This post was updated Nov. 30 at 7:59 p.m.
With still a few months before music’s biggest night, the Grammy Awards are already taking over music lovers’ minds.
The nominations for the 68th Annual Grammy Music Awards were announced Nov. 7. No different from past years, music fans were surprised by some of the nominations – or the lack of them. With the Recording Academy adding two new categories – Best Traditional Country Album and Best Album Cover – the award show will take place Feb. 1, 2026, at Crypto.com Arena.
Keep reading to learn the Daily Bruin’s takes on this year’s nominees.
Record of the Year
Is it even the Grammys if the Recording Academy doesn’t forget the year’s most luminous rising star?
The 68th Grammy nominations for Record of the Year offered the usual constellation of chart-toppers and industry fixtures. However, the lone appearance of Chappell Roan for “The Subway” – confined to this single category and Best Pop Solo Performance – feels more like a consolation prize than a celebration. The nomination recognizes her presence without fully acknowledging her impact, and it leaves an unmistakable gap in how this year’s most culturally influential music is represented.
What makes the snub even more glaring is that Song of the Year was the exact category where Roan’s work could have shone brightest. More than the recording itself, it was the lyrical boldness and diaristic specificity that made “The Subway” one of 2025’s most talked-about singles – particularly given the love it received as a live performance long before it was officially released. The song is built on detail, emotion and precision of language that squarely fits the award’s emphasis on songwriting craft. While Record of the Year honors performance and production, the representation of queer longing, isolation and self-discovery in unforgettable lines is what ignited the track’s staying power. Overlooking her in the category that rewards storytelling feels less like an oversight and more like a fundamental misunderstanding of what listeners actually connected with.
“The Subway” – despite two nominations – managed to be celebrated only for its sound without honoring its soul.
– Caitlin Brockenbrow
[Related: Second Take: Despite overlooks, nominations for 2025 Grammy Awards capture vital music projects]
Best New Artist
This year’s Best New Artist category forces competition among emerging artists and seasoned musicians.
Among the nominees are The Marías – fresh off Billie Eilish’s tour last year – and Nickelodeon’s “Victorious” alumnus Leon Thomas, who has been producing and writing songs since the show ended. Lola Young joins the mix with her breakout hit “Messy” released in May 2024. Meanwhile, Addison Rae and Alex Warren – who both chose to pivot their TikTok stardom to music – are also nominated for their early career contributions. Others like Olivia Dean, sombr and KATSEYE feel the most like this year’s biggest discoveries, with their breakout hits landing them a spot on this year’s biggest stages – Saturday Night Live, MTV Video Music Awards and Lollapalooza.
This split between new and established artists comes from the Grammys’ official rules, which states that a Best New Artist nominee must be receiving their first Grammy nomination in another category that same year, as well as have released at least five singles or an album. Popular culture has used the title of “new” to consider the nominees as new artists in the industry, but in reality, they’re just new to the Grammys. Regardless, this category should still reflect emerging artists whose work warrants one of the highest honors in the recording industry.
No matter if they’re just hitting the scene or have already put in their time, one thing is clear: Every artist in this lineup has had their most successful year yet.
– Kai Echeverria
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance
Compared to past years, the number of K-pop nominations at the Grammy Awards has gone “up, up, up.”
For the first time, two songs by K-pop artists are nominated for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance – three if you count KATSEYE, a global girl group formed by the South Korean multinational entertainment company Hybe, also home to acts like BTS and LE SSERAFIM. The honorees are “Golden” from Netflix’s animation film “KPop Demon Hunters” and “APT.,” BLACKPINK member ROSÉ’s collaboration with Bruno Mars. Additionally, both songs are nominated for Song of the Year – the first time the K-pop genre has made an appearance in that category.
The greater inclusion of K-pop songs – nominating multiple songs in the genre for a single category and the entry of K-pop into the Big Four categories – shows K-pop’s success is so strong that Western, mainstream awards shows such as the Grammys can no longer sideline it. “KPop Demon Hunters” is Netflix’s most-watched animated film, and “APT.” is the second-fastest song to reach a billion streams on Spotify. The nominations for these tracks are a step in the right direction in finally giving one of the world’s most popular genres the recognition it deserves.
Come Feb. 1, we will learn if this is truly the “moment” for K-pop.
– Amelia Chief
[Related: Grammys 2025: 67th ceremony awards Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar, encourages fire recovery in LA]
Best Music Video
No conversation about the Best Music Video is complete without Lady Gaga.
And yet, the Recording Academy failed to nominate Mother Monster for her terrific “Abracadabra” visual, which has received more than 208 million views since its February release. The snub is a baffling surprise, given “Abracadabra” managed to score nominations in the coveted Record of the Year and Song of the Year categories in addition to Best Pop Dance Recording. The acclaimed video won two awards for its direction at the MTV Video Music Awards in September – often a precursor to Grammy success – and features some of the singer-songwriter’s most electrifying choreography and elaborate costumes that are on par with her Grammy-winning video for “Bad Romance.”
To be fair, the set of nominees for Best Music Video is a strong collection that includes stellar contributions such as Doechii’s dynamic “Anxiety” visual and Sade’s touching sequence for “Young Lion.” That said, “Abracadabra” would have made a far stronger nominee than Sabrina Carpenter’s fun but disjointed “Manchild” or Clipse’s crisp but simple “So Be It.” Thankfully, Lady Gaga already has 14 Grammys to her name and is nominated for seven more awards in February. Ultimately, the nods for her latest LP, “MAYHEM,” and its outstanding hit singles make the absence of the “Abracadabra” video all the more puzzling.
“Abracadabra” might not be in the final music video lineup at the upcoming Grammys, but its magic endures longer than just about any other video released this year.
– Reid Sperisen
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