Disclaimer: This article was written before The Grammys took place.

As the biggest Swiftie on Earth, I’ve been in a love-hate relationship with the Grammy
Awards ever since her 2016 album, Reputation, was snubbed. However, despite some of
Grammy’s famous snubs over the years—Lorde’s Melodrama, Beyoncé’s Lemonade, Lana Del
Rey’s Norman Fucking Rockwell!, to name a few—they have yet to give an award to an
undeserving artist.

This year’s Grammy Award Show was pushed from January 31 to March 14 due to the
deteriorating COVID-related situations in Los Angeles, which means we all had to wait another
1.5 months. But, on the bright side, I can personally write my own predictions for you. So,
without further ado, here are some of my predictions in the fields that I’m a huge fan of.

Best New Artist: Megan Thee Stallion

As an award dedicated to the new artists of the year who have made a breakthrough in the
music industry, this award has rarely failed its accuracy in predicting the winner’s further
success in the field, and I’m sure some of the previous winners could justify the weight of this
award: John Legend (2006), Amy Winehouse (2008), Adele (2009).

This year, Phoebe Bridgers, Noah Cyrus, Megan Thee Stallion, Kaytranada, and Doja Cat
are nominated for this award. In the past year, they’ve all made mega-hits that grabbed people’s
attention. In my opinion, the biggest competitors for this award are Megan Thee Stallion and
Doja Cat; one made hits such as “Savage” and “Body,” while the latter made a killer album, Hot
Pink, including her hit, “Say So.”

However, only one lucky artist can take home this trophy, and I would choose Megan
Thee Stallion not only because she’s also nominated for Record of the Year for “Savage,” but for
her chart-topping hit “WAP” that came out in August 2020.

Record of the Year: “Don’t Start Now” by Dua Lipa

This award is given to the best record of the year in terms of production and mixing
quality. Previous years’ winners—“Uptown Funk” (2016), “This is America” (2019), and “Bad
Guy” (2020)— have demonstrated their impeccable abilities in engineering a track that’s
compact, cohesive, and clean. As a producer myself, these are some of my role models when it
comes to crafting high-quality songs.

The nominees this year have all made top-notch tracks, including last year’s Record of
the Year winner, Billie Eilish, with her new track “Everything I Wanted,” produced by last
year’s Producer of the Year winner, her brother, FINNEAS. However, her competitors are also
bringing bangers, including “Savage” by Megan Thee Stallion featuring Beyoncé, “Circles” by
Post Malone, “Rockstar” by DaBaby featuring Roddy Ricch, and “Don’t Start Now” by Dua
Lipa.

For this award, I’m all for Dua Lipa’s “Don’t Start Now.” Not only does it have the
bounciest bass like a thread throughout the song, but the retro-guitar, synth, drums, and vocal arrangement also complement each other and make the song into a hit.

Song of the Year: “Don’t Start Now” by Dua Lipa

This category tends to overlap with Record of the Year, for example, Adele’s “Hello”
(2017), Billie Eilish’s “Bad Guy” (2020), and Sam Smith’s “Stay With Me” (2015) all won both
Record and Song of the Year. The difference between Record of the Year and Song of the Year is that while the former is awarded to the engineers, the latter is awarded to the songwriter(s). This year, the Grammy’s nominated songs reflect the political-social movements in the past year, like “I Can’t Breathe” by H.E.R. and “Black Parade” by Beyoncé. Former Song of the Year winner, Billie Eilish, is nominated again for her track “Everything I Wanted.” Also, unsurprisingly, Dua Lipa’s “Don’t Start Now” is nominated in this category, in addition to its nomination in Record of the Year

If the Grammys follow the same patterns as previous years, Dua Lipa might win both
Song of the Year and Record of the Year. However, songwriting genius, Taylor Swift, who is the
most nominated female songwriter in this category with 5 nominations in total, is also nominated
in this category with her chart-topping song “cardigan,” co-written with Aaron Dessner from The
National.

For this category, I would pick Dua Lipa because of her song’s relatively bigger
commercial success over the other songs nominated in the category.

Album of the Year: folklore by Taylor Swift

Now, this is the category that mildly upset me for the longest time due to the snub of The Weeknd’s phenomenal album, After Hours. In an ideal world, without his previous beef with the Grammy committee, he would definitely get a nomination in this category, and the competition would be between him and Taylor Swift. But, without The Weeknd’s album, the biggest competitors in this category fall between Taylor Swift’s folklore, an adventurous alternative/indiepop album, and Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia, an 80s-inspired pop album filled with punchy bass lines and catchy tunes.

Dua Lipa put out her sophomore album last year in March, capturing all the essence of pop
music, including punchy bass lines throughout the album, as well as many disco-inspired tracks
that you could totally dance to. Then, Taylor dropped folklore as a surprise album—which she had
never done before—in July, earning her a No.1 debut single, as well as a chart-topping album on
the Billboard 200 for weeks. Both of these albums received universal acclaim on Metacritic, and
both also received high scores on Pitchfork. However, compared to folklore, in my opinion, Dua
Lipa’s work lacks meaningful depths in her songs, but it works out for the album since it’s not an
album with storytelling or big ballads, while Swift’s work paints a complete picture, filled with
genius songwriting and brilliant lyrics.

Now you might be thinking, this situation seems similar to the time Bruno Mars won his
first Album of the Year with 24K Magic in 2018, competing with songwriting genius Lorde’s
album Melodrama. Then, by putting Jacob Collier’s Djesse Vol.3 in the mix this year, the
competition suddenly resembles Daft Punk winning Album of the Year in 2014 with Random
Access Memories over Taylor Swift’s Red, her country-pop album before her full transition to
official pop music.

Some of the other nominees in this category this year also showed promise in their work:
Jhené Aiko’s Chilombo is cohesive, but lacks commercial success, similar to Coldplay’s Everyday
Life, as most people might not even remember that Coldplay dropped a new album last year. Black
Pumas’ Black Pumas (Deluxe Edition) is filled with classical soul elements, and it might surprise
you how good it actually is; while it definitely deserves the nomination, it also lacks big hits or
commercial success. Springing off his previous Album of the Year nomination for beerbongs &
bentleys in 2019, Post Malone’s Hollywood’s Bleeding is another demonstration of his hit-making
abilities; this is his second Album of the Year nomination, filled with hits such as “Circles,”
“Wow.,” and “Take What You Want.” While this album definitely deserves its nomination, it’s
what you’d expect from Post Malone based on his previous works, so it lacks that surprise element.

No matter how you look at it, this year is going to be a difficult year to predict the winners.
But, based on the overall critique, commercial success, and cohesiveness of songwriting and
production quality, Taylor might just win her third Album of the Year, which will make her the
first woman and the fourth act to do so—after Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, and Frank Sinatra. But,
regardless of what happens, this year’s Grammy Awards will not disappoint you or any other music
enthusiasts. Here’s to hoping that my predictions come true!

Other Categories: Lightning Rounds

Below, I’ll list some of the predictions in other categories that I’m also a huge fan of,
without any lengthy explanations.

Best Pop Solo Performance: “Don’t Start Now” by Dua Lipa

Definitely NOT Justin Bieber’s “Yummy.”

Best Pop Vocal Album: folklore by Taylor Swift

Again, definitely NOT Justin Bieber’s Changes.

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance: “Exile” by Taylor Swift featuring Bon Iver

I’m sorry readers, but I don’t think BTS will take this trophy home.

Best Alternative Album: Fetch the Bolt Cutters by Fiona Apple

One of the most critically acclaimed albums of the year

Best Progressive R&B Album: Chilombo by Jhené Aiko

Given the nomination in Album of the Year, I wouldn’t be surprised if she takes this trophy
home.

Best R&B Performance: “Black Parade” by Beyoncé

Best Melodic Rap Performance: “The Box” by Roddy Ricch