2021 has been a fantastic year for music. With exceptional body’s of work being released one after the other throughout the year, the question as to what the 64th Annual Grammys will look like is becoming a hot topic of discussion.

The Grammys has always held a reputation of being “music's highest honor.” Being nominated, let alone winning, is a high honor for musicians and oftentimes the categories are packed with tons of popular artists, making it enjoyable for the public as well.

The Grammys are a place where art is recognized, but also an entertaining program that fans and artists can enjoy. With this comes a sea of different emotions for the winners. Last year's Grammys were very controversial in terms of both the nominees and the winners.

Many were upset when Canadian artist, known as “The Weeknd'', shockingly was not nominated for any Grammys with his incredibly successful fourth studio album “After Hours”. Despite his album breaking multiple records, such as holding the title of longest running hit in chart history with his single “Blinding Lights”, and going number one worldwide, the artist received not a single nomination causing outrage to come from both him and his fans. He took to Instagram to write “The Grammys remain corrupt. You owe me, my fans, and the industry transparency…”

As for the controversial wins at last year's Grammys, many fans were not happy when international pop boy band BTS lost their nomination for best pop duo/group performance. Their nominated song “Dynamite” debuted at number 1 on the Billboard chart and broke the Guinness world record for most viewed YouTube video in 24 hours. It became a radio hit, and was praised for representing K-pop in the western industry, something the group has done time and time again. Despite its success, it lost to Ariana Grande and Lady Gaga’s “Rain On Me” despite not being as successful.

Instances like these are not foreign to see when it comes to this award show. Arguably, the most cut throat and anticipated category is “Album Of the Year''. So this leaves the question: what will this year's nominee list look like?

While there is much debate due to various tastes, it ultimately comes down to how the academy decides to view it. According to the public, if their approach is to look at it from a lyrical standpoint “Evermore '' by Taylor Swift is a top contender. Taylor Swift is no stranger to the Grammys, currently holding 13 to her resume, winning the category last year with her critically acclaimed album “Folklore”.

On a chart based perspective, Olivia Rodrigo's debut album “Sour” and Ariana Grande’s 6th studio album “Positions'” are in the lead as they both have achieved major radio and sales success. Junior Ryan Fey contributed his input on this topic by stating “I feel like a lot of solid Grammy deserving albums have been released this year. In my opinion I think that Olivia Rodrigo's "Sour" should win album of the year. It's very popular, it sounds great musically, and overall it is very impressive for a debut album.”

Of course, this is all speculation and guesses as nothing is certain until the nominee list is released later this year and the award show takes place early next year. For now all we can do is wait, anticipate, and tune in to see if our favorites will come out on top.

Who Will come out on Top?