Entertainment

Predictions For The 2017 Grammy Noms

by Courtney Lindley
AFP/AFP/Getty Images

It's Grammy nominations time — almost. The nominations for the upcoming 59th annual Grammy Awards will be revealed on Tuesday, Dec. 6, and this year (like every other year) there will be a pastiche of obvious choices (what's up, Adele), and not-so-obvious wild cards (to be determined). Along with that, there will probably be an outpouring of support for albums and artists that the public — and Kanye West — believe have been snubbed. However, before all of this happens, there's still enough time to make your 2017 Grammy nomination predictions.

To be nominated for the 2017 Grammys, all songs and albums must have been released between Oct. 1, 2015 and Sept. 30, 2016. Which means some of your favorite songs from this year might not make the cut. For instance, you won't be seeing Lady Gaga's Joanne, The Weeknd's Starboy, or Bruno Mars' 24K Magic, because they were all released outside of the aforementioned timeline. Also, Frank Ocean will be missing from the list. Turns out, his music wasn't submitted at all. So, despite Blonde's overall hype and praise, the artist won't be taking home any trophies for his work.

Regardless, there's one artist in particular who's pretty much locked in to taking home a few golden gramophones. Her name rhymes with Shmashele. (Adele. It's Adele.)

Album of the Year

  • Adele, 25
  • Beyoncé, Lemonade
  • Drake, Views
  • Radiohead, A Moon Shaped Pool
  • David Bowie, Blackstar

Wild Cards: Rihanna, Anti; Kanye West, Life of Pablo; Justin Bieber, Purpose

Quick Thoughts: It seems pretty obvious that the race for Album of the Year will come down to 25 and Lemonade. Though there were a lot of good contenders that don't have as big of a chance (Rihanna's Anti, Kanye West's Life of Pablo), these two women dominated the musical milieu in 2016. I place personal money on Adele's win, given 25's whopping commercial success (she's sold 9.1 million albums in just the U.S.) and how much the Grammy's have loved her in the past.

Song of the Year

  • Adele, "Hello"
  • Beyoncé, "Formation"
  • Justin Bieber, "Love Yourself"
  • Sia feat. Sean Paul, "Cheap Thrills"
  • David Bowie, "Lazarus"

Wild Cards: Gnash, “I Hate U, I Luv U (ft. Olivia O’Brien)”; Maren Morris, “My Church”; Zayn Malik, "PILLOWTALK"

Quick Thoughts: Could you go anywhere in 2016 and not hear either "Hello" or "Formation" or "Sorry?" Though these three songs were particularly ubiquitous, all signs point to Adele taking home a Song of the Year record. "Hello" marked her widely anticipated comeback and was a commercial and critical home run. Everyone (probably including relatives you thought were out of the loop) was making a "hello from the other side" joke and questioning Adele's flip-phone usage.

Record of the Year

  • Adele, "Hello"
  • Beyoncé, "Formation"
  • Justin Timberlake, "Can't Stop The Feeling"
  • Rihanna feat. Drake, "Work"
  • The Chainsmokers feat. Halsey, "Closer"

Wild Cards: Calvin Harris feat. Rihanna, "This Is What You Came For"; Beyoncé, "Hold Up"

Quick Thoughts: With Adele probably picking up Song of the Year for "Hello," there's room for Bey's "Formation" to win Record of the Year. Where Song of the Year recognizes songwriting, Record of the Year "recognizes the artist’s performance as well as the overall contributions of the producer(s), recording engineer(s) and/or mixer(s) if other than the artist," according to the Grammys' website. When it comes to all-around song performance, no one outdid Beyoncé this year. No one.

Best New Artist

  • Chance the Rapper
  • The Chainsmokers
  • Alessia Cara
  • Lukas Graham
  • Bryson Tiller

Wild Cards: Cam, Maren Morris, Desiigner

Thoughts: Chance has been releasing music for years, but 2016’s Coloring Book made it onto the Billboard 200, and even more impressively, did so entirely from streaming. Plus, Barack Obama gave the artist his seal of approval, so that should count for all the votes. You could also make a solid case for the EDM duo, The Chainsmokers as they've had three songs go double-platinum this year.

The 2016 Grammy Award nominations will be revealed on Dec. 6. Start placing your bets now.

Images: XLRecordings/Columbia Records