2025 Grammy Nomination Predictions

The Grammys, an awards show created to acclaim artists and producers for their music accomplishments, will be airing on February 2, 2025. Here are some predictions for possible nominees and winners.

Record of the Year

Kendrick Lamar – “Not Like Us”
Chappell Roan – “Good Luck, Babe!”
Shaboozey – “A Bar Song (Tipsy)”
Beyoncé – “Texas Hold ‘Em”
Billie Eilish – “Birds of a Feather”
Taylor Swift featuring Post Malone – “Fortnight”
Ariana Grande – “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)”
Sabrina Carpenter – “Espresso”

You probably know Kendrick Lamar from his multiple Grammy wins over the years and his incredibly popular discography, but “Not Like Us” feels like it could be another groundbreaking moment in his career. This song was nearly unavoidable in the past year, and the controversy surrounding its backstory only fueled its popularity. While I do believe Lamar deserves the win here, I truly doubt the Recording Academy would be willing to give this song the win, even if it’s the most popular, due to there being much better songs that he’s put out that have gone without wins in the past.

With that being said, my prediction for the win is Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso.” Carpenter has steadily evolved her sound over the years with “Espresso” being an upbeat, confident track that blends catchy pop melodies with sophisticated production. The song shows her growth as an artist and her knack for delivering compelling, radio-friendly hits, making her a strong contender for this award.

Album of the Year

Beyoncé – Cowboy Carter
Taylor Swift – The Tortured Poets Department
Charli XCX – Brat
Billie Eilish – Hit Me Hard and Soft
Ariana Grande – Eternal Sunshine
Post Malone – F-1 Trillion
Sabrina Carpenter – Short N’ Sweet
Chappell Roan – The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess

This year’s Album of the Year nominees feature a strong selection, with a heavier focus in the pop genre than some other years. While it may stir some debate, I don’t believe Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department is deserving of the win in this category. It’s one of my least favorite albums in the entirety of her discography, and I think it has some of her worst production choices and lyricism in recent years. Still, given Swift’s massive influence and the record-breaking success of this album, I wouldn’t be surprised if she walked away with the award this year.

Personally, I’d love to see Chappell Roan’s The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess take the win. Although her popularity has increased more recently, she’s been making music for years now, and this album feels like a solid culmination of the hard work shown throughout her discography. It’s a bold, genre-defying project that cements her place as one of pop’s most forward-thinking newer artists, but it’s likely too niche for a Grammy win.

My prediction for this category is absolutely Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft. No other artist among the nominees were able to amass three simultaneous hit singles immediately upon release. Along with this, it’s well known that the Recording Academy are big fans of her work, as she’s won 9 Grammys in the past. This album had some beautiful production and vocals, and I wouldn’t be mad at seeing it take the win.

Song of the Year

Beyoncé – “Texas Hold ‘Em”
Benson Boone – “Beautiful Things”
Billie Eilish – “Birds of a Feather”
Ariana Grande – “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)”
Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars – “Die With a Smile”
Taylor Swift featuring Post Malone – “Fortnight”
Chappell Roan – “Good Luck, Babe!”
Hozier – “Too Sweet”

I wouldn’t be surprised if Swift and Malone took this win here, as the songwriting on “Fortnight” has been acclaimed by many. However, I personally would love to see Hozier’s “Too Sweet” take the win. Although it’s not very likely he’ll even be nominated for this category, as the Grammys are known to not prefer alternative/indie in mainstream categories, I still think that this song absolutely fits this category. While it might not get a nomination for record of the year, the song deserves to be acclaimed for its composition and clever lyricism.

Best New Artist

Benson Boone
Sabrina Carpenter
Raye
Chappell Roan
Sexxy Red
Shaboozey
Teddy Swims
Djo

This category has already garnered some controversy online, as it’s pretty much guaranteed Roan and Carpenter are the top two competitors involved here. Some critics are arguing that Carpenter shouldn’t be nominated – she’s been making music for many years now under a popular production company, and had two pretty big hits in 2023 (Feather and Nonsense) that went without nomination. She is only considered a new artist based on the new eligibility requirements, since her popularity didn’t skyrocket til this year.

Though I would personally love for Roan to take the win in this category, I think it’s more realistic that Carpenter will end up with the Grammy. She’s a household name at this point, as both “Espresso” and “Please Please Please” took the world by storm.

Overall, this year’s potential Grammy nominees show an exciting selection from a lot of different genres. These are all personal guesses based on what the Recording Academy has been known to like in the past, but, like all awards shows, the Grammys are unpredictable. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of these predictions were fully wrong, and artists come out from left field with others being snubbed.

Regardless of who walks away with the top awards, the 2025 Grammy Awards are shaping up to be one of the most unpredictable and dynamic ceremonies in recent memory. Artists including Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, and Post Malone are likely to dominate nominations just like previous years, and newer artists will hopefully leave their mark on some mainstream categories as well. Whether the Academy leans toward traditional powerhouses or rewards the more innovative works of newer acts, this year’s Grammys will undoubtedly be an interesting one, and I can’t wait to see what the nominations have in store!