2019 Grammy Predictions: Lizzo, Billie Eilish, and more

Jenna Peterson
Staff Writer

I can’t remember the last time I watched an award show, let alone the Grammy’s, but I’m interested with this year’s nominations for pop and rap.

Although it seems like I listen to the same five artists every day, I want to look at the nominations and give my opinion of who should win, and then who will probably win. The first category I want to look into is the best pop solo performance; five women are up for this award, and they are Beyoncé (Spirit), Billie Eilish (Bad Guy), Ariana Grande (7 Rings), Lizzo (Truth Hurts), and Taylor Swift (You Need to Calm Down).

Personally, I would like Lizzo to win for the song “Truth Hurts” because I find it an empowering song that anyone can listen to hype themselves up, but because of popularity, I could see Billie Eilish or Ariana Grande winning. Best Pop Vocal Album is another category I want to look into, with nominations for Beyoncé (The Lion King: The Gift), Billie Eilish (When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?), Ariana Grande (Thank U, Next), Ed Sheeran (NO. 6 Collaborations Project), and Taylor Swift (Lover). I have not listen to any of these albums fully, if at all, but based off what songs I do know, I would like Ed Sheeran to win; the only songs I’ve heard off him nominated album are “Beautiful People” featuring Khalid, “Cross Me” featuring Chance the Rapper, and “I Don’t Care” featuring Justin Bieber.

Due to this album being the newest of the group and with the recent scandal involving which songs she can and cannot perform, I believe that Taylor Swift will win the Best Pop Vocal Album for “Lover”. Moving onto rap, I’d like to take a look at Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance. As a heads up, for many of these songs I will be making my choices based on a first time listen.

The nominations for Best Rap Song are: “Bad Idea” by YBN Cordae featuring Chance the Rapper, “Gold Roses” by Rick Ross featuring Drake, “A Lot” by 21 Savage featuring J. Cole, “Racks in the Middle” by Nipsey Hussle featuring Roddy Ricch and Hit-Boy, and “Suge” by DaBaby. With the recent death of Nipsey Hussle, I believe that his song with Roddy Ricch and Hit-Boy “Racks in the Middle” will win the Grammy for Best Rap Song. After listening to the songs up for nomination for Best Rap Performance, I would like to believe that Nipsey Hussle will win again for “Racks in the Middle” because of the reason stated above, but another option is “Clout” by Offset featuring Cardi B.

Other nominations for this category include: “Middle Child” by J. Cole, “Suge” by DaBaby, “Down Bad” by Dreamville featuring J.I.D., Bas, J. Cole, EARTHGANG and Young Nudy.

The Grammy’s will be airing on Sunday, Jan. 26, 2020.

Header photo: Lizzo performs at the Voodoo Music Experience in New Orleans. Genre-mashing, bold and chart-topping new artists have caught the attention of the Recording Academy, as Lizzo, Billie Eilish and Lil Nas X lead in nominations at the 2020 Grammy Awards. (Photo by Amy Harris/Invision/AP, File)