The Grammys’ Woman’s Song of the Year Awards: From “What Was I Made For”, to “Barbie World,” to “I Wanna Wanna Be”
The performers that are in the running for best new artist include the singer and actress Coco Jones, the British dance producer known as Fred again, as well as the banjo-playing pop-folkie Noah Kahan and the singer and actress Monét.
In past years, the Grammys have been criticized for failing to adequately reward female artists, and this year’s woman-heavy nominations will likely be welcomed in the industry as a sign of progress. The key will be who wins.
Luke Combs, who had a cross-generational smash with a reverently faithful version of Tracy Chapman’s 1988 song “Fast Car,” got a nod for country solo performance, but not record of the year, which many in the industry had expected. Fast Car was not eligible for song of the year since it was nominated for that award in the ’80s.
The song “I Remember Everything”, with Kacey Musgraves, was nominated for a Country Song of the Year Award, but it was only for the self-titled album that Bryan achieved chart success. And Morgan Wallen, a streaming titan whose album “One Thing at a Time” was a blockbuster this year, is absent completely — a sign, perhaps, that the coastal industry mainstream has not forgiven Wallen for his use of a racial slur two years ago, as establishment Nashville seemingly has. Wallen was not among the four writers of the hit song, though it is up for best country song.
The nominations are indicative of the voting members of the Recording Academy, according to Harvey Mason Jr., chief executive of the Recording Academy.
Songs from the Greta Gerwig film “Barbie” — a canny collection of contemporary pop hitmakers finding creative ways to wrestle with the film’s themes — are everywhere in this year’s nominations. “What Was I Made For?” is nominated for song of the year, and “Dance the Night” is nominated for song of the year. The rap song “Barbie World” will go against the one by Ice Spice. Four of the five slots for best song written for visual media were taken by tracks from the soundtrack. CARAMANICA.
There is a category called the msica urbana. The three nominees are deserving: the producers Tainy and RAWAW A Alejandro, and the author of the Spanish-language album MAana Ser Bonito. Msica urbana is a popular format that covers Latin trap and many other types of music. TheGrammys couldn’t find any nominees. All they had to do was turn on the radio. JON PARELES
The best rock song category at the Grammys is not usually thought of as good, but this time it is a surprise: “Ballad of a Homeless Girl” is up against the Rolling Stones. The Angry was pitting some of this year’s oldest nominees (average Stones age: 78) against one of the youngest (at 20) for a celebratory champagne. Rodrigo is the only nominee in the category who isn’t part of a band, but her track has the fewest number of writers: just two, herself and the producer Daniel Nigro. Queens of the Stone Age, boygenius and Foo Fighters are competitors.
“Ballad of a Homeschooled Girl,” with its gleeful pop-punk thrash, is an ode to social awkwardness that draws on ’90s rockers like Veruca Salt; “Angry” is built on a classic Stones riff with plenty of room to breathe — unlike the troubled relationship Mick Jagger describes in its lyrics. Both describe uncomfortable situations and they sound like fun. It is nice to see the new album from the man, called Guts, seen in the rock field. Caryn GANZ is a person.
If anyone should have been able to count on respect from the Grammys, it’s Paul Simon. His album “Seven Psalms” plays as a musical farewell, anticipating his death. It is a major statement, made with intimate acoustic arrangements that awards shows claim to recognize. Since his days as a partner with Garfunkel, Simon has won 16GRAMMARS. The album was overlooked for a number of awards, and only received one nomination for best folk album, which was a strong contender for best album of the year. The Grammys used to reward late-career albums by musicians like Steely Dan (“Two Against Nature”), Bob Dylan (“Time Out of Mind”) and Tony Bennett (“MTV Unplugged”). Simon’s conflict with mortality seems to have become stuck between generations. Pareles.