From ‘Sad Girl’ Music, to the Barbie Movie: An Honest Reaction to this year’s Grammy Nominations

The 67th Grammy Award nominations are here! The prestigious American awards for the best contemporary music, ranging from rap to country, are back. This year, they include some exciting, and some rather unexpected nominations.

As a typical girl in the last few months of her teens, I was thrilled to see the popular ‘sad girl’ trope dominate the Album of the Year category. The presence of Lana Del Rey’s Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd speaks volumes, featuring the TikTok hits ‘Peppers’ and ‘Let The Light In (feat. Father John Misty)’. 

Rising into this ‘sad girl’ genre is the supergroup boygenius, formed by Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus, and Julien Baker. From their teeth-themed merchandise (a symbol stemming from the song ‘Bite The Hand’ from their self-titled EP) to their Troye Sivan impressions on Saturday Night Live, boygenius have been everywhere this year. boygenius’ first album, the record, features as one of seven overall nominations for album of the year at the awards, a justified response to their incredibly successful year. 

If you’re looking for more ‘angry girl’ music, Olivia Rodrigo’s second album, GUTS, also makes a necessary feature on the nominations for album of the year. The 20-year-old ex-Disney Channel star, renowned by fellow pop star Dua Lipa as “just super, super talented and sweet”, has gone from strength to strength in her career, and GUTS is no exception. Rodrigo’s Avril Lavigne-esque 2000s pop-girl songs, such as ‘All-American B*tch’ and ‘Ballad of a Homeschooled Girl,’ bring a needed feeling of nostalgia to listeners. Similarly, SZA’s album SOS, another nominee, features the revengeful hit ‘Kill Bill’, and has an equally passionate feeling, but with more of a mellow tone. 

In this dominating female category, iconic pop-star Miley Cyrus changes from the face of Gucci to a vision of maturity, with her album Endless Summer Vacation, featuring the self-love promoting song ‘Flowers’ claiming her eighth overall nomination. Janelle Monáe’s slick album, The Age of Pleasure, and Jon Batiste’s, World Music Radio, also feature, with Batiste as the only male nominee in this category. For a category not restricted by gender, the fact almost all nominations are women solidifies women’s influence on the music industry right now. 

Moving onto the Record of the Year and Song of the Year categories, it would be wrong not to mention Taylor Swift’s cult following. Nominated for her catchy hit ‘Anti-Hero’, Swift cements herself as a record-breaker in the category, being the first person to get seven nominations for the ‘Song of the Year’ category. Swift is currently on her incredible Eras Tour, it is clear Swift is on top of the world right now. 

But Swift has big competition with Barbie. Everyone remembers shedding a tear at the end of Barbie, as Billie Eilish’s ‘My Heart Will Go On’ style tune, ‘What Was I Made For?’, featuring in both the Record and Song of the Year categories, truly allows us to live out Barbie summer again. Dua Lipa’s disco hit, ‘Dance the Night’, renowned for Margot Robbie’s iconic dance in the film, also features in the Song of the Year category.

Barbie movie’s incredible soundtrack has also dominated the Best Song Written for Visual Media category. Ranging from Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice’s ‘Barbie World’ remake to Ryan Gosling’s anthem ‘I’m Just Ken’, Barbie features in four out of five of the overall nominees. Personally, I think ‘I’m Just Ken’ is the true winner, making Barbie, as quoted by Time Magazine,  “officially the biggest movie of the year.”  

Best New Artist is arguably the most exciting of the categories. From Victoria Monét’s trendy R&B music, finally gaining acclaim after her collaboration in Ariana Grande’s hit ‘Thank U, Next’, to the country duo The War and Treaty to Taylor Swift’s opening act for the Eras Tour Gracie Abrams, the range of genres is huge in this category. DJ Fred again… makes an appearance, rising to fame with his unique style of electronic music after closing out Coachella Festival this summer. In a completely different genre, the rapper Ice Spice features, who rose to fame this year with her empowering tunes ‘Princess Diana’ and ‘Munch’, as well as securing collaborations with Nicki Minaj and featuring in Barbie. It has truly been a fantastic year for new musicians.

All in all, this year’s Grammy Awards are shaping up to be an exciting event. From Taylor Swift to Ice Spice to even Ryan Gosling, this awards ceremony will be one to remember. Make sure to tune in on the 4th of February 2024 to watch the winners of this year’s Grammy’s.

See the full list of nominations here.