2023 Grammy Predictions

The Grammys, frequently cited as music’s most prestigious event, is notoriously known for nominating objectively bad music over good music. Ranging from completely snubbing The Weeknd’s After Hours to nominating Justin Bieber’s Yummy, tensions ignite annually.

Artists from the music industry can submit their work to numerous Grammy categories, the four main ones being Song of the Year, Record of the Year, Album of the Year, and Best New Artist.

Song of the Year is awarded to a song that is lyrically fantastic. This year is filled with strong contenders, including Adele’s “Easy On Me”, Beyonce’s “Break My Soul”, “As It Was” by Harry Styles, and Taylor Swift’s “All Too Well (10 Minute Version)”. According to Grammy prediction sites such as Gold Derby and Forbes, “Break My Soul” and “Easy On Me” are the two songs most likely to win, with “Easy On Me” being the top choice. This would mark Adele’s third win in this category. It is understandable why Adele would win this category, but I personally believe “All Too Well (10 Minute Version)” is most deserving of this award because of its emotionally raw lyrics. The passion with which Swift sings resonated with me, whether that was through anger or sadness.

Record of the Year is awarded to a song whose production is sonically exceptional. Adele’s “Easy On Me” is once again the top prediction for this category as well, though she will be competing against songs such as “Break My Soul”, Steve Lacy’s “Bad Habit”, and “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” by the cast of Encanto. If Adele were to win “Record of the Year”, she would become the first female in Grammys history to win thrice in this category.

Album of the Year is awarded to the album that is outstanding in both its lyrics and production. While Adele, Beyonce, and Harry Styles are once again predicted to be nominated, so are Kendrick Lamar and Bad Bunny, artists who are not strong contenders for the other main three categories. Adele is yet again the top prediction with her album 30 and it could be her third “Album of the Year” win, but Beyonce is not trailing far behind. Gold Derby claims 30 and Renaissance could battle head-to-head for the win in this category. If Beyonce were to win, this would mark her first “Album of the Year” win. After losing her last three nominations in this category, history could be made for the singer. Speaking of history made, Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti could potentially become the first full-Spanish album in history to be nominated in this category. If Kendrick Lamar’s Mr. Morales & the Big Steppers were to be nominated, this would make Lamar the first artist since Billy Joel to have four consecutive albums be nominated in the Album of the Year category. Also, it is worth noting that Silk Sonic, the duo consisting of Anderson .Paak and Bruno Mars, did not submit An Evening With Silk Sonic to any categories at the Grammys this year, despite Mars having a streak of winning all his nominations since 2014. 

Superstars Adele and Beyonce are once again competing for the big three categories in 2023: Song of the Year, Record of the Year, and Album of the Year. The 2017 Grammys ended with Adele triumphing over Beyonce as 25 beat out Lemonade in every single category and it seems as if this will occur yet again.

Unlike the other three main categories, Best New Artist doesn’t seem to have a standout contender. The winners for this category were almost obvious in the past three years, with Billie Eilish winning in 2020, Megan Thee Stallion in 2021, and Olivia Rodrigo in 2022. However when it comes to 2023, there is hesitancy in picking a clear winner. Variety predicts Dove Cameron, Latto, and Joji as some of the contenders to be nominated.

The Grammys are also introducing new categories this year, including Songwriter of the Year. Many songwriters in the music industry are elated to hear about the new category, as there has been a category for best producer since 1975, but never for individuals who write songs for other artists.

Nominations for the Grammys will be announced on November 15th, 2022 at 12pm EST and it will be riveting to see who gets nominated and who gets snubbed.

by MRIGANK DHINGRA