A look at the 2024 Grammy nominations

LOS ANGELES (AP):

With new categories, SZA, and Barbie, there’s a lot to discuss regarding the 2024 Grammy Award nominations.

IT’S RAINING WOMEN

The majority of leading nominees are women, and include superstars like Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Miley Cyrus and Olivia Rodrigo. In both the record and album of the year categories, the only man represented is Jon Batiste.

SZA is the lead contender for the 66th Grammy Awards, with nine nominations including record of the year, song of the year, and best R&B performance. SOS is also up for album of the year and best progressive R&B album. The 2024 ceremony will mark the second time SZA has been nominated for record, album, and song of the year in the same year.

R&B singer-songwriter Victoria Monét received seven nominations including best new artiste, record of the year, best R&B song, best R&B performance and best traditional R&B performance. Her 2023 release, Jaguar ll, is up for best R&B album and best engineered album, non-classical.

And just like at the box office, Barbie will be seen – and heard – at the Grammys. Music from the hit film’s soundtrack earned 11 nominations, including nabbing four of the five slots in the visual media song category.

NEW BLOOD?

There’s a lot to love about the nominations for the 66th Grammy Awards – and quite a bit to be a little confused by. Reneé Rapp, Peso Pluma and PinkPantheress are absent from the best new artiste category, despite having remarkable years. Rapp’s Snow Angel was the biggest debut solo album from a female artiste this year.

Rapp and PinkPantheress were both shut out and Peso Pluma only picked up one nomination: best música Mexicana album for his third studio album, Génesis.

LATIN LOOKED OVER

In fact, in a year dominated by música Mexicana, it is surprising to see no nods for Eslabon Armado or Grupo Frontera, particularly for their songs Ella Baila Sola with Peso Pluma and Un x100to with Bad Bunny, respectively. Natanael Cano and Fuerza Regida are also noticeably absent.

This year, there are only three nominees for best música urbana album – because the category received fewer than 40 entries – and accounts for Karol G’s sole nomination, for her historic 2023 album Mañana Será Bonito.

NO COUNTRY FOR COUNTRY

Undeniably, country music has had a massive 2023. In July, country acts held the top three spots on the Hot 100 for the first time: Controversy hoisted Jason Aldean’s Try That In a Small Town to No. 1, followed by Morgan Wallen’s Last Night and Luke Combs’ cover of Tracy Chapman’s Fast Car.

While Last Night is nominated for best country song, a songwriter’s award, Wallen himself isn’t, despite his successful year. His latest album, One Thing at a Time, had, as of October 14, spent 16 weeks at the top – which meant he’s held the top spot for nearly 40 per cent of the year so far ... and his record was released in March.

K-POP STATE OF MIND

Quite a few K-pop heavyweights could have been nominated – TOMORROW X TOGETHER, Stray Kids and the Y2K-loving girl group NewJeans – but they weren’t.

All three had releases hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Some critics had theorised that NewJeans might earn a best new artiste nomination, which would have made them the first-ever K-pop girl group to receive a Grammy nod. Or the K-pop girl group Fifty Fifty, whose bubblegum pop single Cupid became so ubiquitous, they even appeared on the Barbie film soundtrack.

Yet, after Friday’s announcement, BTS remains the only K-pop group to ever receive a Grammy nod.