The GRAMMYs are right around the corner, which means it is almost the biggest night for music lovers. The Marquette Radio staff, being huge fans of music, of course, had to weigh in with their thoughts on the big night. Here are their picks for the four biggest awards of the night:
Album Of The Year:
“25” — Adele
“Lemonade” — Beyoncé
“Purpose” — Justin Bieber
“Views” — Drake
“A Sailor’s Guide To Earth” — Sturgill Simpson
LILY: “25” all the way. This may only be because of my love for ADELE. She’s my absolute favorite singer. She’s talented. She’s soulful. She’s basically perfect. People anticipated this album for years and had nothing but good things to say about it once it was released. With that, she definitely deserves this GRAMMY.
JIMMY: There are no surprises with the Album of the Year nominations. Once again The GRAMMYs stick to the formula of nominating the four most popular albums of the year and a consolation indie pick (because yes, when you’re disowned by Nashville [Link “disowned by Nashville” to following article] [http://www.rollingstone.com/country/news/sturgill-simpson-i-will-be-blackballed-from-the-industry-w436949 ] you become indie by default). My personal favorite didn’t make the list, but I can’t say I would’ve expected to see Whitney on here. All things told though, I really hoped to see at least Chance the Rapper in this category. I’d be surprised if anyone not named “Beyoncé” wins, but my vote goes to Simpson’s sprawling epic.
GABBY: I’m going to jump out of my usual inclinations toward all things indie here: I want Beyoncé to win. I think “Lemonade” was not only chock-full of amazing, thought-provoking music, but delved into the visual realm as well. Her collab with Kendrick Lamar on “Freedom” gave me chills the first time I heard it (although I’m partial to any song with a horn section). All in all, I’m looking forward to Bey’s future works, especially if they continue to be as brilliant as “Lemonade.”
Record Of The Year:
“Hello” — Adele
“Formation” — Beyoncé
“7 Years” — Lukas Graham
“Work” — Rihanna Featuring Drake
“Stressed Out” — Twenty One Pilots
JIMMY: It’s an easy choice for me; Twenty One Pilots’ “Stressed Out” had me hooked from the moment it came out. Never could have foreseen the heights that song would take the weird indie-pop band this year, but don’t let its “overplayed” status cloud the truth: this was the most original pop hit of 2016 (added bonus that it was the product of an actual band, not a team of writers).
CECILIA: “Formation,” hands down. It shows relevancy as a protest song. Domination, self-acceptance, revenge; all of this shows it tackles a lot of complex themes for a pop song.
LILY: I really like all of these songs, but being this category is based on the overall production, I would have to go with “Stressed Out.” The song is layered with a bunch of different beats, yet it all seems to come together to give it a catchy and enjoyable sound. Overall, this song is not your typical pop song, which just for its originality alone makes it deserve a GRAMMY.
Song Of The Year:
“Formation” — Khalif Brown, Asheton Hogan, Beyoncé Knowles & Michael L. Williams II, songwriters (Beyoncé)
“Hello” — Adele Adkins & Greg Kurstin, songwriters (Adele)
“I Took A Pill In Ibiza” — Mike Posner, songwriter (Mike Posner)
“Love Yourself” — Justin Bieber, Benjamin Levin & Ed Sheeran, songwriters (Justin Bieber)
“7 Years” — Lukas Forchhammer, Stefan Forrest, Morten Pilegaard & Morten Ristorp, songwriters (Lukas Graham)
LILY: I am going to give my pick to “I Took A Pill In Ibiza.” I think it’s impressive of Mike Posner to do all the songwriting on his own. Not many people in the industry these days do. I also think that it’s pretty incredible that he can go on a hiatus for years after having a couple of hits and then come back and have one of the biggest pop songs of the year. It’s impressive and totally worthy of an award.
MAGGS: I love all the songs that were nominated for this category, but Formation is the winner in my book, for sure. There is so much that goes into this song. On the surface level, Beyonce is singing about how she slays, which, of course, we all know she does every day. On a deeper level, though, the song goes beyond its catchy beat. The lyrics are a declaration of self-love and being comfortable in your own skin. Beyond that, the song, along the music video, is a social justice anthem strongly advocating for the Black Lives Matter movement. Sure, the other songs in this category are great, but Formation deserves to be Song of the Year for so many reasons.
IAN: Of these songs, “Love Yourself” by Justin Bieber was by far my favorite. I love the chill melody and slightly angsty lyrics. You can definitely hear the influence of Ed Sheeran throughout the track, but I think it works well with Bieber’s performance (full disclosure: I have not listened to Beyoncé’s “Lemonade” yet).
Best New Artist:
Kelsea Ballerini
The Chainsmokers
Chance The Rapper
Maren Morris
Anderson .Paak
CECILIA : Anderson Paak. Chance isn’t a new artist in my book. Paak’s album, “Malibu,” is awesome.
MAGGS: All the nominees for this category are amazing, and as much as I’d absolutely love to see a country artist win, one artist sticks out to me the most. Chance the Rapper has done SO MUCH in 2016. He already won 2016. In 2016, Chance released “Coloring Book,” and he put on a music festival, Magnificent Coloring Day, with a spectacular lineup in one of my absolute favorite places in the world, U.S. Cellular Field (or Comiskey, for my Southside homies). In Chicago alone, he put on an afternoon Teens in the Park Fest, raised over $100,000 to provide coats for the homeless in the winter, hosted an open mic night for teens to have a safe space to express themselves and led a huge parade to the polls in hopes of getting people of all ages and backgrounds to vote in the 2016 election. One, those are only the things he did in Chicago, and two, those are only a few of the things he did! I could go on and on. Further, Chance has collaborated with many big name artists, like Kanye West, Lil Wayne, 2 Chainz, and so on. He was even on Ellen, and he delivered, in my opinion, the best performance I’ve ever seen on her show. I could talk about Chance all day, but I think I’ve more than made my point. Chance the Rapper deserves all good things, especially this GRAMMY award.
MATT: For me, Chance The Rapper is the obvious choice for a win in this category. It is interesting that The GRAMMYs are classifying him as a new artist since he has previously released music on streaming services such as Soundcloud, but in terms of songwriting, producing and musical talent the other nominees just can’t compete. From start to finish, “Coloring Book” is an incredibly well done album, and it has made Chance The Rapper more than deserving of receiving a GRAMMY.
IAN: Of the nominees, I want Chance to win the most, but I know that is who everyone else will be talking about. I would have liked to see The Wrecks nominated for the category. But, I realize they are not popular enough to get the attention of the GRAMMYs.
