LOS ANGELES (AP) 鈥� With new categories, SZA, and 鈥淏arbie鈥� 鈥� there's a lot to discuss regarding . Who didn't make the cut? What were the best surprises of all? Let's take a look.
NEW BLOOD?
There's a lot to love about the nominations for the 66th Grammy Awards 鈥� and quite a bit to be a little confused by. Rene茅 Rapp, Peso Pluma and are absent from the best new artist category despite having remarkable years. Rapp's 鈥淪now Angel鈥� was the biggest debut solo album from a female artist this year.
Rapp and PinkPantheress were both shut out and Peso Pluma only picked up one nomination: best m煤sica Mexicana album (including Tejano) for his third studio album, 鈥淕茅nesis.鈥�
LATIN LOOKED OVER
In fact, in a year dominated by m煤sica Mexicana, it is surprising to see no nods for Eslabon Armado or Grupo Frontera, particularly for their songs 鈥淓lla Baila Sola鈥� with Peso Pluma and 鈥淯n x100to" with Bad Bunny, respectively. Natanael Cano and Fuerza Regida are also noticeably absent.
This year, there are only three nominees for best m煤sica urbana album 鈥� because the category received fewer than 40 entries 鈥� and accounts for , for her historic 2023 album 鈥淢a帽ana Ser谩 Bonito.鈥�
NO COUNTRY FOR COUNTRY
Undeniably, country music has had a massive 2023. In July, country acts held the top three spots on the Hot 100 for the first time: Controversy hoisted Jason Aldean's to No. 1, followed by Morgan Wallen's 鈥淟ast Night鈥� and Luke Combs' cover of Tracy Chapman's 鈥淔ast Car.鈥�
Also, over the summer, country singer Oliver Anthony Music's became the first artist to debut on the Hot 100 at the top of it, with the viral 鈥淩ich Men North of Richmond." Aldean and Anthony's dominance wasn't long 鈥� and Combs did earn a 2024 Grammy nomination for best country solo performance 鈥� but Wallen stands out as an obvious exclusion.
While 鈥淟ast Night鈥� is nominated for best country song, a songwriter's award, Wallen himself isn't despite his successful year. His latest album, 鈥淥ne Thing at a Time,鈥� had, as of Oct. 14, spent 16 weeks at the top 鈥� which meant he's held the top spot for nearly 40% of the year so far ... and his record was released in March.
This isn't the first time Wallen has been absent from nominations. In 2021, after video surfaced of him , he was disqualified or limited from several award shows and received no Grammy nominations for his bestselling 鈥淒angerous: The Double Album.鈥�
K-POP STATE OF MIND
The eligibility window ran from Oct. 1, 2022, through Sept. 15, 2023, which means quite a few K-pop heavyweights could have been nominated: , Stray Kids and the Y2K-loving girl group NewJeans. But they weren't.
All three had releases hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 鈥� TXT's 鈥淭he Name Chapter: Temptation鈥� in February, Stray Kids' 鈥淢axident鈥� and NewJeans' 鈥淕et Up.鈥�
Some critics had theorized that NewJeans might earn a best new artist nomination, which would have made them the first ever K-pop girl group to receive a Grammy nod. It could've been them, or the K-pop girl group Fifty Fifty, whose bubblegum pop single 鈥淐upid鈥� was inescapable on TikTok this summer 鈥� they became so ubiquitous, they even appeared on the 鈥淏arbie鈥� film soundtrack.
to ever receive a Grammy nod. And despite five nominations, they have no Grammy wins.
PRINCE HARRY, WHERE ART THOU?
Much to the chagrin of fans of Michelle Williams鈥� reading of Britney Spears鈥� the actor will not be eligible in the best audio book, narration & storytelling recording category this cycle. That's a 2025 possibility.
But perhaps most shocking of all is the omission of Prince Harry, sold more than 3.2 million copies worldwide . The British royal narrated the audiobook but did not receive a nomination. Instead, Meryl Streep, William Shatner, Rick Rubin, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Michelle Obama did.
WHO'S GUNNA BREAK THE NEWS
Using charts as the most immediate metric of popularity: There's been a bit of a dearth of dominant hip-hop releases. It's a shocking shift, as the Luminate 2022 Year-End report found that accounting for the most U.S. on-demand song streams and the largest share of total album consumption. In fact, no rapper was able to top the Billboard 200 until dropped in August. This time around, Scott only picked up one nomination: best rap album.
Curiously missing from the list is Gunna, whose 2023 album 鈥淎 Gift & a Curse" was massive. It is clear that some of the biggest hits in the genre were pushed to rap-specific categories (think Lil Durk ft. J. Cole鈥檚 鈥淎ll My Life,鈥� or Lil Uzi Vert鈥檚 鈥淛ust Wanna Rock.鈥�)
NOTHING BUT MON脡T
If there is something to pop bottles over, it's seven nominations. The R&B singer-songwriter is no stranger to Grammy nominations 鈥� but for a different skillset. Mon茅t was nominated as a producer for album of the year at the 2020 Grammys, for her work on Ariana Grande鈥檚 鈥淭hank U, Next.鈥� At the time, she was best known as hit maker for Grande and Chloe x Halle, though she鈥檚 always been one to watch as a soloist.
This time around, she鈥檚 the only leading nominee also up for best new artist. Mon茅t has also picked up record of the year and best R&B song nominations for her glossy, brassy 鈥淥n My Mama,鈥� best R&B performance and best traditional R&B performance. Her 2023 release, 鈥淛aguar ll,鈥� is up for best R&B album and best engineered album, non-classical.
IT'S RAINING WOMEN, HALLEJUAH
The best story of the 2024 Grammy nominations, of course, is just how many women are represented in the major categories.
The majority of leading nominees are women and include superstars like Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Miley Cyrus and Olivia Rodrigo. In both the record and album of the year categories, the only man represented is
Maria Sherman, The Associated Press
