The nominees for the 68th annual Grammy Awards were released on November 7, 2025, and the list is jam-packed with some of the biggest names in the music industry.
Music released between August 31, 2024, and August 20. 2025 are eligible for a Grammy award
The competition is stiff this year in the category Record of the Year, with Bad Bunny, Sabrina Carpenter, Billie Eilish, Lady Gaga, Kendrick Lamar (with SZA), Chappell Roan, and ROSE (with Bruno Mars) all nominated.
My picks in this category are “DtMF” by Bad Bunny and “Luther” by Kendrick Lamar with SZA, as these two records have been indelible marks on reggaeton and R&B, respectively.
In the Album of the Year category, Bad Bunny’s “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS,” Justin Bieber’s “SWAG,” Sabrina Carpenter’s “Man’s Best Friend,” Clipse’s “Let God Sort Em Out,” Lady Gaga’s “MAYHEM,” Kendrick Lamar’s “GNX,” and Tyler, the Creator’s “CHROMAKOPIA” are all nominated. With big heavy-hitters in this category, it’s anyone’s guess who will win.
Produced by Pharrell Williams, “Let God Sort Em Out” by Clipse is my pick to win Album of the Year. Outside of being a high-quality, well-produced album, its songs are lyrically audacious and really invite the listener to walk in Malice and Pusha T’s very expensive shoes.
On top of their Album of the Year nomination, “Let God Sort Em Out” was also nominated in the category of Best Rap Album along with “CHROMAKOPIA” by Tyler, the Creator, “GLORIOUS” by Glorilla, “God Does Like Ugly” by JID, and “GNX” by Kendrick Lamar. Additionally, Clipse’s song “Chains & Whips,” featuring Kendrick Lamar, was nominated in the category of Best Rap Performance.
Although “Let God Sort Em Out” is my favorite to win the Grammy, “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS” by Bad Bunny is a close second. It is anything like any of Benito’s previous albums; it is introspective, emotional, and nostalgic. The earnestness with which he conveys his love of Puerto Rico is apparent in every single track, such that a listener cannot deny it. It wouldn’t be a stretch to crown this piece Album of the Year.
Shifting gears, a multitude of movies were released this year with incredible scores, and those scores are now up for nominations. Because scores are instrumental music written specifically for a movie, it would be more accurate to say the nominees in this category are composers. In the category of Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media, Sinners, How To Train Your Dragon, Severance: Season 2, Wicked, and The Wild Robot were all nominated.
Ludwig Göransson, of Sinners, Black Panther, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever acclaim, is the favorite to win in this category. His work on Sinners was not only sonically interesting but also indispensable narratively, as music plays a huge role in the film, so seeing him win would also be a win for an incredible movie.
Göransson is also nominated in the category of Best Song Written For Visual Media with “I Lied to You,” also from Sinners. This song is nothing short of incredible, both within the context of the (awesome) movie but outside of that context as well. “Pale, Pale Moon” and “Sinners” (both from Sinners (2025)) are also nominated in the same category.
Jesse Welles, up-and-coming Folk/Americana singer, is nominated in four categories: Best Americana Performance for the song “Horses,” Best American Roots Song for the song “Middle,” Best Americana Album for the album “Middle,” and Best Folk Album for the album “Under The Powerlines (April 24 – September 24).”
For the past year, Jesse Welles has diversified the music I consume with his pithy cords and clever lyrics. He has released four albums within a year, and all of them have been phenomenal. It would be a well-earned win.
In all, the Awards on Sunday, February 1, 2026, will be one for the record books, to say the least.
