2024 Grammys: Who Would I Vote For?

Even though the Grammys have already passed, there is one topic related to the Grammys that I never discussed:  what I would vote for if I had a vote.  I selected several awards to chose my winner for and discussed a brief breakdown/description.

As a disclaimer, I do not have a vote for the Grammys, so my vote doesn’t have any impact on anything.  Further, there are limits on the number of awards/categories a voter can vote for.  I did not follow these guidelines, but opted to vote for a wide variety of awards.  I did not vote for any album award that I reviewed fewer than half of the nominated albums (for instance, if an award had 5 album nominees and I listened to 2 albums, I didn’t select a winner, though I would have if I listened to at least 3).

 

General Field

Record of the Year

I didn’t like “On My Mama” and wasn’t the biggest fan of “Vampire”, so those were promptly eliminated.  While I liked the other 6, I found myself torn between “Not Strong Enough” and “Worship”.  After going back and forth for a while, I went with the former since there was about 10 seconds of the latter that I didn’t like and thought felt sloppy.

My choice:  “Not Strong Enough”, Boygenius

Album of the Year

I thought World Music Radio wasn’t that good, and Guts was average.  I gave Endless Summer Vacation, Midnights, The Record, and SOS 5-stars.  I thought The Record was the second-best album out of all the albums nominated for a Grammy this year.

My choice:  The Record, Boygenius

Song of the Year

I wasn’t that crazy about “Vampire” and thought “Dance the Night” was nominated for the wrong category.  The 3 I was most torn between were “A&W”, “Butterfly”, and “What Was I Made For?”.  Ultimately, I found “Butterfly” to be so beautiful and well composed.

My choice:  “Butterfly”, Jon Batiste

Best New Artist

I said in my predictions that I felt like the award was wide open; I feel the same way about who I would choose.  Ultimately, I think that one individual has the right combo that I look for in growth, commercial success, critical success, live touring success, and fandom, and it was Noah Kahan.

My choice:  Noah Kahan

Producer of the Year

I honestly felt that any of these nominees would have a serious case to make for a win.  Ultimately, I would choose Metro Boomin since I believe he defines modern hip hop, as well as having one of the most successful years in production.

My choice:  Metro Boomin

Songwriter of the Year

While I thought all 5 were worthy, I ultimately decided to go with the songwriter who wrote the best song.  “All My Life” is the most superior out of any these songwriters wrote, so there you go, Theron Thomas.

My choice:  Theron Thomas

 

Pop & Dance/Electronic

Best Pop Solo Performance

I didn’t really like “Vampire” and found “Paint the Town Red” to be weaker than the others.  If it were song instead of performance, I would go with “What Was I Made For?”.  Since it looks at performance, I went with “Anti-Hero”.

My choice:  “Anti-Hero”, Taylor Swift

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance

I really found “Karma” unnecessary and “Thousand Miles” to be weaker than the others.  I was torn between the other 3, but ultimately found “Never Felt So Alone” to be too beautiful to pass up.

My choice:  “Never Felt So Alone”, Labrinth feat. Billie Eilish

Best Pop Vocal Album

The only albums that I thought were above average were Endless Summer Vacation and Midnights.  This was one of the closest races for the albums, as Midnights was 57^th in 2022 and Endless Summer Vacation was 63^rd in 2023.

My choice:  Midnights, Taylor Swift

Best Dance/Electronic Recording

I thought each of the 5 songs were good in this award, so this was a tougher one.  I thought that “Loading” was the best written and was also well produced, so I went with it.

My choice:  “Loading”, James Blake

Best Pop Dance Recording

I thought this was easy since I might have voted for “Rush” for Record of the Year.  Funny side bar:  David Guetta had two nominees in this award, and I thought neither were good.

My choice:  “Rush”, Troy Sivan

Best Dance/Electronic Album

I didn’t review Fred Again’s album (I didn’t expect it to blow up like this back in 2022; that backfired).  I thought Quest for Fire was average, and I was torn between For That Beautiful Feeling and Kx5.  The former beat out the latter by just 19 spots.

My choice:  For That Beautiful Feeling, The Chemical Brothers

 

Rock, Metal & Alternative

Best Rock Performance

While I thought all were excellent performances, I was torn between “More than a Love Song”, “Not Strong Enough”, and “Rescued”.  It was close, but I thought “Rescued” was a slightly better performance than the other 2, especially considering emotions.

My choice:  “Rescued”, Foo Fighters

Best Metal Performance

I thought all of the songs felt either derivative or average except for “Hive Mind” and “Jaded”.  I thought “Hive Mind” was a much better song out of the two.

My choice:  “Hive Mind”, Slipknot

Best Rock Song

While I thought all 5 songs were good, I was torn between “Not Strong Enough” and “Rescued”.  I thought “Not Strong Enough” was the better written song out of the two.

My choice:  “Not Strong Enough”, Boygenius

Best Rock Album

I thought Starcatcher and This Is Why were average, 72 Seasons and In Times New Roman… were good, and But Here We Are was a top-20 album for the year.  That was easy.

My choice:  But Here We Are, Foo Fighters

Best Alternative Music Performance

I thought this category was a really strong one overall.  While I loved “A&W”, I thought it was more suited for a song award than a performance one.  I thought “Belinda Says” was the best performance out of the 5.

My choice:  “Belinda Says”, Alvvays

Best Alternative Music Album

Each of these albums got at least 4.5 stars, with Cracker Island and The Record getting 5 stars.  I thought The Record was the second best Grammy-nominated album of the year.

My choice:  The Record, Boygenius

 

R&B, Rap and Spoken Word Poetry

Best R&B Performance

I didn’t like “Summer Too Hot” and wasn’t as high on “Back to Love”.  While I liked “ICU” and “Kill Bill”, I thought “How Does It Make You Feel” was Monet’s best song on her album.

My choice:  “How Does It Make You Feel”, Victoria Monet

Best Traditional R&B Performance

I wasn’t that crazy about “Good Morning”, but I liked the other 4.  That said, I absolutely loved “Hollywood” and thought it was a world-class performance by all involved.

My choice:  “Hollywood”, Victoria Monet feat. Earth, Wind & Fire & Hazel Monet

Best R&B Song

I didn’t like “On My Mama” and didn’t think “Back to Love” was as good as the others.  While I loved all 3 of the remaining 3, I thought “Angel” was the best of the 3 songs.

My choice:  “Angel”, Halle Bailey

Best Progressive Rap Album

I did not review Nova or The Love Album:  Off the Grid (I opted not to review the latter due to Diddy’s allegations).  As much as I loved SOS, I thought Since I Have a Lover was an absolutely incredible album.

My choice:  Since I Have a Lover, 6lack

Best R&B Album

I didn’t review the two extended plays in this category, which left Girls Night Out, Jaguar II, and Special Occasion, none of which I thought were that amazing.  I had Jaguar II ranked highest, so congrats, Victoria Monet.

My choice:  Jaguar II, Victoria Monet

Best Rap Performance

The only songs I really liked in this category were “The Hillbillies” and “Players”.  I thought the latter was a better performance (though I thought the former was a better song).

My choice:  “Players”, Coi Leray

Best Melodic Rap Performance

Considering the fact that I thought “All My Life” should have been a Record of the Year/Song of the Year nominee (and potential Record of the Year winner), this decision was easy.

My choice:  “All My Life”, Lil Durk feat. J. Cole

Best Rap Song

I thought this category was pretty weak.  I thought “Barbie World” shouldn’t have been nominated, “Just Wanna Rock” was better suited for performance, and “Scientists & Engineers” and “Rich Flex” weren’t that good.  Congrats by default, Doja Cat.

My choice:  “Attention”, Doja Cat

Best Rap Album

I thought Heroes & Villains was okay, Her Loss was below average, and the other 3 were incredible.  While I thought Utopia was the 2^nd best hip hop album of the year, I had Michael as the best Grammy-nominated album.

My choice:  Michael, Killer Mike

 

Jazz, Traditional Pop, Contemporary Instrumental & Musical Theater

Best Jazz Performance

I didn’t really like “But Not For Me” of “Vulnerable”, and thought “Movement 18’ (Heroes)” wasn’t quite as good as the other 2.  There was something about “Basquiat” that I really liked; not sure what it was.

My choice:  “Basquiat”, Lakecia Benjamin

 

Country & American Roots

Best Country Solo Performance

I thought all 5 were great, but “White Horse” was something else; I thought that song was incredibly special.

My choice:  “White Horse”, Chris Stapleton

Best Country Duo/Group Performance

I didn’t really think “High Note” or “Kissing Your Picture (Is So Cold)” were that good compared to the others, but I thought “I Remember Everything” was easily the best of the remaining 4.

My choice:  “I Remember Everything”, Zach Bryan feat. Kacey Musgraves

Best Country Song

I wasn’t that much of a fan of “Last Night”, but I thought the other 4 were good.  I was torn between “I Remember Everything” and “White Horse”; while I wanted to go with the latter, I thought the former was a better written song.

My choice:  “I Remember Everything”, Zach Bryan feat. Kacey Musgraves

Best Country Album

I didn’t listen to Rolling Up the Welcome Mat since I don’t review EPs, and I wasn’t that high on Bell Bottom Country.  While the other 3 albums each received a 4.5-star rating from me, Brothers Osborne ranked the highest on my list.

My choice:  Brothers Osborne, Brothers Osborne

Best American Roots Performance

It was difficult for me to let 4 lose since there were 5 great songs in this category.  Ultimately, I thought “Butterfly” was one of the best songs and performances of all the nominees, so it was a no-brainer.

My choice:  “Butterfly”, Jon Batiste

Best Americana Performance

I didn’t think there was a bad choice with this one, though I felt like “Friendship” was the weakest of the 5.  I thought it was going to be incredibly difficult to decide, but then I listened to “King of Oklahoma” and felt like my decision was made pretty easily.

My choice:  “King of Oklahoma”, Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit

Best American Roots Song

I really wasn’t the biggest fan of “Cast Iron Skillet”, but I liked the others.  Ultimately, I was torn between “California Sober” and “Dear Insecurity”.  I didn’t feel like there was a loser between them, but I loved the former.

My choice:  “California Sober”, Billy Strings feat. Willie Nelson

Best Americana Album

As a disclaimer, I did not review Rodney Crowell’s or Allison Russell’s albums this year.  Each of the other 3 albums ended up being in the 4.5-star range.  It was very close between Weathervanes and Brandy Clark, with the former finishing just 3 spots ahead of the latter, making it the closest race out of the album awards.

My choice:  Weathervanes, Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit

 

Gospel & Contemporary Christian

Best Gospel Performance/Song

I wasn’t that into “All Things”, even though I thought it was a lock to win; I also wasn’t high on “God Is”.  Ultimately, I thought the other 3 were good, but the one I liked the most is “Lord Do It for Me (Live)”.

My choice:  “Lord Do It for Me (Live)”, Zicardi Cortez

Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song

I went into this thinking that I was going to go with “Your Power” since I love Lecrae.  While “God Problems” and “Thank God I Do” didn’t impress me as much as the others, there were two songs that I had above “Your Power”:  “Firm Foundation (He Won’t) (Live)” and “Believe”.  I thought Blessing Offor’s performance was absolutely incredibly, making it impossible to not choose “Believe”.

My choice:  “Believe”, Blessing Offor

 

Latin, Global, African, Reggae & New Age, Ambient or Chant

Best Musica Urbana Album

I didn’t listen to Data, but I reviewed the other two.  While Saturno was a good album, I had Manana Sera Bonito ahead of it.

My choice:  Manana Sera Bonito, Karol G

Best Global Music Performance

I think that the 4 songs that I would have gone between were “Alone”, “Feel”, “Milagro y Desastre”, and “Shadow Forces”.  I felt like each of the 4 were incredibly worthy, but I would have gone with “Milagro y Desastre”; I thought that the performance itself was the best out of the four.

My choice:  “Milagro y Desastre”, Silvana Estrada

Best African Music Performance

I honestly liked all 5 songs and didn’t think that there was necessarily any that weren’t worthy of consideration.  That said, I enjoyed “Rush” the most (no, I didn’t get it mixed up with Troye Sivane’s song), so I would go with that.

My choice:  “Rush”, Ayra Starr

 

Children’s, Comedy, Audio Book Narration & Storytelling, Visual Media & Music Video/Film

Best Song for Written Visual Media

This will probably be unpopular, but I don’t think “I’m just Ken” should have been nominated for this category, as I thought it wasn’t a good song and was just a silly throwaway track.  I also wasn’t as crazy about “Barbie World”.  Out of the remaining three, I thought “What Was I Made For?” was by far the best song nominated.

My choice:  “What Was I Made For?”, Billie Eilish

 

Production, Engineering, Composition & Arrangement

Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical

I wasn’t the biggest fan of the remix of “Wagging Tongue” and thought “Reviver” and Working’ Hard” were fine.  Ultimately, I was torn between “Alien Love Call” and “New Gold”.  I considered whether I considered this category should mean a remix that sounds most unique compared to the original (which describes “New Gold”) or one that enhances the original track, even if it is not that unique (which describes “Alien Love Call”).  Ultimately, I went with the one I thought sounded better, which was “Alien Love Call”

My choice:  “Alien Love Call”, Turnstile & BadBadNotGood feat. Blood Orange (BadBadNotGood remix)

 

Who would you have chosen for each award?  Let me know in the comments!