6 Things That Make Us Question the 2017 Grammy Nominations
The 2017 Grammy nominations are in, and as usual, everyone is talking about them. From Beyoncé's whopping 9 nominations, to Kanye West's Album of the Year snub, to celebrating Fat Joe and Remy Ma's nomination for "All the Way Up." The usual. There are always controversial and very questionable nominations during Grammy, and this year is no different. We've read through the nominee list and these six Grammy choices make us question their decisions, so we have to ask.
Why isn't Rihanna's ANTI a AOTY contender?
We're not here to make the tired ANTI vs. Lemonade argument or inject the social media beef between Rihanna's Navy and Beyoncé's BeyHive with more juice. Rihanna easily had one of the best albums of the year. From chart-topping hits like "Work" and "Needed Me" to impressive album cuts like "James Joint" and "Higher," ANTI is a complete package through and through. The album swept the R&B Grammy nominations besides for "Best R&B Album." We'll talk about that in a moment. ANTI is arguably RiRi's best work to date, and it would've been nice to see it compete with the best of the best for Album of the Year.
What is the Urban Contemporary category?
Why is this category still a thing? What does it even mean? For example, Rihanna is nominated for both "Best R&B Song" and "R&B Performance," but it isn't nominated for "Best R&B Album." Instead, she's nominated for "Best Urban Contemporary" album. How does that make sense? What classifies as an R&B album and as an Urban Contemporary? Anderson .Paak, who's a rapper, is also nominated in this category. It's all over the place. Why can't we just have one R&B category and one rap category? It's simple.
How is Kanye West's Life of Pablo not nominated for AOTY?
The Life of Pablo isn't Kanye West's best work, J. Cole would probablyprobably agree. But that doesn't mean the project still wasn't amazing. The album is filled with incredible musical and pop culture moments that can't be overlooked, including Chance the Rapper's breakout verse on "Ultralight Beam", the Taylor Swift lyric on "Famous," Kanye's troll to himself with "I Love Kanye." TLOP might not get the same recognition as Mr. West's earlier work like My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, but it's still a classic in its own right. It was one of the most memorable albums of 2016 and definitely deserves a Album of the Year nod and/or Song of the Year nod for "Ultralight Beam."
Is Desiigner really nominated before Future?
Desiigner getting nominated for a Grammy before Future is like letting a student cheat off you test but they end up getting a better grade. Don't get me wrong, "Panda" was phenomenal, it deserves to be nominated, but where were the Grammys when "March Madness" came out?
Will Sturgill Simpson "Trump" the 2017 Grammys?
Sturgill Simpson is about to Trump the Grammys. While everyone is fighting over Adele and Beyoncé to take home the coveted Album of the Year award, Simpson will probably come through with the most unlikely upset and low-key juju on that beat all the way up to the podium. The Internet will be shocked, the Jordan sad face will reign supreme on timelines, and Sturgill Simpson will come out with the W. Prepare yourself, this could be the outcome.
Where's the Bryson Tiller Best New Artist Nomination?
Technically his album TRAPSOUL came out in late 2015, but Bryson Tiller deserves a "Best New Artist" nomination. With singles like "Sorry Not Sorry" and "Exchange" still clogging up the radio air waves and DJ sets, Tiller carved a huge lane for his unique R&B/Trap sound in 2016, and has proven to be one of the biggest breakout artists of the year.
Just saying, we're a little confused by these things.