November 15, the Grammy nominations were announced and it’s safe to say that the big categories were easy to predict. All of the songs and albums that were nominated this year were from the popular artists of 2022 like Harry Styles, Steve Lacy and Beyoncé. 

After looking at the nominations for Record of the Year, I was relieved to see Kendrick Lamar’s “The Heart Part 5” on the list. This song’s production is what sets it apart from the rest, making it a perfect candidate for this category. Record of the Year is slightly different from Song of the Year. Song of the Year doesn’t focus on production and engineering like Record of the Year does. 

The big disappointment of this year’s Grammy nominations was in the Song of the Year category because of Gayle’s “abcdefu” being nominated. Gayle’s “abcdefu” went viral over the summer on TikTok, and it feels as though the Grammys threw Gayle’s song in the running just to appeal to younger kids. This song is not only cringy and unworthy of a Grammy nomination, but it just lacks depth. 

The most anticipated announcement every year is Album of the Year and the nominees once again, were predictable. The nominations weren’t disappointing, but I wish we saw more albums that didn’t get as much attention throughout the past year. All of this year’s big, chart topping, albums seem to be nominated in this area. My personal favorite in this lineup is Harry Styles’s Harry’s House, Beyoncé’s Renaissance and Kendrick Lamar’s Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers. All of these albums are very upstanding and in my opinion, they all have a good chance of winning.