An immense amount of incredible music was released this year. From Billie Eilish’s ingenious album, “HIT ME HARD AND SOFT,” to one of the most renowned diss tracks of all time, “Not Like Us,” every genre has seen its fair share of viral tracks this year. Since the Grammys determine the best of the best in the music industry, the annual award show, next year, held on Feb. 2, 2025, will be a bloodbath. After the release of the Grammys nominations in November, the internet has been ablaze with opinions about who will win each category. As hard as these awards are to predict, I’m going to give you my best bet of who the Academy will determine victorious.

Best New Artist
There’s no doubt in my mind that Chappell Roan will win Best New Artist this year, which, according to the description in the Grammys rulebook, is the artist who has had the biggest “breakthrough into the public consciousness and notably impacted the musical landscape.” Her vocal range, technique and production are unmatched by the other nominees. Some may argue that Sabrina Carpenter, the next “pop princess,” is the clear winner of this category, but I strongly disagree. She only builds off pre-existing pop trends; she doesn’t truly make waves in the genre. While she is a strong performer and has gained immense popularity this past year, her songwriting and structures are feeble compared to Roan’s. Thus, I believe that, especially from the viewpoint of the Academy, there’s only one viable winner: Chappell Roan.

Producer of the Year, Non-Classical

This category might be one of the biggest shoe-ins in the entire award show. Dan Nigro, the producer of Olivia Rodrigo and Chappell Roan, created multiple smash hits with them this year, such as Roan’s first No. 1 hit on the radio, “Good Luck, Babe!” and Rodrigo’s internet viral track, “so american.” This category is judged based on the producer “whose body of work represents consistently outstanding creativity in the area of recording production.” Nigro has completely redefined Roan’s career, facilitating her meteoric rise to fame. This creativity is evident in Roan’s track “HOT TO GO!” Her ad-libs at the end contribute to its story. Furthermore, he enabled the transition between Rodrigo’s freshman and sophomore albums. None of the other producers nominated in this category have produced multiple dazzling artists this past year.

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance

I believe that for the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, there are two main competitors: “Die With a Smile,” by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars, and “Guess,” by Charli xcx and Billie Eilish. I’m not a huge fan of Gaga and Mars’ duet, but I cannot deny its popularity; I hear it at least five times a day on the radio. While its commercial success is successful, the category “recognizes artistic excellence in a duo, group or collaborative vocal or instrumental pop performance.” Respectfully, I do not consider “Die With a Smile” a true pop song. On the other hand, “Guess” is an upbeat, catchy song that simply shows two artists having fun with each other via collaboration; it’s a true pop song. For this reason, I believe that Eilish and Charli xcx have an edge in this category.

Record of the Year

This category is won by the artist with “the best overall achievement (for singles or tracks) [in]… performance, production and engineering.” In other words, the most well-rounded track of the year should theoretically emerge victorious as Record of the Year. Based solely on this criteria, I am convinced Kendrick Lamar’s single, “Not Like Us,” will win. All of the components of this track, including his fiery performance, ingenious production and passionate lyrics, construct a beautiful mosaic of a song. Some people might argue, “Espresso should win! It’s like the most popular song of this year.” Although this is valid, that is unfortunately not the criteria on which this category is judged. Lyrics like “that’s that me espresso” will not earn an artist Record of the Year in today’s music scene.

Song of the Year

Before I even get to who I think will win this category, I must point out how horrendous some of these nominations are. “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” by Shaboozey has to be one of the worst nominations I’ve seen in a hot minute. For an award where the criteria to win is a single or track that “represent[s] the best achievement in songwriting,” the lyric “One, here comes the two to the three to the four” is not sufficient. On the other hand, Billie Eilish’s passionate track “BIRDS OF A FEATHER” shines in its lyrics. In a delicate, breathy voice, Eilish enunciates how consumed one becomes with love after one falls into it, stating, “And if I’m turning blue, please don’t save me / Nothing left to lose without my baby.” These explicit, vulnerable lyrics take the listener on a journey and cause them to connect to this song with at least one of the relationships in their life.

Album of the Year

What is a Grammys prediction without discussing who you believe will win the most anticipated category in the entire award show? To win this category, an artist’s album must be considered by the academy to “represent the best overall achievement by the performer(s), album producer(s), engineer(s)/mixer(s), and songwriter(s),” or in more simple terms, be the best all-around album. This year, there is quite an interesting nomination. André 3000’s album, “New Blue Sun,” is all instrumental with no vocals. While I don’t believe that André 3000 will take home the Grammy, it’s a notable achievement for even being nominated for this award, as non-mainstream albums seldom appear in this category.

Moving on, I think that almost all of us can agree that Taylor Swift did NOT hit the mark on “THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT.” I am actually quite offended by this nomination; it makes a mockery of today’s music industry. It enforces the negative attitude that music isn’t about what you create; it’s about how popular you are, and I hold that this isn’t the message we should spread to aspiring artists.

Now that I got that out of the way, I’d like to assert that I see no possible outcome in which Billie Eilish doesn’t win this category for her groundbreaking album, “HIT ME HARD AND SOFT.” This album demonstrates Eilish’s growth as an artist as she breaks free from the mold that many young musicians find themselves in today. The immaculate range in this album transports you from the delicate, somber world of “WILDFLOWER” to the passionate, belt-worthy domain of “THE GREATEST.” “HIT ME HARD AND SOFT” is not just a sensational piece; it is an oasis in the current dry, lackluster desert that is the music industry.

Regardless of whether or not my predictions are correct, I am thrilled to see how the 2025 Grammys shake out. Please remember that all of these predictions are just my opinion. You could completely disagree with one of my takes, and that’s fine; we’ll just have to agree to disagree. Even if my assertions seem unequivocal, all these awards are still for any artist to win.