Music's Dominant Women, American Roots Among Favorite 2024 Grammy Nominations

by Tyler Glover & Julian Spivey

Photos: Republic Records, Atlantic Records, Southeastern Records & Verve Records

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WOMEN!
At the 2018 Grammys, #GrammysSoMale started trending on Twitter due to the winners being overwhelmingly male. In response to this, the Grammy President at the time, Neil Portnow responded by saying women needed to "step up." That year, Bruno Mars took home Album, Song and Record of the Year. At the time, it was relatively new that the Grammys had switched categories to just Pop Solo Performance instead of Best Male Pop Solo Performance and Best Female Pop Solo Performance. With so many men winning, it appeared that this could be a way that women would not be recognized. I feel this was the fear at the time. Portnow did not know what he was talking about at all then and I am so thrilled to see so many women nominated in the General Field categories. In fact, the only male nominations in Record and Song of the Year are for Jon Batiste. It appears that the men need to step it up now. Women have been on fire in music for years. I am glad that an Academy that just a few years ago seemed to predominantly only value art by men are recognizing that women, in my opinion, are carrying the music industry right now. In Album, Record and Song of the Year, we have Billie Eilish, Taylor Swift, SZA, Olivia Rodrigo, Miley Cyrus, Lana Del Rey, boygenius, Janelle Monae, Victoria Monet and Dua Lipa. I am truly excited for all of these women to be celebrated since they have all played a part in making 2023 truly an unforgettable year in music. TG

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Taylor Swift
It has been Taylor's year! The amount of things Swift has accomplished since October 2022 is outright insane. Last October, Swift released her tenth studio album, Midnights, to massive critical and commercial success. The lead single, "Anti-Hero," went to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became her longest-running #1 hit. Shortly after, Swift announced her Eras Tour, which is a trip through her music beginning with her debut album all the way to Midnights. The Eras Tour has become a cultural phenomenon. On October 13th this year, she released a concert film of the Eras Tour in theaters. The film became the highest-grossing concert film in the United States of all time. Theaters were filled with Swifties dressing up, trading friendship bracelets and singing and dancing like they were at the concert. Oh, and she also released two more albums for her well-documented re-recording project: Speak Now (Taylor's Version) in July and 1989 (Taylor's Version) last month. It came as no surprise when Grammy nominations were announced last Friday when Swift was announced as a finalist for Album of the Year for Midnights and Record and Song of the Year for "Anti-Hero." Right now, Swift is in a four-way tie for most wins for Album of the Year with Frank Sinatra, Paul Simon and Stevie Wonder. If Midnights wins AOTY, she will be the ARTIST at the Grammys with the most Album of the Year wins. Swift also made history as the songwriter with the most nominations for Song of the Year ever and has tied Barbra Streisand as the female with the most Album of the Year nominations in Grammy history. If Swift had been snubbed on Grammy nomination morning, it would have been unforgivable. That is why her six nominations (Album, Song, Record, Pop Solo Performance, Pop Vocal Album, and Pop Collaboration with Vocals) are my favorite Grammy nominations this year! TG

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But Here We Are by Foo Fighters for Best Rock Album
If you read the Grammy Snubs list that Tyler and I collaborated on yesterday you’ll know that I’m pretty bummed/irritated that the Foo Fighters’ excellent and incredibly emotional new album But Here We Are couldn’t break into the general field Album of the Year category (at least boygenius is there to represent some form of rock music), but that doesn’t mean I can’t be thrilled for the veteran Rock Hall of Famers to be nominated all up and down the rock genre-specific categories, most notably Best Rock Album. You can see the emotions of frontman Dave Grohl and the rest of the Foos losing drummer Taylor Hawkins all over this album, which is honestly one of the band’s best of their career. JS

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"Butterfly" by Jon Batiste for Song of the Year
Jon Batiste is an artist that makes me love the Grammys. Until Batiste became an Album of the Year winner two years ago, I had never heard of him. The Recording Academy shined a light on this artist for me and made me look. What I found was a brilliant songwriter and vocalist who truly touches the hearts of listeners everywhere. If it wasn't for the Grammys, I would probably have never heard Batiste sing and it would have been a true shame. He is easily one of my favorite new artists of the last several years. "Butterfly" is such a touching song of going through the journey of life and finding out who we are. Batiste brilliantly does this in comparison with the progression of a butterfly's journey in their lives. This was a song that I wanted to be nominated for Song of the Year so badly but it wasn't an obvious pick for Grammy voters so I am beyond thrilled to see Batiste get the recognition. TG

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Rolling Up the Welcome Mat by Kelsea Ballerini for Best Country Album
Kelsea Ballerini is a country artist whom I have really grown to just love over the years. She definitely leans more toward pop like Taylor Swift did before she fully committed to just making pop music. At the end of the day though, Ballerini's EP Rolling Up The Welcome Mat is something truly special. Ballerini breaks our hearts as we hear track by track about the dissolution of a marriage. All the high hopes and the best of intentions float away as the album continues on. The best song on the album is "Penthouse," which offers a glimpse of how we can act like everything is okay and project to the world that everything is perfect in our lives, but the looks cannot hide the fact that sometimes, we are playing pretend. Another fantastic track on the album is "Leave Me Again." Ballerini sings that she hopes life is going good for her ex but she hopes that she will never leave herself again for someone else. While the album arguably could be considered pop, I am truly excited to see that the Recording Academy felt this album deserved recognition. TG

"Buried" by Brandy Clark for Best Country Song
I love songs that are both heartbreaking but find a bit of beauty in the heartbreak and, boy, does “Buried” by Brandy Clark have that in spades. In a softly sung almost whisper, Clark lists off all of these things she can do with her newfound singlehood – some sound like dreams, some sound like time killers – but at the end of the song she will nearly knock you dead with the punchline of it all. It’s a stunner of a song written by Clark and Jessie Jo Dillon and while it has some solid competition in the Best Country Song category it’ll certainly be the one I’m rooting for on Grammy night. JS

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Barbie
One of the biggest films this year was the hit film, "Barbie," starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling. The film struck a chord with people for so many reasons.

The film truly had us thinking about what our purpose was in this world and made us all think about how patriarchal our society has become. Women are expected to be perfect while men can be extremely flawed but celebrated for those flaws. “Barbie” will be remembered for its incredible direction by Greta Gerwig, its spot-on performances from Robbie, Gosling and America Ferrera, its brilliant script, its beautiful production design, its vibrant costumes, and most definitely for its soundtrack. I was so excited to see that the Recording Academy agreed with me. On Friday, the "Barbie" soundtrack was nominated for 11 Grammys. Billie Eilish's "What Was I Made For?" was nominated for Record, Song and Best Pop Solo Performance of the Year. Dua Lipa's "Dance the Night" was nominated for Song of the Year." Barbie's soundtrack was nominated for Best Score Soundtrack and Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media. In the Best Song Written for Visual Media category, four of the five nominations are from the Barbie movie: Eilish's "What Was I Made For?," Lipa's "Dance the Night," Ice Spice and Nicki Minaj's "Barbie World" and Gosling's "I'm Just Ken." "Barbie World" was also nominated for Best Rap Song. The Recording Academy absolutely fell in love with this film the way we all did. This was definitely one of my favorite Grammy nominations this year. TG

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Jubilee by Old Crow Medicine Show for Best Folk Album
So, Old Crow Medicine Show is facing some major hitters in the Best Folk Album category like Joni Mitchell and Paul Simon, but it is an honor they’ve won before for 2015’s excellent Remedy. But the veteran band’s latest release Jubilee is right up there with the best albums of their career with terrific tracks like, “Miles Away,” “Allegheny Lullaby,” “Smoky Mountain Girl” mixed in with fun barnstormers like “Belle Meade Cockfight” and “Wolfman of the Ozarks.” I love Paul and Joni, but on Grammy Night it’s O.C.M.S. I’ll be rooting for it. JS

Weathervanes by Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit for Best Americana Album
Jason Isbell has been one of the best singer-songwriters in all of music for the last decade-plus and the nominating committee for the American Roots/Americana categories knows this well as he’s been frequently nominated and frequently wins awards in those genre-specific categories, but he’s never broken into the general field categories and that’s a damn shame. This year’s Weathervanes is right in line with the rest of Isbell’s discography with fully-fleshed terrific story songs about the highs and lows of life lived by real-life Americans. So, while I’m thrilled Weathervanes is nominated for Best Americana Album, as it should’ve been, I still harbor some resentment that it can’t break through the general field’s pop strong-and-stranglehold. JS

The Returner by Allison Russell for Best American Roots Song
I mentioned in our recent The Word on Pop Culture Podcast episode that if I had the ability to fill out a ballot for the general field Song of the Year category I’d put Allison Russell’s terrific “The Returner,” the title track off her most recent album, as one of the best of the year. I knew that was not going to happen – you watch these things enough and you know some artists are just destined for the genre-specific categories. But, at least “The Returner,” which features the best of Russell as a vocalist, musician and songwriter, got a nomination for Best American Roots Song. The song will simply make you want to fly. JS

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What Were Some of Your Favorite 2024 Grammy Award nominations?