The 2021 Grammy awards was originally scheduled to take place on Jan. 31, but on Jan. 5,  the Recording Academy announced it would be postponing the self titled “biggest night in music” until March 14 because of a surge of COVID-19 cases in Los Angeles County. 

Until then, here are my predictions of who will win and who should win in a few of the many and biggest categories of the big night. 

Album of the Year

• Chilombo – Jhené Aiko

• Black Pumas – Black Pumas

• Everyday Life – Coldplay

• Djesse Vol. 3 – Jacob Collier

• Women In Music Pt. III – HAIM

• Future Nostalgia – Dua Lipa

• Hollywood’s Bleeding – Post Malone

• Folklore – Taylor Swift 

Will Win: Future Nostalgia – Dua Lipa

Should Win: Future Nostalgia – Dua Lipa 

Out of all of these nominees, in my opinion, Dua Lipa had the biggest year with her album, Future Nostalgia, compared to all of the others. Just from this album she has had two top 5 singles, and one top 15 single on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, marking some of the biggest hit songs of the year. The album itself is one of the most streamed albums in the history of the streaming platform, Spotify. Future Nostalgia comes with extreme success, critical acclaim, and a rare moment of a new name taking over the spotlight of the ever changing music industry. Seeing a new artist like Dua Lipa take home the biggest award of the night would inspire many, and saying she deserves it is an understatement for all the hard work she has put towards this album and career. 

Song of the Year

• Black Parade – Beyoncé

• The Box – Roddy Ricch

• Cardigan – Taylor Swift

• Don’t Start Now – Dua Lipa

• Everything I Wanted – Billie Eilish

• I Can’t Breathe – H.E.R

• If The World Was Ending – JP Saxe (featuring Julia Michaels)

Will Win: Cardigan – Taylor Swift

Should Win: Cardigan – Taylor Swift

This award is for the actual song writing and lyrics of the song, not the biggest song of the year as many commonly assume it represents. That’s why I believe Cardigan by Taylor Swift will take home the award and absolutely deserves it. The song itself is a simple piano ballad with strings, production wise, but the lyrics are some of the best examples of Swift’s talented storytelling which is found throughout many of her songs. Hopefully the Recording Academy put this song on and said it was their favorite…

Record of the Year:

• Black Parade – Beyoncé
• Colors – Black Pumas
• Rockstar – DaBaby Featuring Roddy Ricch
• Say So – Doja Cat
• Everything I Wanted – Billie Eilish
• Don’t Start Now – Dua Lipa
• Circles – Post Malone
• Savage – Megan Thee Stallion (featuring Beyoncé)

Will Win: Circles – Post Malone or Don’t Start Now – Dua Lipa 

Should Win: Don’t Start Now – Dua Lipa 

No doubt, this is another category that pop superstar Dua Lipa deserves to take home. Don’t Start Now was one of the most influential songs of the year production wise; many have credited it to the start of the revival of disco music we saw throughout 2020. Out of all of these songs, it made the biggest impact on the music industry as a whole. While in my personal opinion. I don’t think Circles by Post Malone deserves to take this, the song holds the record for the most weeks spent in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 charts, with a total of 34 weeks. The fact that this song was a huge hit in the United States could definitely bring it to the winning spot. 

Best New Artist:

• Ingrid Andress
• Phoebe Bridgers
• Chika
• Noah Cyrus
• D Smoke
• Doja Cat
• Kaytranada
• Megan Thee Stallion 

Will Win: Doja Cat

Should Win: Phoebe Bridgers 

I have no doubts in my mind that anyone except Doja Cat will be winning this award. Everyone knows who she is, the sheer success of her hit single Say So, and her debut album Hot Pink all will carry her to adding this Grammy award to her shelf. However, despite being much lesser known than Doja Cat, alternative artist Phoebe Bridgers, sonically, deserves to win this category. The widespread acclaim of her album, Punisher, is undeniable. The album received numerous perfect scores from respected music critics and has a 90/100 score on Metacritic, indicating “universal acclaim.” Out of this group of new artists, Phoebe Bridgers offers the best catalogue of music. 

Best Pop Vocal Album:

• Changes – Justin Bieber

• Chromatica – Lady Gaga

• Future Nostalgia – Dua Lipa

• Fine Line – Harry Styles

• Folklore – Taylor Swift 

Will Win: Folklore – Taylor Swift

Should Win: Any album in this category besides Changes by Justin Bieber

All of the albums in this category are critically acclaimed pieces of work and some of these artists best work in their discographies; and then there is Changes by Justin Bieber. I’m utterly still shocked this album was even nominated for anything as it was ripped to shreds by music critics and the general public alike; most people agree, it’s just plain terrible. Lady Gaga proves she’s still the queen of the dancefloor with Chromatica, Dua Lipa broke into the ranks of pop music’s biggest stars with Future Nostalgia, Harry Styles continued to have the best solo music of the ex One Direction members with Fine Line; but I believe Folklore will win this one. 

Best Pop Solo Performance:

• Yummy – Justin Bieber

• Say So – Doja Cat

• Everything I Wanted – Billie Eilish

• Don’t Start Now – Dua Lipa

• Watermelon Sugar – Harry Styles

• Cardigan – Taylor Swift

Will Win: Don’t Start Now – Dua Lipa

Should Win: Don’t Start Now – Dua Lipa

As I’ve stated before, the impact of this song is plain undeniable. Dua Lipa revived disco music and set it as the trend of 2020 that many popular songs and artists were inspired by. The funk elements mixed with the nu-disco production have made Don’t Start Now one of the best pop songs released in the past year, in my opinion.

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance:

• Un Dia (One Day) – J Balvin, Dua Lipa, Bad Bunny, & Tainy

• Intentions – Justin Beiber (featuring Quavo)

• Dynamite – BTS

• Rain On Me – Lady Gaga (with Ariana Grande)

• Exile – Taylor Swift – Taylor Swift (featuring Bon Iver) 

Will Win: Rain On Me – Lady Gaga (with Ariana Grande)

Should Win: Rain On Me – Lady Gaga (with Ariana Grande) or Exile – Taylor Swift (featuring Bon Iver) 

Putting all my bias towards Lady Gaga aside, I think this is her award to win for the night. Rain On Me, which featured Ariana Grande, was the first all female collab to debut at number one in the United States on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart. The song has been streamed over 500 million times in less than a year, making it one of the biggest all-female collabs in history. This song was the perfect energetic pop anthem for the chaos that was the year of 2020; we all would “rather be dry, but at least we’re alive.” In other circumstances, Taylor Swift could win this award with her Bon Iver collab, Exile. Once again, the beautiful songwriting showcased on this song is undeniable and could certainly sway Recording Academy voters. 

Best Alternative Music Album:

• Fetch the Bolt Cutters – Fiona Apple

• Jaime – Brittany Howard

• Punisher – Phoebe Bridgers

• Hyperspace – Beck

• The Slow Rush – Tame Impala

Will Win: Fetch the Bolt Cutters – Fiona Apple

Should Win: Fetch the Bolt Cutters – Fiona Apple 

Fiona Apple returned from her eight year musical hiatus with an absolute bang. Fetch the Bolt Cutters is one of the most critically acclaimed albums released in history, with a 98/100 score on Metacritic, the second highest in the site’s history. It also received respected music publication, Pitchfork’s, first perfect score for a new album in a decade. After listening to Fetch The Bolt Cutters myself, the album is one of the most experimental things you will ever hear, there’s no other album that has ever sounded anything like it. And this is exactly why Fiona Apple will be taking this award home.

Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical:

• Jack Antonoff
• Dan Auerbach
• Dave Cobb
• Flying Lotus 
• Andrew Watt

Will Win: Jack Antonoff

Should Win: Jack Antonoff 

Following his 2019 Album of the Year and Song of the Year nominations for Lana Del Rey’s critically acclaimed masterpiece, Norman F****** Rockwell, Jack Antonoff spent another year producing even more of the year’s most acclaimed albums; Taylor Swift’s Folklore and The Dixie Chick’s Gaslighter. Year after year, Antonoff continues to produce the albums that are listed as the best music releases of the year and hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down. This Grammy will just be yet another trophy and reward for his astonishing musical productions.