will win: Adele, “Hello”
It’s a warm summer day and suddenly you hear, “Hello…..” You already know who it is and what happens next. You break out into intense singing, imagining you are the one and only Adele when in all honesty your voice can be classified as sub-par at best. Adele’s “Hello” can be considered a chef-d’oeuvre: an unforgettable song from the moment you hear the first word. “Hello” was the track that elevated Adele to an even higher status than she already was.

Who should win: Beyoncé, “Formation”
Beyoncé proved that she was greater than what everyone already thought with “Formation.” The song embodies Beyoncé and is hard to even explain. The one word that describes the song in all is extraordinary. However, this is the Grammys and Beyoncé can’t win everything. That would be too easy. So Adele will take it home.

Underdog: Lukas Graham, “7 Years”
The Grammys likes to surprise its audience, and usually not in a good way. Don’t get it twisted, “7 Years” is a good song that tells a story which is a true sign of good music, but it doesn’t compare to “Hello” or “Formation.”


Song of the Year

Nominees
Adele Adkins and Greg Kurstin: “Hello”
Khalif Brown, Asheton Hogan, Beyoncé Knowles & Michael L. Williams II: “Formation”
Mike Posner: “I Took A Pill In Ibiza”
Justin Bieber, Benjamin Levin & Ed Sheeran: “Love Yourself”
Lukas Forchhammer, Stefan Forrest, Morten Pilegaard & Morten Ristorp: “7 Years”

Who will win: Adele Adkins and Greg Kurstin, “Hello”
Adele can’t only win Record of the Year. It just wouldn’t be right.

Who should win: Justin Bieber, Benjamin Levin and Ed Sheeran, “Love Yourself”
Justin Bieber really showcased his maturity and growth as an artist in his latest album, “Purpose.” The one song that stood out from the rest is “Love Yourself.” In a category that is focused on songwriting and lyrics more than the final outcome, “Love Yourself” makes a strong case as to why it should win this category. Bieber followed the rules on this song and married catchy lyrics with a smooth tune.

Underdog: Lukas Forchhammer, Stefan Forrest, Morten Pilegaard and Morten Ristorp, “7 Years”
This song tells a story. It serves as a catchy song that subliminally tells a story about the struggles and pains of growing up. The Grammys have done it before, we may just see Lukas Graham go home with two surprise wins.


Best New Artist

Nominees
Kelsea Ballerini
The Chainsmokers
Chance the Rapper
Maren Morris
Anderson .Paak

Who will win: The Chainsmokers
The Grammys likes to disappoint its audience in more ways than one. One of those ways tonight will be giving The Chainsmokers the Best New Artist award. Yes, they created possibly the catchiest and most well known song of 2016 with “Closer,” but do they really deserve it? For many people, that’s the only song they know by them. All I ask is that the judges think long and hard before selecting the winner of this category. Don’t dissapoint the world. The Chainsmokers are radio music.

Who should win: Chance the Rapper
Chance is a game-changer. He isn’t new to the music scene, he is just becoming mainstream. He has proven everyone wrong, and that’s why he deserves this award more than anyone else. He single-handedly nudged the Grammys to change their eligibility rules regarding streaming and stayed true to himself and his fans. Not to mention had the best rap verse of the year on Kanye West’s “Ultralight Beam,” ran his own music festival, had one of the best performances at the ESPYs, Saturday Night Live and The White House and was voted best rapper of 2016 by Complex. He is the obvious winner, but The Grammys likes to cause controversy.

Underdog: Anderson .Paak
Anderson .Paak showed his true skills in 2016. The L.A.-based artist released “Malibu,” which hit No. 9 on the U.S. R&B charts. If he doesn’t come out with the upset this year he will definitely be a force to be reckoned with in the future.


Best Rap Album

Nominees
Chance the Rapper: “Coloring Book”
De La Soul: “And the Anonymous Nobody”
DJ Khaled: “Major Key”
Drake: “Views”
ScHoolboy Q: “Blank Face LP”
Kanye West: “The Life of Pablo”

Who will win: Drake, “Views”
Best Rap Album: the category that produces the most twitter fights of the night. Drake isn’t going to win Album of the Year, but he is the only rap artist who is in consideration. It only makes sense for him to win Best Rap Album to make up for not winning Best Album.

Who should win: Chance the Rapper, “Coloring Book”
Chance the Rapper’s “Coloring Book” was the best rap album of 2016. It shook up the game with songs like “No Problem” and “All We Got,” It also featured artist such as Kanye West, 2 Chainz, Noname Gypsy, Kirk Franklin, Justin Bieber and Lil’ Wayne. This album put together with everything else Chance did in 2016 proves why he deserves this win.

Underdog: Kanye West, “The Life of Pablo”
Possibly the greatest rapper of the 21st century, Kanye West blessed his listeners with yet another album in 2016. “The Life of Pablo” was different. It broke rules and was outside of the box, and it worked. It offered some of the best songs of the year such as “Ultralight Beam” and “Father Stretch my Hands Part. 1 and Part. 2,” and featured some of the most distinguished artist ever like Chance the Rapper, Kirk Franklin and Rihanna. Although the album wasn’t his best work. it was still noteworthy to say the least. (Oh, and he found Frank Ocean.)


Best Urban Contemporary Album

Nominees
Beyoncé: “Lemonade”
Gallant: “OLOGY”
KING: “We are King”
Anderson .Paak: “Malibu”
Rihanna: “Anti”

Who will win: Beyoncé, “Lemonade”
Beyoncé is nominated for nine awards. She will take home at least five, and sadly none of the albums nominated in this category pose a real threat to Queen B’s “Lemonade.”

Who should win: Beyoncé, “Lemonade”
Beyoncé deserves this category. She infused every genre imaginable into one album, and it worked. This album screams “urban contemporary.”

Underdog: Rihanna, “Anti”
Out of the five albums nominated, Rihanna’s “Anti” is the only one that can be considered a true competitor to “Lemonade.” It was a great project that produced hits like “Work,” “Kiss It Better,” and “Needed Me.” Anti also won the American Music Award for Favorite Soul/R&B Album. If the Grammys would like to snub the Queen in any category, Best Urban Contemporary Album would make the most sense.


Tonight should be filled with numerous twitter fights, memes, and surprises. Hopefully your favorite artists take home the awards they deserve. To find all the nominees for every category, click here. You can also follow along with me as I live-tweet throughout the show.