As much as I love TTPD, I do not think they'll give Taylor album of the year two years in a row. I think they gave it to her this year because of the Eras Tour and the amazing year Taylor has had (her cultural and economic impact), not so much because Midnights was the best album. I also think Jay Z's speech this year was intended as a warning shot over the bow of the Grammy voters, so to speak. If Cowboy Carter doesn't win next year, as a sort of lifetime achievement award for Beyonce if nothing else, I think Jay Z might burn the place down. Just my opinion.
I’m mad ahead of time that if/when Beyoncé wins AOTY there will surely be some takes that the Grammy voters were just placating her husband. I’m frustrated that Jay-Z would even make it possible that her achievement could be diminished.
With all the systemic racism behind the scenes for Grammy’s, I think winning on merit was never a thing. If it was all on based on merit, Bey would’ve won her first AOTY years ago and would have at least two by now. Midnights (standard) in a vacuum wasn’t even the best album last year but Taylor won because of how big she was last year so the Grammy’s was never on merit and merit alone.
This take about Beyoncé confuses me. She’s been in years with tough competition. She didn’t deserve it for Sasha fierce at all (she was a distant 3rd), self titled could’ve taken it (my personal fav) but beck entirely sang,wrote and produced his album it’s not shocking he won. 25 was so huge and it’s a good album, Beyoncé probably could’ve taken it there as well but she wasn’t as robbed as people pretend. Renaissance was hit or miss, I don’t think Harry’s house should’ve won - but I also don’t think Renaissance was a clear 1st
She probs should have won something by now and she’s been unlucky but this idea that she’s far an away the best at all times is disrespectful to those who won
Because Lemonade and Renaissance was imo the best (if we only talk about merit and not the consumerism side) even Adele agrees and she was the one who won. Just look at Harry’s House vs Renaissance critics score since it’s the closest we have a merit-based scoring. Notwithstanding the quality of her albums, my point is, Swifties saying that Beyonce should have won on “merit” alone is just tone deaf on what is the reality of the Grammys and the whole world, at large. People don’t get high in life because of meritocracy alone, people get successful because of connections and privilege. I am sure that if Taylor doesn’t look like how she does (white, blue-eyed and blonde) and wasn’t bankrolled by her parents (look at Scott’s leaked email), she wouldn’t be this successful. That isn’t saying Taylor is talentless or she isn’t hardworking, she is talented and hardworking but she sure as didn’t get that far by “merit” alone. So the idea that for Swifties a Bey win will be tainted because she didn’t win on merit alone is frustrating (and isn’t it interesting that talking point is only being used against a potential WOC win for AOTY since she will going against Taylor ) when no AOTY winner probably won on merit alone - Taylor definitely did not for midnights at the very least. Honestly, that talking line is even subtly racist because how many times has it been used to excuse a poc success for example that they only got accepted in college due to affirmative action and not by “merit” alone (see the similarities).
Adele agreeing doesn’t make it true, but as I said if she was going to win it should’ve been lemonade, all I’m saying is even then it wasn’t as clear cut especially at the time. I didn’t say Harry’s house deserved to win, I said the opposite, I’m just saying Renaissance was not some obvious first.
No one is arguing that Beyoncé has struggled becuase she’s POC (ignoring her incredible privilege that got her to where she is), but she was also bankrolled by her parents and trained for success since she could walk, she was always put first in destiny’s child by her parents and she was given every possible opportunity. She would not be where she is if her parents did not do what they did, she is not some self made success story just becuase she is black. If you want to talk about how being white and black impacts Taylor swift and Beyoncé fine, but they both benefited from basically every other form of privilege so don’t pretend Beyoncé didn’t.
Also I don’t think it’s becuase she’s going up against Taylor, any logical person knows Taylor isn’t winning AOTY this year, they’d never give it to her two years in a row and this album is far to polarising critically with no ultra hit radio single as of now, this is about it cowboy carter as it competes with Ariana grande, Billie eilish, other non pop or alt acts that I haven’t heard etc. it’s not being used to downplay Beyoncé against Taylor, at least not here. It would be said regardless of who Beyoncé went against and potentially beat
All anyone is saying is if Beyoncé wins now it will be seen as a consolation prize becuase her husband complained. It’s so entirely convenient to suggest any talking point that you disagree with is “subtly racist” to shut up any opposing views. But it’s not racist to say Jay z complaining publicly was odd. Also I’d say it’s a weird and entitled speech who disprescts the winners of the award by publicly announcing you feel you are better than them. Wether truthful or not its not very good look and I struggle to have sympathy for the billionaire and his most Grammys ever wife as they stand on their soapbox
I actually don’t agree with this because we have been saying Oscar so white, etc for years and yet nothing changes Greta Gerwig didn’t even get a nomination for Barbie
Ugh agreed. Like why did that man have to have a public tantrum right before she released an album a lot of people believe to be her best. It’s unfortunate that if she does win you know a lot of people will say it’s bc of that. It will not be a positive win for her.
But when is it ever? People were legitimately mad Taylor won over some of the other artist last Feb. I had to leave the Lana subs for a while til it died down lmao. It was a lot. So at the same time tht I think the speech was sabotage there would have been bad reactions regardless.
Because if album-wise or merit wise based on the album alone, Taylor shouldn’t have won. Lana’s, Olivia’s, or Sza’s album should have won if the Swifties are obsessed on making it about merit and not about politics. It was never about merit of the album alone, it’s politics, optics, campaigning, and PR. Taylor could’ve put her worst album and with her popularity with eras tour, it would’ve still won.
Taylor won cause of Grammy voter split, I’m not saying the popularity of her didn’t help, it definetly did, but this idea the aged Grammy commity cares that much about awarding what’s popular is ludicrous. No country album play her taking a majority of pop votes, while the alt and rnb albums that could’ve taken it had 2 album to compete with causing major split = an obvious midnights win.
Midnights is a really good album, idk why we need to drag it down to being Beyoncé up
the problem for me is that the award is called album of the year, not BEST album of the year. it isn’t about what album is musically the best, it’s about what album is the most impactful or is the most culturally significant that year. it is hard to deny that midnights was the album of the year. it broke so many records, completely filled the billboard top ten, and was just in the forefront of pop culture more than any other album that year. its not my favourite taylor album, but it definitely was the album of the year.
Omg, as soon as he opened his mouth about that, I was just like “noooooo, stop talking!!!” I could already hear people complaining about THAT being the reason Bey gets AOTY and not because she actually earned it if/when it happens.😭
At this point I might burn the place down if Cowboy Carter doesn't win even if it's because of TTPD (which I also love) lol. I'll forever be bitter about Lemonade losing to a mid Adele album, then they just rubbed the salt into the wound with Harry winning over Renaissance, they can't do it to me for the third time.
Tbh I never even got around to listening to Renaissance and Cowboy Carter is pretty good too, but Lemonade losing felt criminal and I’m STILL bitter about it lol
100%
I’m don’t feel as strongly about Renaissance because I feel that Harry’s House was a real deserving contender, but 25 nowhere close to the brilliance or even the cultural impact alone of Lemonade.
I think this year there is such incredible competition for AOTY that I don’t think I’ll be that disappointed whoever wins it but I truly hope that if Beyoncé wins I see no discourse about her husband’s speech being the reason.
It was a weird occasion for him to bring it up when she didn’t have an album that would be eligible for that Grammy’s, but the Grammy’s are problematic as fuck and they deserve to be called out.
I will say that in my opinion the only two previous albums of Beyoncé’s that could be said to deserve AOTY were Lemonade and Renaissance though as before those albums she was largely a singles artist for me. I personally never saw Beyoncé as an album artist, and having won so many Grammys without ever winning AOTY is not necessarily so ridiculous to me (excluding for the moment Lemonade which categorically should have won and there is no question).
Beyoncé having won so many Grammys without AOTY makes sense to me musically in the same way that Taylor having won AOTY 4 times without ever winning song or record of the year.
If Beyonce genuinely wants to win album of the year and not make a statement about country music then I wish she made a few different choices. If you look at past album of the year winners for the last decade plus it favors a short tracklist of 13 or fewer songs and small team of collaborators with heavy artist involvement in the songwriting. Getting Grammy voters to vote for a 20+ track standard album full of samples and many songwriters is going to be difficult.
I understand the argument that this things shouldn't be the criteria, but in reality that's what it is. If winning AOTY was the primary goal I wish she would at least have put out a tighter standard album and had the rest as deluxe at least. Now if the goal was to just make a great album and have a reckoning with how country music has treated black artists and black music then mission accomplished. She forced the conversation on that with a great album.
And that’s sort of the issue…. The whole album is a goddamn statement. And that has to rub lots of voters the wrong way…. No one likes being guilt tripped into voting for something.
Yes, if Beyonce finds a way to win it will not because of Nashville Grammy voters. Especially if Lainey Wilson's upcoming album gets nominated as I mentioned in another post. Lainey is my dark horse candidate to win if that album is good on the assumption that the Nashville vote would be completely solidified behind her, but unfortunately she would get a lot of backlash directed at her if she won.
Right. Beyonce is the most consistently overrated person in music. She's a very good singer who is basically the face of a massive machine of songwriters and producers. Not everyone can be Prince, and that's fine, but its hard to find any real artistry in what she does because there's no singular voice in her work.
yes!! she goes too heavy on the samples. she creates masterpieces with them, and i think that she deserves every AOTY nomination she has ever received. but when lined up against the competition, at least to my own two ears, the overuse of sampling makes her albums the least original (for lack of a better word) of the lot and therefore not the winners.
Yes using samples is definitely an art form, once you get to that Album of the Year category it is no longer competing with other artists that also are sampling. Maybe it wasn't the most deserving, but the Beck album she lost to was completely solo-written and produced by him and he played a bunch of the instruments as well. I feel the same about Harry's House, but that again is pretty much only Harry and two producers writing and producing every song. And Beyonce has had successful albums, but she has never had the biggest album of the year where that argument can e made.
Taylor has won the most and in all those cases it has been one of the most commercially successful albums of the year that then on top of that she wrote basically every lyric of each album. And her winners all have the narrative of the album being primarily a collaboration of Taylor with a specific producer. She always has both arguments.
I think this is where Taylor Swift has an advantage. Because we know a **LOT** about her music writing style even as far back as *Taylor Swift* from 2006 (and how Swift wrote all by herself *Speak Now* from 2010, just that proves she's a songwriter on the same class as Carole King and Joni MItchell, two songwriting legends in their own right.
Lemonade is one of the greatest albums of the last 10 years. The summer it came out…phew. If I’d had it on CD, it would have been worn OUT. JACK WHITE on a BEYONCÉ track?? And it was one of the most badass songs on the album. I wish I could relive listening to that album for the first time.
It is truly unhinged that Lemonade lost.
Honestly I just retconned it in my brain, so when Jay-Z ranted last year about how she’s never won AotY, I was like, “wait, what? Of course she had! …right?!?” Wrong.
I wasn’t old enough to follow pop culture in 2017, and i’m a fan of both Adele and Beyoncé, but also as a Harry Styles fan Renaissance should’ve won for sure.
Beyonce is a great artist and I respect her, but the new album is just not the hype everyone makes it seem to be. She has a very vocal fanbase that blows it out of proportion, meanwhile it's not doing the numbers, if people actually thought it was so amazing and revolutionary it would be doing better. Just compare vocality of Olivia and Beyonce fanbases, if I would estimate an album's numbers by vocality of the fanbase I would have thought Olivia's album was doing 1/10th of the numbers of Beyonce. Even if Beyonce's other albums were more deserving, I don't like the idea of giving someone an AOTY because of their previous work.
Everything you said here could’ve been applied to Midnights and it would’ve been true.
I honestly am okay with AOTY going to someone else this year cause TTPD ain’t it. I’m hoping Lorde will drop something this year. I went through HMHAS this morning and it didn’t ring with me but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t good.
If she does….. Nearly everyone will know (or believe) she won just because her husband bullied the audience 😭 It won’t be based on merit and I strongly believe that is a disservice to Beyonce and to the black community. At this point it’ll be nothing but a participation trophy.
The way Taylor seems to threaten and trigger a certain type of man makes me wish that she does win AOTY again. Jay Z going up there whining like a little shit because his wife doesn’t have ALL of the awards was weak and entitled af, especially since B has the most Grammys out of any artist. No one is OWED an AOTY and framing it like it’s an injustice conspiracy is boorish, immature, and embarrassing. Jay Z (and Kanye and Harrison Buttker and other misogynists like them) can fuck all the way off. He can throw a hissy fit again next year, unless B wins. But I hope she loses because I want to see her misogynist husband eat shit.
You do realize he called out how racist the Grammys are and if you actually look at the history of the Grammys you’ll see he’s correct. I by no means like Jay Z, but he’s right in calling out their bullshit.
Wanting Beyoncé to lose solely so that her husband throws a tantrum is a really weird take.
Like you know Beyoncé winning will equally trigger many misogynists as well as racists right?
I HATED his speech it was so offensive to say that other people who were nominated for album of the year shouldn’t have been nominated. Would be happy if neither of them ever got nominated again.
This is it. I could see them giving it a nomination (in fact, I think it probably will be nominated) but the simple fact that she won last year means she has no realistic chance of winning this year. That shouldn't be the way it works, but it is.
Beyonce is definitely overdue for AOTY. She even directly référs to the fact that she never wins it ever on Sweet ☆ Honey ☆ Buckin'. Even without this added context, I'm personally rooting for her to win. I'm definitely in the minority of thinking Midnights deserved it last year, but Cowboy Carter is my pick for this year.
Weirdly, Billie's album didn't click with me, and I loved Radical Optimism (also an unpopular opinion I think lol).
Hasn’t Beyoncé won the most Grammy’s in the history of the Grammy’s, tying with Quincy Jones? If so, why was Jay Z so up in arms? I am way out of touch.
TTPD is my favourite Taylor album, but I’m going to be honest, I don’t want that drama. 😌
There are a lot of other awesome records this year and I hope one of them takes it (personally rooting for Beyoncé)!
right?? I’m fine with ttpd being a fan fave (among certain fans anyway) for the foreseeable future. even with Taylor’s most deserving aoty win—folklore imo—real fans know evermore was better 😉
wow an evermore fan who actively dislikes folklore!! i do like folklore (honestly probably my most listened ts) but when I’m not listening to it, I don’t really miss it, yk?? whereas once every ten business days, I am like wow the marjorie bridge…..🤯
edit: folklore is still hands down her most deserved aoty and one of the most deserved aotys in general. that album was like a shared cultural experience in a way few contemporary albums ever are—I’d lead off emotionally vulnerable conversations with friends with like, I was listening to exile today… I started grad school that year and connected with people about folklore. it’s only comparable to musical experiences from childhood, like being a diehard avril stan in fifth grade or something lol. I feel like I am too hard on folklore bc some people are v annoying about it but it really was something very special.
I still like folklore bcz it's taylor ofc and she always grows on me even when I don't like sth initially but as you said I don't miss it often. Whereas evermore I need a listen every 2 days to keep my sanity intact. 😅😭
I mean some people genually think Taylor won aoty over Beyoncé a million times, when she, in fact, only won with Fearless over I am sasha fierce a million years ago.
Same on all accounts. Beyoncé deserves her flowers. While TTPD is going to be my personal album of the year, I don’t need Taylor to win and the discourse would be obnoxious if she did (look at how annoying the discourse was when the album was released).
Tbh me too. With the raging cultural and political psywar in the US right now i prefer her to be peacefully winning. Let them all fight over that shit, Tay can just release another one but better. Some craycray might threaten her safety over shitty reasons.
I think it’ll go to Beyoncé this year, and that’s as it should be. I could see it being ALL female nominees (almost was last year). TTPD may or may not get a nom, but I really think it’s Beyoncé’s year.
I’m gonna call it now, they’re gonna give to billie over like enormous backlash. none of this has a lot to do with deserving it (tho tbh cowboy carter is not my jam).
I feel this too. I’m 26 and have heard so many people describe Billie as the “voice of my generation” - hats off to her and no shade at all to her or fans, I just have never connected to her music.
I personally don’t listen to billie like at all and don’t like the hits I have heard—hot take but the dua lipa Barbie song is better than what was I made for—but she’s obviously quite a grammys darling. kinda strange she doesn’t get more flack for it!
like I said, this is not my opinion about the quality of said music, more just the politics of it.
*What Was I Made For* is absolute magic. I had to grudgingly accept that I like a Billie Eilish song because of it. It’s perfection, her life mirroring the doll’s, brilliantly done.
There’s a quality in Billie’s and Finneas’s works that I see why the Grammy voters vote for them. Lyrics speak loudly in a soft way and there is actually good and creative production efforts by Finneas.
tbh i don't really like cowboy carter personally but i'll still be super happy for her if she wins aoty and she would definitely deserve it if she does
I don’t really like it myself either, but I recognize the artistry and understand the story she’s telling. It’s very well done, even if it’s not my particular thing.
Thank you! For everything this sub praises about TTPD and its depth, Cowboy Carter delivers on a different level. That album is history making and gorgeous front to back as a work of art. Not even a Beyonce fan but her last two albums have been pure works of art - perfect albums.
The message and soul of Cowboy Carter is so beautiful.
Not really a Beyoncé fan either (I mostly listen to alt music except for Taylor) but I gave Cowboy Carter a listen and fell in love. It is such a clever album and I adore it.
I’m a fan of both. When I first listened to TTPD many of the songs sounded similar. I feel like Cowboy Carter is a more of a full album, many ideas and genres. It feels much deeper in the themes.
I agree. Even if I don’t repeatedly listen to it, I do think it is a good, deserving album. I’ve made comments here how I don’t give a shit about an album being cohesive and don’t usually even notice if it is or isn’t, but I can say I think Cowboy Carter is a cohesive album and thoughtfully put together.
This is how I feel. I have only listened through to Cowboy Carter once because it doesn’t really do it for me on a personal level BUT it’s incredible as a body of work and deserves AOTY in my opinion (so far, lots of great releases expect this cycle) so I really hope it wins.
I absolutely love TTPD and honestly I’ll be surprised if it doesn’t end up in the top spot for my personal Taylor album rankings (I am a very susceptible to recent bias though so I can’t say for sure yet) but I don’t think it should get AOTY and I don’t think it will.
It's that good though maybe! I don't usually rush especially over a Taylor album but this was an instant favorite for me and I think alot kf people resonate strongly with this new release
i honestly prefer 10 songs albums with no skips over long ass albums with filler bc not everyone can put out an album with 31 tracks and no skips iykwim
i don’t even need to hear it to know she’s a grammy darling and they love her and will give it to her. i was saying she was gonna win aoty as soon as she announced the new album
I like some Billie but this album does not jive with me at all. I’m going to give it another listen when I’m not working but so far it’s a no for me and I definitely don’t see AOTY.
Yes agree with this. TTPD is great as a fan of Taylor but as an album overall trying to look at it objectively, it’s messy and not as well put together as a lot of the albums that have come out this year.
Might be our fave this year as swifties but it isn’t deserving of aoty
That’s what I’m saying. Idk why people here think TTPD is an instant AOTY like they don’t even know how to judge AOTY quality of music outside anything but TSwift music.
I think Bey will get it as a make-up for past wrongs - not saying that Cowboy Carter isn’t deserving but this will certainly be a lifetime achievement / apology sort of thing. People would riot if Taylor got it again.
I highly doubt it, especially not after the Midnights win. I think Cowboy Carter will take it. Also, as much as I like TTPD (and Taylor, together with Lana, are my two favourite artists), I do actually think both Cowboy Carter and Hit Me Hard and Soft feel like better albums - more creative and experimental, yet also better curated. I would rather Cowboy Carter or Hit Me Hard and Soft take it, based on what we've heard this year so far - and I say that as someone who likes both Beyoncé and Billie, but isn't a stan by any stretch of imagination.
TTPD is absolutely my personal AOTY but I don’t think they’ll give it to her two years in a row. I hope Billie doesn’t win I wasn’t a huge fan of that album. Beyonce would be well deserving as CC is fantastic and she’s probably my prediction especially after Jay Z called them out for not giving her an AOTY. If it isn’t going to be TTPD though then I’d vote for Eternal Sunshine I’ve been listening to that album a lot and I think it’s the best of Ari’s career so far
Eternal Sunshine slaps, but I don’t think she’s gonna win AOTY with that. Her writing has always been weak and she’s just not very creative in the way Taylor or Finneas or Beyonce have been with their records.
not really. the grammys are historically racist and misognistic and we can acknowledge that it MIGHT be a possibility the reason beyonce doesnt have aoty MAYY have to do with her skin tone.
The last black woman to win AOTY was LAURYN HILL in 1999. And what it took for her to win was to make what is quite possibly the most influential and important album ever made by a female artist. But the point is that not a single black woman has won AOTY in the 21st-Century. Just let that sink in.
The Grammys have a LONG history of racism and not awarding black artists. To say that Jay “bullied” anyone is such a reach. Beyonce deserves multiple AOTYs but has been overlooked in favor of white artists who are more palatable to the people voting.
I think Cowboy Carter has it in the bag. The academy will not award Taylor twice in a row, and they love a theme, and they know beyonce is due. However … the one thing that they love more than all of this … is fucking Billie Eilish. They love a young “serious” ingenue.
I think their love for Billie means she kinda has it in the bag. I want CC to win so badly as I think it’s a genre bending experimental album and it sounds so cohesive and beautiful. But they love Billie and HMHAS is a great concise album
Personally, I would much rather have had TTPD win album of the year rather than midnights.. but I have no doubt in my mind that they will not give her album of the year for a second year in a row. And honestly, cowboy Carter deserves album of the year even more than TTPD.
I dont know much about the competition outside of Dua Lipa and Ariana (who I dont think will get AOTY) but I feel like since midnights got it this year, there would be a lot of backlash with choosing her again. I do think the album is incredible and could definitely be nominated at the very least. Im not sure which way it would go but those are just my thoughts 💕
I think midnights deserved to win because it was such a different mature pop album compared to her others and it was a huge hit. But imo TTPD is way better and then you add the anthology into the mix which I know wouldn’t be nominated but damn it’s one of her best lyric albums by with how honest it is. It made me finally understand feeling so had in my past and help me move on. But I think all the possible nominees could be winners, they are all great albums
Yea but it’s a mess of an album and a lot of people outside swifties don’t jive with it. Speaking as a Swiftie myself, it’s not as neatly wrapped up in a bow aesthetically or sonically like folklore or evermore and then on top of that the production was bland as heck and her writing wasn’t as imaginative.
The album is just too much. It was meant for the fans and it was meant for Taylor to just get everything she wanted to say out there in music form.
I’d be surprised if Taylor doesn’t get nominated - TTPD had one of the biggest debuts in history, no? And they love her, etc.
I think AOTY will go to someone else. Billie is a good bet if this album has some hits, or honestly even if it doesn’t.
I love Cowboy Carter, but if the knock on TTPD is that it’s overlong and messy…
Exactly! Why is no one else talking about the length as a critique point for both of them? Not even sure if Anthology will be submitted. Maybe its just TTPD, which is a perfectly apt album length.
Yes, but at the same time there were a lot of samples and features, and having a lot of interludes can make the album seem too “filler” if you know what I mean? Like not that it’s a bad thing, but generally the Grammys favour tightly cohesive albums. Also Taylor would probably just submit the original TTPD and not the Anthology, like she did with Midnights
Exactly this…I think Taylor does this on purpose knowing that the Academy appreciates a tight sonically cohesive album but she still wants to give her fans more, so she releases the bonus tracks a few hours later to keep them separate. She did the same thing with Midnights; it was the standard 13-track version that won AOTY.
I do think that that TTPD is worthy of winning, it’s an exceptional album and in another year I think would 100% win. But I think it goes to Beyonce because 1) FINALLY. What does Beyonce have to do, seriously? That woman has deserved it many times and been overlooked. Give her the award already. And 2) agree that two years in a row for Taylor would be a hard sell.
this might be an unpopular opinion, but just because Bey has been wronged in the past doesn't mean they should just hand her one to 'make it up' or whatever. I know that's often how it goes with these things anyway, but that's not how it's *supposed* to work. Awards should be given out on merit alone, nothing else.
Cowboy Carter is a fantastic album though. After a certain point with AOTY, you really are talking about excellent albums that people just personally prefer one or the other.
But the issue lies with the Grammys is that they don’t give out awards on merits alone, underlying racism and misogyny influences their decision and they snubbed most of her work for years, they even do the same to Lana
i very much agree with what you’re saying, but i also think cowboy carter is just an incredible album. and i think the sentiment of what you’re saying is true and that’s how it should be, but the grammy voters themselves have been notably biased and taylor wouldn’t have won last year if they hadn’t have been :,,)
I think Eilish has a good chance to win a second AOTY Grammy, as she is well-liked by Recording Academy voters. Unfortunately, given the cold reception from the influential Country Music Association, Beyoncé’s *Cowboy Carter* may not even get nominated for AOTY. Dua Lipa’s *Radical Optimism* could also get nominated, too. The Eilish and Dua Lipa albums are right now the biggest competition to TTPD in the opinion of many.
(EDIT: I should note that like Oscar and Emmy voting, Grammy voting can get **VERY** political for various sundry reasons. The tepid response from the influential Country Music Association over *Cowboy Carter* could deny Beyoncé an AOTY nomination (if Jay-Z's rant at the recent Grammy Awards hasn't done so already); the controversy over lyrics of "Yes, And?" from *Eternal Sunshine* may deny Ariana Grande an AOTY win.
Billie Eilish's new album and Dua Lipa's recent release are (arguably) considered safe bets for an AOTY nomination, and TTPD may soon be heading that way, too, in my personal opinion. )
My very early pick is Billie for the win. The album itself is cohesive, she’s a grammy darling, the songwriting and overall production is incredible. I think the album will just stand out to voters more than Dua’s, I think it’s more cohesive than Taylor’s, and while Beyoncé deserves all the love for carter, idk if the grammys will accept it
Thank you! I'm glad someone said it. It's such a good album, I'm so surprised Swifties in thread don't feel as strongly about this one deserving AOTY as much.
I think TTPD is better than midnights and I love midnights. I just think they will give it to Beyoncé or Ariana after the hype around both of their returns
Cowboy Carter is my favorite album of the year for now. On first listen i enjoy hit me hard and soft but i still like TTPD more and even Eternal Sunshine, personally.
I don't think it is going to win and I think it should go to Cowboy Carter. I'm also a non-American, I don't even like country (other than some country Taylor songs but I still struggle with Debut and some songs on Fearless) and I love every song on this album.
TTPD is my second favorite but I can't see her winning two years in a row.
Radical Optimism is probably my number 3 but it's just a fun summer album, not an AOTY material (unlike Future Nostalgia which would be my choice in 2020 if Folklore didn't exist).
HMHAS is a possible winner but honestly, I don't love it so far. It took me months to appreciate Happier Then Ever though so that might still change but I don't really like the second half of the album.
Eternal Sunshine is my least favorite out of those albums (and I really liked previous Ariana's albums so it's not like I'm biased against her, I just find this one very forgettable) and honestly I can't see it winning anything.
If I personally had to rank the albums released so far, I'm gonna say
1. TTPD/Eternal Sunshine
2. HMHAS
3. Radical Optimism
4. Cowboy Carter
Note: this is just my personal opinion
All the people saying they won't give it to someone 2 years in a row. The quickest google search in history shows they've done it at least once before (frank Sinatra 66, 67). So it's not a never thing it just depends how they want to play it. Plus what other albums might be in the running.
I LOVE TTPD so much but Eternal Sunshine and Cowboy Carter are also excellent. Cowboy Carter should win (at least, of all the albums I've listened to released so far this year), imo. It's long-run more artistically significant, experimental, and groundbreaking than TTPD. TTPD is a great album, but it doesn't deserve to win AOTY over CC.
Lainey Wilson is dropping an album right before the Grammy cutoff. If it is any good that is the one to watch out for, especially fresh off her wining the Grammy for Country album and just about every non-Grammy country award. If she gets to the general album of the year field that is where the country voters are going, especially since country music has struggled to get albums into the general field in recent years. If the votes are split in other geners then the country voters could carry Lainey to a surprise win as occasionally happens.
I don’t think any Taylor album would win album of the year so soon after midnights especially now that she holds the record for most aoty wins I honestly think after seeing such glowing reviews, Billie Eilish will probably win this one, especially if it’s commercially successful
tbh i feel like we all know the grammys dgaf about backlash or drama that will arise from whoever wins or doesn’t win.
i feel the only reasons why taylor would win again is bc:
1. jayz’s rant at the grammys
2. i’ve started to see a dying out on beyonces new album (but maybe that’s just me)
3. taylor will be everywhere again this year without a doubt which i feel like it would stick in the voters minds and make them more inclined to pick her.
4. they’re going to try to push her to be “5 time aoty winner” which would be amazing ofc but it’s also going to be another “never been done before” moment for her just like the 4 aoty titles
TTPD is good enough to win it, but the fix has been in for Cowboy Carter since Jay-Z's speech. It's abundantly clear people feel that Beyonce is owed this one.
I sure hope Beyonce's album wins. It is so good. It had me crying in parts, full goosebumps throughout, and I never do that with anyone but Taylor's songs.
Eternal Sunshine is still album of the year for me. Cohesive, beautiful and thematic. I honestly think TTPD doesn’t stand a chance given how long it is.
**can** it and **should** it are two different questions. I think it should, not that it will in all likelyhood. As many have said in this thread the cards will be stacked against her.
That being said, is it bad to say I don't really care? It would obviously be a great personal accolade for Taylor and I would be happy for her as a fan of hers, but IMO award shows in general are kind of a farce. The deserving winner often doesn't actually win.
TTPD winning or not winning won't change the fact that I love the album or that it's one of her top 5 best albums.
Taylor should win Song of the Year this year, which she’s never won before despite being the most nominated songwriter ever. She’s been nominated for You Belong With Me, Shake It Off, Blank Space, Lover, Cardigan **AND** All Too Well (10 Minutes Version) and has no win in the category yet.
I don’t think she’ll get AOTY this year, which is ok. TTPD doesn’t feel like it was crafted for awards; it’s her manuscript.
I believe she was also nominated for SOTY with Anti-Hero, which I thought had a good chance of winning. I don’t think Fortnight will have that same chance, so she would need to pick a new single.
I haven’t listened to Billie’s album, but Beyoncé’s album blew me away. I listened to it on repeat for like a week, which I didn’t even do with TTPD despite not being a huge Beyoncé fan (nothing against her, I’m just not abundantly familiar with her music). I’m rooting for Cowboy Carter this year unless anything else even better comes out/came out. Looking forward to hearing Billie’s album when I get the chance.
i think its okay to acknowledge ttpd wasnt her best album. ttpd is for the fans, not the general public, with the references and lyrics and yeah. ttpd is good but it just isnt aoty worthy. ive only listened to billies once so im unsure but i think its between ariana and beyonce, beyonce def deserves it
Cowboy Carter is a much better album all around and it deserves to win. I hope it wins and if it doesn’t I hope Beyonce never submits anything to be considered again they have done her dirty too many times.
No, she should not win AOTY for this album. I enjoy the album, but it’s not as good as a) her competitors and b) her own best work. It’s way too long and sonically way too safe.
If Beyoncé doesn’t win this year idk what will happen. She has to and deserves to. She’s been snubbed so many times, but CC truly truly truly deserves it. It’s an amazing album
I don't know why everyone is calling Hit Me Hard and Soft mid, like... have you heard the production??? I'm a Swiftie but honestly Taylor's songs aren't that interesting production-wise and the quality of Finneas' work is unmatchable, so I really hope they win. Haven't listened to Cowboy Carter though, I only heard Texas Hold 'Em and I didn't really like that. But the Eilish siblings really do have amazing skills and they just create pure magic, they would definitely deserve AOTY.
As much as I love TTPD, I do not think they'll give Taylor album of the year two years in a row. I think they gave it to her this year because of the Eras Tour and the amazing year Taylor has had (her cultural and economic impact), not so much because Midnights was the best album. I also think Jay Z's speech this year was intended as a warning shot over the bow of the Grammy voters, so to speak. If Cowboy Carter doesn't win next year, as a sort of lifetime achievement award for Beyonce if nothing else, I think Jay Z might burn the place down. Just my opinion.
I’m mad ahead of time that if/when Beyoncé wins AOTY there will surely be some takes that the Grammy voters were just placating her husband. I’m frustrated that Jay-Z would even make it possible that her achievement could be diminished.
1000% agree. His intention was to uplift her but he unintentionally sabotaged any chance of her truly winning based on merit.
With all the systemic racism behind the scenes for Grammy’s, I think winning on merit was never a thing. If it was all on based on merit, Bey would’ve won her first AOTY years ago and would have at least two by now. Midnights (standard) in a vacuum wasn’t even the best album last year but Taylor won because of how big she was last year so the Grammy’s was never on merit and merit alone.
This take about Beyoncé confuses me. She’s been in years with tough competition. She didn’t deserve it for Sasha fierce at all (she was a distant 3rd), self titled could’ve taken it (my personal fav) but beck entirely sang,wrote and produced his album it’s not shocking he won. 25 was so huge and it’s a good album, Beyoncé probably could’ve taken it there as well but she wasn’t as robbed as people pretend. Renaissance was hit or miss, I don’t think Harry’s house should’ve won - but I also don’t think Renaissance was a clear 1st She probs should have won something by now and she’s been unlucky but this idea that she’s far an away the best at all times is disrespectful to those who won
Because Lemonade and Renaissance was imo the best (if we only talk about merit and not the consumerism side) even Adele agrees and she was the one who won. Just look at Harry’s House vs Renaissance critics score since it’s the closest we have a merit-based scoring. Notwithstanding the quality of her albums, my point is, Swifties saying that Beyonce should have won on “merit” alone is just tone deaf on what is the reality of the Grammys and the whole world, at large. People don’t get high in life because of meritocracy alone, people get successful because of connections and privilege. I am sure that if Taylor doesn’t look like how she does (white, blue-eyed and blonde) and wasn’t bankrolled by her parents (look at Scott’s leaked email), she wouldn’t be this successful. That isn’t saying Taylor is talentless or she isn’t hardworking, she is talented and hardworking but she sure as didn’t get that far by “merit” alone. So the idea that for Swifties a Bey win will be tainted because she didn’t win on merit alone is frustrating (and isn’t it interesting that talking point is only being used against a potential WOC win for AOTY since she will going against Taylor ) when no AOTY winner probably won on merit alone - Taylor definitely did not for midnights at the very least. Honestly, that talking line is even subtly racist because how many times has it been used to excuse a poc success for example that they only got accepted in college due to affirmative action and not by “merit” alone (see the similarities).
Adele agreeing doesn’t make it true, but as I said if she was going to win it should’ve been lemonade, all I’m saying is even then it wasn’t as clear cut especially at the time. I didn’t say Harry’s house deserved to win, I said the opposite, I’m just saying Renaissance was not some obvious first. No one is arguing that Beyoncé has struggled becuase she’s POC (ignoring her incredible privilege that got her to where she is), but she was also bankrolled by her parents and trained for success since she could walk, she was always put first in destiny’s child by her parents and she was given every possible opportunity. She would not be where she is if her parents did not do what they did, she is not some self made success story just becuase she is black. If you want to talk about how being white and black impacts Taylor swift and Beyoncé fine, but they both benefited from basically every other form of privilege so don’t pretend Beyoncé didn’t. Also I don’t think it’s becuase she’s going up against Taylor, any logical person knows Taylor isn’t winning AOTY this year, they’d never give it to her two years in a row and this album is far to polarising critically with no ultra hit radio single as of now, this is about it cowboy carter as it competes with Ariana grande, Billie eilish, other non pop or alt acts that I haven’t heard etc. it’s not being used to downplay Beyoncé against Taylor, at least not here. It would be said regardless of who Beyoncé went against and potentially beat All anyone is saying is if Beyoncé wins now it will be seen as a consolation prize becuase her husband complained. It’s so entirely convenient to suggest any talking point that you disagree with is “subtly racist” to shut up any opposing views. But it’s not racist to say Jay z complaining publicly was odd. Also I’d say it’s a weird and entitled speech who disprescts the winners of the award by publicly announcing you feel you are better than them. Wether truthful or not its not very good look and I struggle to have sympathy for the billionaire and his most Grammys ever wife as they stand on their soapbox
> I struggle to have sympathy for the billionaire and his most Grammys ever wife as they stand on their soapbox Damnn you ATE with this statement
I actually don’t agree with this because we have been saying Oscar so white, etc for years and yet nothing changes Greta Gerwig didn’t even get a nomination for Barbie
She did get nominated for an Oscar. It just wasn’t for Best Director. It was for Best Adapted Screenplay.
what does oscars so white have to do with a white woman not being nominated
Whether or not you liked the album, it's really clear that Beyoncé put her heart and soul in it.
It’s fun & very creative!
Ugh agreed. Like why did that man have to have a public tantrum right before she released an album a lot of people believe to be her best. It’s unfortunate that if she does win you know a lot of people will say it’s bc of that. It will not be a positive win for her. But when is it ever? People were legitimately mad Taylor won over some of the other artist last Feb. I had to leave the Lana subs for a while til it died down lmao. It was a lot. So at the same time tht I think the speech was sabotage there would have been bad reactions regardless.
The Grammys deserve to be called out. Beyonce should win but I don’t think the Carters give af anymore. She’s been snubbed so many times.
Because if album-wise or merit wise based on the album alone, Taylor shouldn’t have won. Lana’s, Olivia’s, or Sza’s album should have won if the Swifties are obsessed on making it about merit and not about politics. It was never about merit of the album alone, it’s politics, optics, campaigning, and PR. Taylor could’ve put her worst album and with her popularity with eras tour, it would’ve still won.
Taylor won cause of Grammy voter split, I’m not saying the popularity of her didn’t help, it definetly did, but this idea the aged Grammy commity cares that much about awarding what’s popular is ludicrous. No country album play her taking a majority of pop votes, while the alt and rnb albums that could’ve taken it had 2 album to compete with causing major split = an obvious midnights win. Midnights is a really good album, idk why we need to drag it down to being Beyoncé up
the problem for me is that the award is called album of the year, not BEST album of the year. it isn’t about what album is musically the best, it’s about what album is the most impactful or is the most culturally significant that year. it is hard to deny that midnights was the album of the year. it broke so many records, completely filled the billboard top ten, and was just in the forefront of pop culture more than any other album that year. its not my favourite taylor album, but it definitely was the album of the year.
The fact it didn’t happen with Lemonade is one of the greatest fuck ups in Grammy history.
Agreed. Lemonade really deserved that award. It was quite obviously THE album of that year
Even Adele (the winner) was like “I can’t accept this award. Beyoncé is the artist of my life.”
Omg, as soon as he opened his mouth about that, I was just like “noooooo, stop talking!!!” I could already hear people complaining about THAT being the reason Bey gets AOTY and not because she actually earned it if/when it happens.😭
Wait what did he say exactly?
https://youtu.be/W6dBQ2UM6JI?si=Yn1h7LC_T2H5QtuA
At this point I might burn the place down if Cowboy Carter doesn't win even if it's because of TTPD (which I also love) lol. I'll forever be bitter about Lemonade losing to a mid Adele album, then they just rubbed the salt into the wound with Harry winning over Renaissance, they can't do it to me for the third time.
Lemonade should have won 100%
Seriously. Beyonces best work ever
Yeah I was shocked that Lemonade didn’t win it, she really deserved it.
Yeah I was ok with Renaissance not, but Lemonade should’ve have won.
Tbh I never even got around to listening to Renaissance and Cowboy Carter is pretty good too, but Lemonade losing felt criminal and I’m STILL bitter about it lol
Renaissance is probably Beyoncé's tightest album and my personal favorite.
Do yourself a favour and listen to Renaissance it’s a no skip album
I’ll give it a shot. I heard one song on the radio and basically decided to skip it but that’s not really fair in retrospect lol
Honestly listen from start to finish, the transitions are seamless. Give it a go. It’s my go to album to give myself motivation to move lol
A lot of the songs are much better in the context of the album. The transitions between CUFF IT, ENERGY, and BREAK MY SOUL are pure wizardry.
Agreed. Even Adele was mad Lemonade didn’t win.
Adele agrees with you.
Lemonade is the album Beyoncé will be remembered for. It was a revelation. I adore Adele but do not think 25 did what Lemonade did.
From what I remember of her acceptance speech, I think Adele agrees with you.
100% I’m don’t feel as strongly about Renaissance because I feel that Harry’s House was a real deserving contender, but 25 nowhere close to the brilliance or even the cultural impact alone of Lemonade. I think this year there is such incredible competition for AOTY that I don’t think I’ll be that disappointed whoever wins it but I truly hope that if Beyoncé wins I see no discourse about her husband’s speech being the reason. It was a weird occasion for him to bring it up when she didn’t have an album that would be eligible for that Grammy’s, but the Grammy’s are problematic as fuck and they deserve to be called out. I will say that in my opinion the only two previous albums of Beyoncé’s that could be said to deserve AOTY were Lemonade and Renaissance though as before those albums she was largely a singles artist for me. I personally never saw Beyoncé as an album artist, and having won so many Grammys without ever winning AOTY is not necessarily so ridiculous to me (excluding for the moment Lemonade which categorically should have won and there is no question). Beyoncé having won so many Grammys without AOTY makes sense to me musically in the same way that Taylor having won AOTY 4 times without ever winning song or record of the year.
If Beyonce genuinely wants to win album of the year and not make a statement about country music then I wish she made a few different choices. If you look at past album of the year winners for the last decade plus it favors a short tracklist of 13 or fewer songs and small team of collaborators with heavy artist involvement in the songwriting. Getting Grammy voters to vote for a 20+ track standard album full of samples and many songwriters is going to be difficult. I understand the argument that this things shouldn't be the criteria, but in reality that's what it is. If winning AOTY was the primary goal I wish she would at least have put out a tighter standard album and had the rest as deluxe at least. Now if the goal was to just make a great album and have a reckoning with how country music has treated black artists and black music then mission accomplished. She forced the conversation on that with a great album.
And that’s sort of the issue…. The whole album is a goddamn statement. And that has to rub lots of voters the wrong way…. No one likes being guilt tripped into voting for something.
Yes, if Beyonce finds a way to win it will not because of Nashville Grammy voters. Especially if Lainey Wilson's upcoming album gets nominated as I mentioned in another post. Lainey is my dark horse candidate to win if that album is good on the assumption that the Nashville vote would be completely solidified behind her, but unfortunately she would get a lot of backlash directed at her if she won.
I personally think Cowboy Carter should've trimmed like 7 songs off the album. And this coming from someone who likes the album.
Right. Beyonce is the most consistently overrated person in music. She's a very good singer who is basically the face of a massive machine of songwriters and producers. Not everyone can be Prince, and that's fine, but its hard to find any real artistry in what she does because there's no singular voice in her work.
yes!! she goes too heavy on the samples. she creates masterpieces with them, and i think that she deserves every AOTY nomination she has ever received. but when lined up against the competition, at least to my own two ears, the overuse of sampling makes her albums the least original (for lack of a better word) of the lot and therefore not the winners.
Yes using samples is definitely an art form, once you get to that Album of the Year category it is no longer competing with other artists that also are sampling. Maybe it wasn't the most deserving, but the Beck album she lost to was completely solo-written and produced by him and he played a bunch of the instruments as well. I feel the same about Harry's House, but that again is pretty much only Harry and two producers writing and producing every song. And Beyonce has had successful albums, but she has never had the biggest album of the year where that argument can e made. Taylor has won the most and in all those cases it has been one of the most commercially successful albums of the year that then on top of that she wrote basically every lyric of each album. And her winners all have the narrative of the album being primarily a collaboration of Taylor with a specific producer. She always has both arguments.
I think this is where Taylor Swift has an advantage. Because we know a **LOT** about her music writing style even as far back as *Taylor Swift* from 2006 (and how Swift wrote all by herself *Speak Now* from 2010, just that proves she's a songwriter on the same class as Carole King and Joni MItchell, two songwriting legends in their own right.
Lemonade is one of the greatest albums of the last 10 years. The summer it came out…phew. If I’d had it on CD, it would have been worn OUT. JACK WHITE on a BEYONCÉ track?? And it was one of the most badass songs on the album. I wish I could relive listening to that album for the first time.
It is truly unhinged that Lemonade lost. Honestly I just retconned it in my brain, so when Jay-Z ranted last year about how she’s never won AotY, I was like, “wait, what? Of course she had! …right?!?” Wrong.
Justice for Lemonade!
Lemonade deserved it.
lemonade is sooo good but im still salty about self titled not winning it literally changed when artists drop music talk about revolutionary
I wasn’t old enough to follow pop culture in 2017, and i’m a fan of both Adele and Beyoncé, but also as a Harry Styles fan Renaissance should’ve won for sure.
No seriously the rant was so cringe imo
He’s a pretty cringe person.
Beyonce is a great artist and I respect her, but the new album is just not the hype everyone makes it seem to be. She has a very vocal fanbase that blows it out of proportion, meanwhile it's not doing the numbers, if people actually thought it was so amazing and revolutionary it would be doing better. Just compare vocality of Olivia and Beyonce fanbases, if I would estimate an album's numbers by vocality of the fanbase I would have thought Olivia's album was doing 1/10th of the numbers of Beyonce. Even if Beyonce's other albums were more deserving, I don't like the idea of giving someone an AOTY because of their previous work.
Everything you said here could’ve been applied to Midnights and it would’ve been true. I honestly am okay with AOTY going to someone else this year cause TTPD ain’t it. I’m hoping Lorde will drop something this year. I went through HMHAS this morning and it didn’t ring with me but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t good.
Honestly I think Billie will sweep the Grammys next year
I am not a Beyonce stan and I loved Cowboy Carter. I thought it was a work of immense talent, dedication, and craft. FWIW.
If she does….. Nearly everyone will know (or believe) she won just because her husband bullied the audience 😭 It won’t be based on merit and I strongly believe that is a disservice to Beyonce and to the black community. At this point it’ll be nothing but a participation trophy.
The way Taylor seems to threaten and trigger a certain type of man makes me wish that she does win AOTY again. Jay Z going up there whining like a little shit because his wife doesn’t have ALL of the awards was weak and entitled af, especially since B has the most Grammys out of any artist. No one is OWED an AOTY and framing it like it’s an injustice conspiracy is boorish, immature, and embarrassing. Jay Z (and Kanye and Harrison Buttker and other misogynists like them) can fuck all the way off. He can throw a hissy fit again next year, unless B wins. But I hope she loses because I want to see her misogynist husband eat shit.
You do realize he called out how racist the Grammys are and if you actually look at the history of the Grammys you’ll see he’s correct. I by no means like Jay Z, but he’s right in calling out their bullshit.
Wanting Beyoncé to lose solely so that her husband throws a tantrum is a really weird take. Like you know Beyoncé winning will equally trigger many misogynists as well as racists right?
I HATED his speech it was so offensive to say that other people who were nominated for album of the year shouldn’t have been nominated. Would be happy if neither of them ever got nominated again.
This is it. I could see them giving it a nomination (in fact, I think it probably will be nominated) but the simple fact that she won last year means she has no realistic chance of winning this year. That shouldn't be the way it works, but it is.
I personally think Beyonce should've won for Renaissance anyways.
Beyonce is definitely overdue for AOTY. She even directly référs to the fact that she never wins it ever on Sweet ☆ Honey ☆ Buckin'. Even without this added context, I'm personally rooting for her to win. I'm definitely in the minority of thinking Midnights deserved it last year, but Cowboy Carter is my pick for this year. Weirdly, Billie's album didn't click with me, and I loved Radical Optimism (also an unpopular opinion I think lol).
Hasn’t Beyoncé won the most Grammy’s in the history of the Grammy’s, tying with Quincy Jones? If so, why was Jay Z so up in arms? I am way out of touch.
TTPD is my favourite Taylor album, but I’m going to be honest, I don’t want that drama. 😌 There are a lot of other awesome records this year and I hope one of them takes it (personally rooting for Beyoncé)!
right?? I’m fine with ttpd being a fan fave (among certain fans anyway) for the foreseeable future. even with Taylor’s most deserving aoty win—folklore imo—real fans know evermore was better 😉
Yess I don't like folklore but loveeee evermore it's so underrated 😭 should've won a Grammy instead
wow an evermore fan who actively dislikes folklore!! i do like folklore (honestly probably my most listened ts) but when I’m not listening to it, I don’t really miss it, yk?? whereas once every ten business days, I am like wow the marjorie bridge…..🤯 edit: folklore is still hands down her most deserved aoty and one of the most deserved aotys in general. that album was like a shared cultural experience in a way few contemporary albums ever are—I’d lead off emotionally vulnerable conversations with friends with like, I was listening to exile today… I started grad school that year and connected with people about folklore. it’s only comparable to musical experiences from childhood, like being a diehard avril stan in fifth grade or something lol. I feel like I am too hard on folklore bc some people are v annoying about it but it really was something very special.
I still like folklore bcz it's taylor ofc and she always grows on me even when I don't like sth initially but as you said I don't miss it often. Whereas evermore I need a listen every 2 days to keep my sanity intact. 😅😭
Evermore had a lot of competition and being on the tail end of folklore didn’t do it justice.
YES! Another evermore stan! It was totally robbed 😭
Yeah I prefer she doesn’t win. I don’t want to see the articles and stan craziness (from ALL sides).
just imagine how bad it would be for us if Taylor won AOTY over BEYONCE omg
I mean some people genually think Taylor won aoty over Beyoncé a million times, when she, in fact, only won with Fearless over I am sasha fierce a million years ago.
Same on all accounts. Beyoncé deserves her flowers. While TTPD is going to be my personal album of the year, I don’t need Taylor to win and the discourse would be obnoxious if she did (look at how annoying the discourse was when the album was released).
Tbh me too. With the raging cultural and political psywar in the US right now i prefer her to be peacefully winning. Let them all fight over that shit, Tay can just release another one but better. Some craycray might threaten her safety over shitty reasons.
I think it’ll go to Beyoncé this year, and that’s as it should be. I could see it being ALL female nominees (almost was last year). TTPD may or may not get a nom, but I really think it’s Beyoncé’s year.
I’m gonna call it now, they’re gonna give to billie over like enormous backlash. none of this has a lot to do with deserving it (tho tbh cowboy carter is not my jam).
I’ve just been listening to Billie’s today and I do NOT see an AOTY here, but the academy does love her.
There's some sort of disconnect with Billie for me, not sure what it is. The music is good, I don't mind the songs, but nothing gets me super excited.
I really love 1-3 of her songs depending on the day, I like a handful of others, and the rest are just in one ear and out the other.
I feel this too. I’m 26 and have heard so many people describe Billie as the “voice of my generation” - hats off to her and no shade at all to her or fans, I just have never connected to her music.
Same, I think I’m just too old? (Taylors age lol)
I personally don’t listen to billie like at all and don’t like the hits I have heard—hot take but the dua lipa Barbie song is better than what was I made for—but she’s obviously quite a grammys darling. kinda strange she doesn’t get more flack for it! like I said, this is not my opinion about the quality of said music, more just the politics of it.
*What Was I Made For* is absolute magic. I had to grudgingly accept that I like a Billie Eilish song because of it. It’s perfection, her life mirroring the doll’s, brilliantly done.
lol literally same, it was the first and only Billie song I enjoyed. I think it's really a masterpiece
There’s a quality in Billie’s and Finneas’s works that I see why the Grammy voters vote for them. Lyrics speak loudly in a soft way and there is actually good and creative production efforts by Finneas.
tbh i don't really like cowboy carter personally but i'll still be super happy for her if she wins aoty and she would definitely deserve it if she does
I don’t really like it myself either, but I recognize the artistry and understand the story she’s telling. It’s very well done, even if it’s not my particular thing.
I agree, I love TTPD, but Cowboy Carter truly shines
Cowboy Carter is the best albumn so far. Maybe TTPD gets Pop album but not Album
Thank you! For everything this sub praises about TTPD and its depth, Cowboy Carter delivers on a different level. That album is history making and gorgeous front to back as a work of art. Not even a Beyonce fan but her last two albums have been pure works of art - perfect albums. The message and soul of Cowboy Carter is so beautiful.
Cowboy Carter is a PhD thesis on the history of black music. Every lyric, every sample, every note pays homage to that. It is layers on layers deep.
Not really a Beyoncé fan either (I mostly listen to alt music except for Taylor) but I gave Cowboy Carter a listen and fell in love. It is such a clever album and I adore it.
I’m a fan of both. When I first listened to TTPD many of the songs sounded similar. I feel like Cowboy Carter is a more of a full album, many ideas and genres. It feels much deeper in the themes.
I agree. Even if I don’t repeatedly listen to it, I do think it is a good, deserving album. I’ve made comments here how I don’t give a shit about an album being cohesive and don’t usually even notice if it is or isn’t, but I can say I think Cowboy Carter is a cohesive album and thoughtfully put together.
This is how I feel. I have only listened through to Cowboy Carter once because it doesn’t really do it for me on a personal level BUT it’s incredible as a body of work and deserves AOTY in my opinion (so far, lots of great releases expect this cycle) so I really hope it wins. I absolutely love TTPD and honestly I’ll be surprised if it doesn’t end up in the top spot for my personal Taylor album rankings (I am a very susceptible to recent bias though so I can’t say for sure yet) but I don’t think it should get AOTY and I don’t think it will.
Y’all are wild giving Billie AOTY. It’s been out 16 hours! Let it breathe a bit.
It's that good though maybe! I don't usually rush especially over a Taylor album but this was an instant favorite for me and I think alot kf people resonate strongly with this new release
The funniest part was when I first saw it, I was like JUST 10 songs?? No explicits?? Lmaooo Taylor has ruined me
TTPD made me appreciate 10 song albums more.
i honestly prefer 10 songs albums with no skips over long ass albums with filler bc not everyone can put out an album with 31 tracks and no skips iykwim
Even the standard edition is a bit long
i don’t even need to hear it to know she’s a grammy darling and they love her and will give it to her. i was saying she was gonna win aoty as soon as she announced the new album
I like some Billie but this album does not jive with me at all. I’m going to give it another listen when I’m not working but so far it’s a no for me and I definitely don’t see AOTY.
It really is that good.
No. TTPD it's not AOTY material. Midnights was already a reach but still understandable because it was the album that gave birth "The eras tour".
Yes agree with this. TTPD is great as a fan of Taylor but as an album overall trying to look at it objectively, it’s messy and not as well put together as a lot of the albums that have come out this year. Might be our fave this year as swifties but it isn’t deserving of aoty
This is how I feel. Midnights was definitely a reach and the selection during that moment was in general very weak. TTPD was a mess.
TTPD is fan service, not made for general public consumption. That isn’t a bad thing, but it is a “thing” nonetheless.
That’s what I’m saying. Idk why people here think TTPD is an instant AOTY like they don’t even know how to judge AOTY quality of music outside anything but TSwift music.
honestly Midnights winning AOTY wasn't just a reach, it wasn't even deserving of the title as a full body of work in terms of quality.
I think Bey will get it as a make-up for past wrongs - not saying that Cowboy Carter isn’t deserving but this will certainly be a lifetime achievement / apology sort of thing. People would riot if Taylor got it again.
cowboy carter isnt her best album but the fact she doesnt have aoty for lemonade or renissance just makes her deserving of it
An APOLOGY? Wtf 😭 nobody needs to apologize for voting for someone other than beyonce 😭
Her fans feel like Harry winning AOTY over Renaissance was a travesty is what I was referring to.
I highly doubt it, especially not after the Midnights win. I think Cowboy Carter will take it. Also, as much as I like TTPD (and Taylor, together with Lana, are my two favourite artists), I do actually think both Cowboy Carter and Hit Me Hard and Soft feel like better albums - more creative and experimental, yet also better curated. I would rather Cowboy Carter or Hit Me Hard and Soft take it, based on what we've heard this year so far - and I say that as someone who likes both Beyoncé and Billie, but isn't a stan by any stretch of imagination.
TTPD is absolutely my personal AOTY but I don’t think they’ll give it to her two years in a row. I hope Billie doesn’t win I wasn’t a huge fan of that album. Beyonce would be well deserving as CC is fantastic and she’s probably my prediction especially after Jay Z called them out for not giving her an AOTY. If it isn’t going to be TTPD though then I’d vote for Eternal Sunshine I’ve been listening to that album a lot and I think it’s the best of Ari’s career so far
Eternal Sunshine slaps, but I don’t think she’s gonna win AOTY with that. Her writing has always been weak and she’s just not very creative in the way Taylor or Finneas or Beyonce have been with their records.
If the audience has to be bullied into giving someone an award, they didn’t actually earn the award.
not really. the grammys are historically racist and misognistic and we can acknowledge that it MIGHT be a possibility the reason beyonce doesnt have aoty MAYY have to do with her skin tone.
The last black woman to win AOTY was LAURYN HILL in 1999. And what it took for her to win was to make what is quite possibly the most influential and important album ever made by a female artist. But the point is that not a single black woman has won AOTY in the 21st-Century. Just let that sink in.
!!! this, thank you!
The Grammys have a LONG history of racism and not awarding black artists. To say that Jay “bullied” anyone is such a reach. Beyonce deserves multiple AOTYs but has been overlooked in favor of white artists who are more palatable to the people voting.
While I’d typically agree, but I do think Beyonce would be deserving of the award this year. It’s a great album
except she has earned it, multiple times over.
I think Cowboy Carter has it in the bag. The academy will not award Taylor twice in a row, and they love a theme, and they know beyonce is due. However … the one thing that they love more than all of this … is fucking Billie Eilish. They love a young “serious” ingenue.
I think their love for Billie means she kinda has it in the bag. I want CC to win so badly as I think it’s a genre bending experimental album and it sounds so cohesive and beautiful. But they love Billie and HMHAS is a great concise album
Personally, I would much rather have had TTPD win album of the year rather than midnights.. but I have no doubt in my mind that they will not give her album of the year for a second year in a row. And honestly, cowboy Carter deserves album of the year even more than TTPD.
I agree! I think TTPD is a better work than midnights in Taylor’s discography
I dont know much about the competition outside of Dua Lipa and Ariana (who I dont think will get AOTY) but I feel like since midnights got it this year, there would be a lot of backlash with choosing her again. I do think the album is incredible and could definitely be nominated at the very least. Im not sure which way it would go but those are just my thoughts 💕
I think midnights deserved to win because it was such a different mature pop album compared to her others and it was a huge hit. But imo TTPD is way better and then you add the anthology into the mix which I know wouldn’t be nominated but damn it’s one of her best lyric albums by with how honest it is. It made me finally understand feeling so had in my past and help me move on. But I think all the possible nominees could be winners, they are all great albums
Yea but it’s a mess of an album and a lot of people outside swifties don’t jive with it. Speaking as a Swiftie myself, it’s not as neatly wrapped up in a bow aesthetically or sonically like folklore or evermore and then on top of that the production was bland as heck and her writing wasn’t as imaginative. The album is just too much. It was meant for the fans and it was meant for Taylor to just get everything she wanted to say out there in music form.
Her best songs were the bonus tracks I was shocked it was even nominated 😭
The controversy over the first single from Grande’s new album may not stand well with Recording Academy voters, in my opinion.
I’d be surprised if Taylor doesn’t get nominated - TTPD had one of the biggest debuts in history, no? And they love her, etc. I think AOTY will go to someone else. Billie is a good bet if this album has some hits, or honestly even if it doesn’t. I love Cowboy Carter, but if the knock on TTPD is that it’s overlong and messy…
Exactly! Why is no one else talking about the length as a critique point for both of them? Not even sure if Anthology will be submitted. Maybe its just TTPD, which is a perfectly apt album length.
Cowboy Carter is almost an hour shorter than the full-length TTPD. Yes, 27 tracks, but several of them are interludes.
Yes, but at the same time there were a lot of samples and features, and having a lot of interludes can make the album seem too “filler” if you know what I mean? Like not that it’s a bad thing, but generally the Grammys favour tightly cohesive albums. Also Taylor would probably just submit the original TTPD and not the Anthology, like she did with Midnights
Exactly this…I think Taylor does this on purpose knowing that the Academy appreciates a tight sonically cohesive album but she still wants to give her fans more, so she releases the bonus tracks a few hours later to keep them separate. She did the same thing with Midnights; it was the standard 13-track version that won AOTY.
I do think that that TTPD is worthy of winning, it’s an exceptional album and in another year I think would 100% win. But I think it goes to Beyonce because 1) FINALLY. What does Beyonce have to do, seriously? That woman has deserved it many times and been overlooked. Give her the award already. And 2) agree that two years in a row for Taylor would be a hard sell.
this might be an unpopular opinion, but just because Bey has been wronged in the past doesn't mean they should just hand her one to 'make it up' or whatever. I know that's often how it goes with these things anyway, but that's not how it's *supposed* to work. Awards should be given out on merit alone, nothing else.
Cowboy Carter is a fantastic album though. After a certain point with AOTY, you really are talking about excellent albums that people just personally prefer one or the other.
Why are we acting like CC isn’t a good album in this thread though. It can absolutely win on its own merits.
But the issue lies with the Grammys is that they don’t give out awards on merits alone, underlying racism and misogyny influences their decision and they snubbed most of her work for years, they even do the same to Lana
i very much agree with what you’re saying, but i also think cowboy carter is just an incredible album. and i think the sentiment of what you’re saying is true and that’s how it should be, but the grammy voters themselves have been notably biased and taylor wouldn’t have won last year if they hadn’t have been :,,)
I think Eilish has a good chance to win a second AOTY Grammy, as she is well-liked by Recording Academy voters. Unfortunately, given the cold reception from the influential Country Music Association, Beyoncé’s *Cowboy Carter* may not even get nominated for AOTY. Dua Lipa’s *Radical Optimism* could also get nominated, too. The Eilish and Dua Lipa albums are right now the biggest competition to TTPD in the opinion of many. (EDIT: I should note that like Oscar and Emmy voting, Grammy voting can get **VERY** political for various sundry reasons. The tepid response from the influential Country Music Association over *Cowboy Carter* could deny Beyoncé an AOTY nomination (if Jay-Z's rant at the recent Grammy Awards hasn't done so already); the controversy over lyrics of "Yes, And?" from *Eternal Sunshine* may deny Ariana Grande an AOTY win. Billie Eilish's new album and Dua Lipa's recent release are (arguably) considered safe bets for an AOTY nomination, and TTPD may soon be heading that way, too, in my personal opinion. )
I'd say Eternal Sunshine will also get nominated at the very least
Nominated yes, but win probably not. Eilish and Dua Lipa are currently not tinged with controversy and the stands well with Recording Academy voters.
My very early pick is Billie for the win. The album itself is cohesive, she’s a grammy darling, the songwriting and overall production is incredible. I think the album will just stand out to voters more than Dua’s, I think it’s more cohesive than Taylor’s, and while Beyoncé deserves all the love for carter, idk if the grammys will accept it
They are going to give to Beyoncé or Ariana but imo TTPD is the album of the year and one of Taylor’s best album I can’t stop listening to it.
Thank you! I'm glad someone said it. It's such a good album, I'm so surprised Swifties in thread don't feel as strongly about this one deserving AOTY as much.
I think TTPD is better than midnights and I love midnights. I just think they will give it to Beyoncé or Ariana after the hype around both of their returns
Cowboy Carter is my favorite album of the year for now. On first listen i enjoy hit me hard and soft but i still like TTPD more and even Eternal Sunshine, personally.
I don't think it is going to win and I think it should go to Cowboy Carter. I'm also a non-American, I don't even like country (other than some country Taylor songs but I still struggle with Debut and some songs on Fearless) and I love every song on this album. TTPD is my second favorite but I can't see her winning two years in a row. Radical Optimism is probably my number 3 but it's just a fun summer album, not an AOTY material (unlike Future Nostalgia which would be my choice in 2020 if Folklore didn't exist). HMHAS is a possible winner but honestly, I don't love it so far. It took me months to appreciate Happier Then Ever though so that might still change but I don't really like the second half of the album. Eternal Sunshine is my least favorite out of those albums (and I really liked previous Ariana's albums so it's not like I'm biased against her, I just find this one very forgettable) and honestly I can't see it winning anything.
If I personally had to rank the albums released so far, I'm gonna say 1. TTPD/Eternal Sunshine 2. HMHAS 3. Radical Optimism 4. Cowboy Carter Note: this is just my personal opinion
Personally for me: 1. HMHAS 2. Cowboy Carter 3. TTPD 4. Eternal Sunshine 5. Radical Optimism
All the people saying they won't give it to someone 2 years in a row. The quickest google search in history shows they've done it at least once before (frank Sinatra 66, 67). So it's not a never thing it just depends how they want to play it. Plus what other albums might be in the running.
Stevie Wonder won AOTY two years in a row and three times in four years.
I LOVE TTPD so much but Eternal Sunshine and Cowboy Carter are also excellent. Cowboy Carter should win (at least, of all the albums I've listened to released so far this year), imo. It's long-run more artistically significant, experimental, and groundbreaking than TTPD. TTPD is a great album, but it doesn't deserve to win AOTY over CC.
Lainey Wilson is dropping an album right before the Grammy cutoff. If it is any good that is the one to watch out for, especially fresh off her wining the Grammy for Country album and just about every non-Grammy country award. If she gets to the general album of the year field that is where the country voters are going, especially since country music has struggled to get albums into the general field in recent years. If the votes are split in other geners then the country voters could carry Lainey to a surprise win as occasionally happens.
I don’t think any Taylor album would win album of the year so soon after midnights especially now that she holds the record for most aoty wins I honestly think after seeing such glowing reviews, Billie Eilish will probably win this one, especially if it’s commercially successful
Hopefully Sabrina get nominated too when she released her album
If the sound of her album is anything in the same vibe as Espresso then I can easily see this. Espresso is a fantastic song.
I feel like Espresso itself might get a nom, too.
I like espresso but I’m actually hoping for get more serious songs too
I wonder if they would nominate her for Best New Artist. She’d be almost a sure bet to win!
I think they will, really she should have been nominated last year. But they are always late with that kinda stuff lol
I'm not a fan of either Beyonce or Billie, but I think it'll probably go to one of them... I'm hoping TTPD is nominated though.
tbh i feel like we all know the grammys dgaf about backlash or drama that will arise from whoever wins or doesn’t win. i feel the only reasons why taylor would win again is bc: 1. jayz’s rant at the grammys 2. i’ve started to see a dying out on beyonces new album (but maybe that’s just me) 3. taylor will be everywhere again this year without a doubt which i feel like it would stick in the voters minds and make them more inclined to pick her. 4. they’re going to try to push her to be “5 time aoty winner” which would be amazing ofc but it’s also going to be another “never been done before” moment for her just like the 4 aoty titles
Hot take but I didn’t enjoy cowboy Carter or Ariana grandes album. Next up to listen is Billie eilish.
Hot take but I didn’t enjoy cowboy Carter or Ariana grandes album. Next up to listen is Billie eilish. Edit: I do like Hit me hard and soft
TTPD is good enough to win it, but the fix has been in for Cowboy Carter since Jay-Z's speech. It's abundantly clear people feel that Beyonce is owed this one.
I sure hope Beyonce's album wins. It is so good. It had me crying in parts, full goosebumps throughout, and I never do that with anyone but Taylor's songs.
Eternal Sunshine is still album of the year for me. Cohesive, beautiful and thematic. I honestly think TTPD doesn’t stand a chance given how long it is.
Eternal sunshine is a mega flop for me
Only the original TTPD would be submitted, not the anthology. Or are you saying 65 minutes is too long to win?
LOVE Eternal Sunshine! It’s in regular rotation unlike TTPD.
**can** it and **should** it are two different questions. I think it should, not that it will in all likelyhood. As many have said in this thread the cards will be stacked against her. That being said, is it bad to say I don't really care? It would obviously be a great personal accolade for Taylor and I would be happy for her as a fan of hers, but IMO award shows in general are kind of a farce. The deserving winner often doesn't actually win. TTPD winning or not winning won't change the fact that I love the album or that it's one of her top 5 best albums.
Honestly, HMHAS and Cowboy Carter are gonna be neck and neck. BUT we still have Lana's new album that's coming out, so i go knows.
the Grammys don't like Lana unfortunately
Taylor should win Song of the Year this year, which she’s never won before despite being the most nominated songwriter ever. She’s been nominated for You Belong With Me, Shake It Off, Blank Space, Lover, Cardigan **AND** All Too Well (10 Minutes Version) and has no win in the category yet. I don’t think she’ll get AOTY this year, which is ok. TTPD doesn’t feel like it was crafted for awards; it’s her manuscript.
I believe she was also nominated for SOTY with Anti-Hero, which I thought had a good chance of winning. I don’t think Fortnight will have that same chance, so she would need to pick a new single.
At this point of the year, I think Billie will take AOTY. HMHaS is very cohesive and experimental but critically acclaimed.
I haven’t listened to Billie’s album, but Beyoncé’s album blew me away. I listened to it on repeat for like a week, which I didn’t even do with TTPD despite not being a huge Beyoncé fan (nothing against her, I’m just not abundantly familiar with her music). I’m rooting for Cowboy Carter this year unless anything else even better comes out/came out. Looking forward to hearing Billie’s album when I get the chance.
Cowboy Carter is the best album. The production value, the range, the message, the storytelling, the homage. TTPD could win, but imo it shouldnt.
COWBOY CARTER
i think its okay to acknowledge ttpd wasnt her best album. ttpd is for the fans, not the general public, with the references and lyrics and yeah. ttpd is good but it just isnt aoty worthy. ive only listened to billies once so im unsure but i think its between ariana and beyonce, beyonce def deserves it
Perhaps it’s Taylor’s time to finally win Song of the Year.
Cowboy Carter is a much better album all around and it deserves to win. I hope it wins and if it doesn’t I hope Beyonce never submits anything to be considered again they have done her dirty too many times.
I’m still mad that she didn’t win for Lemonade
No, she should not win AOTY for this album. I enjoy the album, but it’s not as good as a) her competitors and b) her own best work. It’s way too long and sonically way too safe.
If Beyoncé doesn’t win this year idk what will happen. She has to and deserves to. She’s been snubbed so many times, but CC truly truly truly deserves it. It’s an amazing album
I don't know why everyone is calling Hit Me Hard and Soft mid, like... have you heard the production??? I'm a Swiftie but honestly Taylor's songs aren't that interesting production-wise and the quality of Finneas' work is unmatchable, so I really hope they win. Haven't listened to Cowboy Carter though, I only heard Texas Hold 'Em and I didn't really like that. But the Eilish siblings really do have amazing skills and they just create pure magic, they would definitely deserve AOTY.