The Recording Academy may be a tad less stodgy these days, but there is still plenty of daylight between what the Grammys considers quality and what, say, the purveyors of online music magazine Pitchfork dot com champions. So let’s try to meet in the middle. Below, we’ve provided some far-too-early Grammys prognostication on albums and songs that should be up for awards at next year’s ceremony. We’ll find out how right or wrong we were on November 16, when the official nominations are revealed. The 2027 Grammys will air February 7 on ABC.
Album of the Year
- Geese: Getting Killed
- Mavis Staples: Sad and Beautiful World
- Madonna: Confessions II
- Olivia Dean: The Art of Loving
- Olivia Rodrigo: You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love
- Phoebe Bridgers: Lost Weekend
- Rosalía: LUX
As writers, it’s our job—nay, our solemn duty!—to imagine better worlds. I’ll go first: Let’s invent a timeline where Taylor Swift never released The Life of a Showgirl. Even in that alternate reality, the Swiftfluence persists in some of the category’s top contenders. Lost Weekend, Phoebe Bridgers’ long-awaited opus, has a Folklore-ic way of spinning intimate details into grand fables. And whether or not she still claims Taydaughter status, Olivia Rodrigo’s You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love is powered by the same set of rocket thrusters that once launched Red into the stratosphere: theater kid bravado, alt-rock grit, and one really bad breakup.
Let’s build out this bubble universe further. Olivia Dean is here, through the force of sheer cosmic inevitability; she won Best New Artist at the 2026 Grammys, and The Art of Loving is perfectly serviceable pop-soul. Elsewhere, on Sad and Beautiful World, Mavis Staples’ reinterpretations of everyone from Frank Ocean to Leonard Cohen serve only as further testaments to the immutability of her own presence. Madonna is, of course, another timeless icon long overdue for Big Four recognition, and Confessions II just so happens to be the best album she’s made in 20-odd years, so she makes the cut too.
Alternately, if the Grammys really want to prove they’re down with the youth, they could always give it to Getting Killed. Geese have made an exhilarating rock record that smashes together Boomer touchstones—Marquee Moon, Exile on Main Street, Remain in Light—with uniquely Gen Z abandon. And a happy medium between the old guard and the new may be found in Lux by Rosalía, whose influence in shaping the last decade-plus of popular music has gone woefully unrecognized by the Grammys. —Walden Green
Record of the Year
- Ella Langley: “Choosin’ Texas”
- Slayyyter: “Dance”
- Charli xcx: “SS26”
- RAYE: “Where Is My Husband!”
- Olivia Dean: “Man I Need”
- Madonna and Sabrina Carpenter: “Bring Your Love”
- PinkPantheress: “Stateside (Zara Larsson Remix)”
- Olivia Rodrigo: “Drop Dead”
To take a page out of my colleague Walden’s alternate-universe theory, let’s pretend that, for 2027, not only did Swift not submit, but three-time ROTY winner Bruno Mars didn’t either. Then the above list might look more reasonable to Academy members. Surely, they couldn’t resist Slayyyter’s electropop banger “Dance,” which took over TikTok feeds this year. There’s also PinkPantheress and Zara Larsson’s “Telephone”-reminiscent joint, which gave both pop stars their first respective No. 1s. On “Bring Your Love,” Madonna and Sabrina Carpenter, blonde and glam as ever, whisked us to Danceteria. And after “360” was snubbed for Record of the Year at the 2025 Grammys, Charli XCX deserves a second shot with the subdued pop-rock of “SS26,” which stood out from her anti-Brat album, Music, Fashion, Film.
As for the more typically Grammy-friendly selects: Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas” is a clear (and catchy) shoo-in. It’s been a while since a country heartbreak ballad was nominated for the category, but the relaxed, twangy guitar riff and simmering imagery of Memphis blues, swirls of Jack Daniel, and Smoky Mountain rain charmed U.S. listeners so much that it’s already made history. Olivia Rodrigo’s lovestruck “Drop Dead” would round out the nominations nicely—a comeback hit with an easy sing-along chorus from one of the year’s best pop albums.
But there’s even more yearning in the air, and it’s thick. Raye’s “Where is My Husband!”, a dynamic plea for her imaginary second half to descend from the heavens, married complex big-band brass melodies with lyrics that appealed to single Gen Zers. There’s also Olivia Dean’s “Man I Need,” which takes similar frustrations and drapes it in the kind of aspirational whimsy that you can only find in mid-aughts rom-coms. —Kiana Mickles
Song of the Year
- Olivia Rodrigo: “The Cure”
- Phoebe Bridgers: “Governor’s Waltz”
- Lana Del Rey: “White Feather Hawk Tail Deer Hunter”
- Slayyyter: “Dance”
- Olivia Dean: “Man I Need”
- RAYE: “Where Is My Husband!”
- Ella Langley: “Choosin’ Texas”
- Rosalía: “La Perla” [ft. Yahritza y Su Esencia]
Here’s your annual reminder that Record of the Year recognizes the quality of the production and overall sound, while Song of the Year assesses a track’s songwriting. This means that there is, more often than not, plenty of doubling-up on the list above. The key differences: While I could have easily included Olivia Rodrigo’s “Drop Dead,” I think the Academy would better appreciate the heart-wrenching lyrics on “The Cure.” Next is Rosalía’s poetic crash-out “La Perla,” in which she has unsavory things to say about an ex who she describes as “La decepción local, rompecorazones nacional / Un terrorista emocional, el mayor desastre mundial.” (“Local fiasco, national heartbreaker, emotional terrorist, world-class fuck up.”) Then there’s Phoebe Bridgers’ “Governor’s Waltz,” which marries gossipy easter eggs about her former relationship with Paul Mescal with striking imagery encompassing nosebleeds, Shelley Duvall, and lonesome New Year’s Eve parties. As for Lana Del Rey’s “White Feather Hawk Tail Deer Hunter,” she had us at “whoopsie-daisy-yoo-hoo.” —KM
Best New Artist:
- Audrey Hobert
- Geese
- Ravyn Lenae
- Zara Larsson
- Fcukers
- Fakemink
- Slayyyter
- Ella Langley
There are usually two types of nominees up for Best New Artist: the overnight sensations (who are occasionally accused of being psyops), and the long-haulers (who have been medium-famous for a decade). In 2027, the former category should be duly represented. New York bands-of-the-moment Geese and Fcukers both have (completely unfounded) psyop allegations, as does Fakemink, the breakout commercial rapper of the year. You might think Ella Langley fits into this category but that just means you don’t know anything about the Nashville music machine. There’s also the plucky sensibility of Audrey Hobert, whose packed-out live shows have happened very quickly. Just look at the crowd at her Lollapalooza set.
For the latter category, Slayyyter and Zara Larsson are not super new (Slayyyter’s first album: 2021, Zara’s: 2014) but each have had colossal years, emerging from the ashes of eras-long floppage to drop some of 2026’s biggest pop songs. (I won’t dare reference a certain sanitarium here because, as a friend told me a couple months ago, “Slayyyter never even got to the Khia Asylum—she was in the gay underground, and that’s lower.”)
Lastly, Ravyn Lenae has often seen herself siloed into whatever “alternative R&B” is despite a decade in the spotlight and proudly nailing songs equally indebted to Janet Jackson and Diana Ross. But this year, with a Top 10 hit and a classic yet innovative new album, she deserves another shot at the Recording Academy’s deb ball. Plus, wouldn’t it be cute to see a handoff with 2026 winner Olivia Dean? —Hattie Lindert
Best Rap Album:
- Earl Sweatshirt / MIKE / Surf Gang: Pompeii // Utility
- Isaiah Rashad: It’s Been Awful
- Drake: Maid of Honour
- A$AP Rocky: Don’t Be Dumb
- Don Toliver: Octane
- Cardi B: Am I The Drama?
A Grammys season without Kendrick Lamar feels like the fallow summer Glastonbury takes every year: every category gets a breather, and forgotten awards darlings get a much-needed cycle to regenerate. So who might follow in his footsteps? This year has been a real doozy for Drake, who put out three albums in three different genres as if to flood the ballot. Grammy voters will probably nominate Iceman, the most middling and Lykke Li-interpolating of the bunch. But this is MY blurb, so I’m nominating Maid of Honour because I like fun.
Both A$AP Rocky and Don Toliver delivered platonic-ideal Grammy fodder: platinum-crusted if slightly clunky stadium rap with a few nice hits between them. Cardi B’s return to form on Am I The Drama? deserves a nod even without the context that Invasion of Privacy made her the first female solo artist to take the category in 2019. And it would be cool to see Isaiah Rashad’s It’s Been Awful net him a nomination that really should have gone to The House Is Burning.
But there’s probably no one I’d like at the Grammys more than Earl Sweatshirt and MIKE, two of the coldest rappers of their generation and a bicoastal nurturing force in the American underground. Their double-album with Surf Gang, Pompeii // Utility, is a long shot here, but I’m hopeful enough. Just make sure they’re sitting next to Drake. —HL
Best Pop Solo Performance
- Charli xcx: “Chains of Love”
- CMAT: “When a Good Man Cries”
- Naomi Scott: “Cherry”
- Robyn: “Dopamine”
- Slayyyter: “BEAT UP CHANEL$”
When was the last time a real vocal powerhouse actually won in the Grammys’ Best Pop Solo Performance category? “Flowers,” “Espresso,” Lola Young’s “Messy”—all catchy, capable displays of technique but, to be frank, we’ve been in a drought of real showstoppers ever since the last Adele album. That’s good news for Naomi Scott, who has never been nominated for a Grammy, but starring turns in Smile 2 and Aladdin have proven her industry bona fides writ large. “Cherry,” a slinky highlight from her debut album F.I.G, proves that her voice hasn’t lost a step (and has in fact gained a few high notes) since her Disney days.
That said, I really think this is our year to get loud with it again. Loud as in CMAT’s “When a Good Man Cries,” which would technically fall outside the eligibility window had it not been re-released as a single last month. Or if you want louder: “Chains of Love,” a single from Charli XCX’s Wuthering Heights companion album and a rare bravura turn from an artist typically known for chopping her voice up into a million tiny pieces or coating it in a pearly sheen of Auto-Tune. Then there’s the loudest loudest: “MONEY DRUGS CHAINS ON MY CHEST.”
Really, though, I’d like to see this one go to Robyn, who has never won a Grammy and—despite being a formative influence on a whole generation of pop artists—has only been nominated in the awards’ Dance and Electronic categories. Her new album, Sexistential, feels like a well-deserved victory lap, and its lead single “Dopamine” embodies the best of both worlds: steely yet tender, a little robotic and completely, viscerally human. Tell me there isn’t a more apt thesis for pop music itself than “I know it’s just dopamine / But it feels so real to me.” —WG
Best Progressive R&B Album
- Kehlani: Kehlani
- Sudan Archives: The BPM
- Gena: The Pleasure Is Yours
- Kelela: New Avatar
Refangled in 2020 from the Urban Contemporary category, Best Progressive R&B Album operates as a quarantine zone for expansionist ideas in R&B. While actual nominees tend to play by the Grammys rulebook, the promise (or threat) of innovation opens the door to renaissance artists like Sudan Archives, who conjures at will from neighboring genres. In a just world, recent albums from Kelela and Gena would fit the bill, too—the former folding the sludgy guitars of her D.C. youth into gauzy dreamscapes, the latter matching Karriem Riggins with Liv.e for a cosmic funk odyssey. Short of a total reform of Recording Academy sensibilities, there will always be a seat for an artist like Kehlani, protean enough to befuddle traditionalists who regard unsteady beats, parabolic sound design, and other formal flourishes with what-is-this-shit dismay. Until those voters are appeased—perhaps with another Steve Lacy win in this category—consider the case for progress in progressive R&B. —Jazz Monroe
Best Alternative Music Album
- Wednesday: Bleeds
- Underscores: U
- Phoebe Bridgers: Lost Weekend
- Aldous Harding: Train on the Island
- Geese: Getting Killed
Grammys nomenclature evolves over time, precision-tooled by trends or spat out by the burbling idea generator of Recording Academy whims. Somewhere between the two is the Alternative Music Album, the crater in the rock-and-pop multiverse wherein misfits get sloughed off into a gaping everything-else. The notion of an actually existing, empirically defined Alternative Music genre may have little use in the real world, but when it comes to the Grammys’ “alternative,” you know it when you see it.
Sometimes it looks like Phoebe Bridgers, whose 2024 win in this category with Boygenius suggests Lost Weekend is similarly pop-not-pop, rock-not-rock, in a way that is welcomed here. Follow her downstream and you will come to the more intimate coves of Aldous Harding’s Train on the Island, a masterpiece that bewilders genre border patrol by arguing in its own private language. Equally alternative, though perhaps by the opposite logic, Underscores’ landmark album U exemplifies the sort of mutant music that could only result from genre omnivorousness. To the un-enquiring mind, U is avowedly other—too new, too much, too quick to be contained.
But to apply such literal parameters would defy the Alternative Music category’s bread and butter: high-watermark albums from the likes of Wednesday and Geese that could comfortably slot into the rock category, if only there were room at the inn. Regardless of their creators’ wisdom, the songs of Bleeds and Getting Killed understand more about rock’s shaggy swagger than any number of retro gourmands. But until the legacy acts are ghettoized into a Traditional Rock Album category, Alternative Music Album will have to do. —JM