unlike a lot of people with my general musical tastes, i’m not cynical when it comes to the grammys. yet.

increasingly, the grammys have taken quite a hit from people who have become dissatisfied with what appears to be nods to popularity and radio rank far more than pure musical achievement. no doubt, when taylor swift wins album of the year (like she did in 2010), it gets hard to not question the awards’ credibility. on the flipside, i’ve continued to be hopeful from when arcade fire shocked everyone by winning for the suburbs (and became one of my favorite memes). because of glimmers of hope like that, i’ve resisted the urge to become cynical.

with all that said, i think it’s a particularly weak list of nominees this year. there’s certainly a lot that i agree with and like, but there’s equal amounts that are just really?? moments.

nevertheless, i still look forward to the grammys and always enjoy offering predictions, if for no other reason than to see how wrong i can be every year. 🙂 (which, i certainly was quite a bit last year.)

without further ado, here’s my predictions.

album of the year

morning phase: beck
beyonce: beyonce
x: ed sheeran
in the lonely hour: sam smith
girl: pharrell williams

who i’d vote for: beyonce. i like this album, but more than anything, i didn’t like (or didn’t like as much) several other of the nominees.

who i think will win: beyonce. the smart pick is sam smith, but i think there’s a chance the grammy voters will reward beyonce for not being nominated for the song categories.

record of the year

fancy: iggy azalea
chandelier: sia
stay with me: sam smith
shake it off: taylor swift
all about that bass: meghan trainor

who i’d vote for: sia. more to the point, i want anyone to win other than taylor swift. but i really do think chandelier is the perfect pop song and far more layered than what most people realize.

who i think will win: sam smith

song of the year

all about that bass: kevin kadish & meghan trainor
chandelier: sia furler & jesse shatkin
shake it off: max martin, shellback & taylor swift
stay with me: james napier, william phillips & sam smith
take me to church: andrew hozier-byrne

who i’d vote for: take me to church. this should’ve been nominated for record of the year because i think the performance is better than the songwriting. nevertheless, i hope it wins here.

who i think will win: sia. i think the voters will agree with my aforementioned evaluation (for record of the year).

best new artist

iggy azalea
bastille
brandy clark
haim
sam smith

who i’d vote for: haim

who i think will win: sam smith. i’d be shocked if he didn’t win this.

best pop solo performance

all of me (live): john legend
chandelier: sia
stay with me: sam smith
shake it off: taylor swift
happy (live): pharrell williams

who i’d vote for: sia

who i think will win: pharrell williams

best pop duo/group performance

fancy: iggy azalea & charli xcx
a sky full of stars: coldplay
say something: a great big world & christina aguilera
bang bang: jessie j, ariana grande & nicki minaj
dark horse: katy perry & juicy j

who i’d vote for: dark horse or say something

who i think will win: say something

best pop vocal album

ghost stories: coldplay
bangerz: miley cyrus
my everything: ariana grande
prism: katy perry
x: ed sheeran
in the lonely hour: sam smith

who i’d vote for: katy perry

who i think will win: ed sheeran

best rock performance

gimme something good: ryan adams
do i wanna know?: arctic monkeys
blue moon: beck
fever: the black keys
lazaretto: jack white

who i’d vote for: jack white

who i think will win: the black keys

best rock album

ryan adams: ryan adams
morning phase: beck
turn blue: the black keys
hypnotic eye: tom petty & the heartbreakers
songs of innnocence: u2

who i’d vote for: u2 or the black keys

who i think will win: beck

best alernative music album

this is all yours: alt-j
reflektor: arcade fire
melophobia: cage the elephant
st. vincent: st. vincent
lazaretto: jack white

who i’d vote for: st. vincent or arcade fire

who i think will win: st. vincent (i don’t really think she’ll win, but i feel like if i put it in writing, it could come true…) 🙂

best rap performance

3005: childish gambino
0 to 100/the catch up: drake
rap god: eminem
i: kendrick lamar
all i need is you: lecrae

who i’d vote for: kendrick lamar. (sidenote: i’m not really a fan of lecrae, but huge props to him for being nominated in this category.)

who i think will win: kendrick lamar (this could be a make-up for him losing to macklemore last year for best rap album.)

best rap album

the new classic: iggy azalea
because the internet: childish gambino
nobody’s smiling: common
that marshall mathers lp2: eminem
oxymoron: schoolboy q
blacc hollywood: wiz khalifa

who i’d vote for: eminem

who i think will win: common

so, there you have it. i’ll check in early next week to grade my predictions. fingers crossed!