For essentially the most half, the nominations for subsequent yr’s Grammy Awards—which is ready to happen February 4 in Los Angeles—are a pleasing shock. SZA leads the pack with 9 nods, whereas Phoebe Bridgers and R&B songwriter-turned-headliner Victoria Monét are every shut behind at seven nominations apiece. (Six of Bridgers’ noms come alongside her Boygenius bandmates Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus.) Grammys mainstays like Taylor Swift and Jon Batiste are nonetheless within the combine, and artists together with Ice Spice and Impartial Milk Resort (!) obtained their first-ever nods. Right here’s our rundown of all of the highs, lows, and head-scratching selections from this yr’s Grammy nominations.

SZA’s masterful second album, SOS, is already probably the most commercially and critically profitable information in current reminiscence, and now it’s poised to be an enormous winner on the Grammys, too. Along with nominations for Album of the 12 months and Greatest Progressive R&B Album, her playfully murderous single “Kill Invoice” is up for Tune and Document of the 12 months in addition to Greatest R&B Efficiency. Elsewhere, SZA racked up nods for tracks from all throughout her 23-song opus: Her digital duet with Phoebe Bridgers, “Ghost within the Machine,” received a nomination for Greatest Pop Duo/Group Efficiency, “Love Language” is up for Greatest Conventional R&B Efficiency, “Snooze” is acknowledged within the Greatest R&B Tune class, and the lure banger “Low” received a nod for Greatest Melodic Rap Efficiency. That big selection of songs mirrors the unconventional means SZA synthesizes her influences, making her slew of noms really feel even sweeter. Even a traditionally traditionalist group just like the Grammys can’t deny her visionary excellence. –Nina Corcoran

Girls declare their rightful Grammy throne, dominating the key classes

The nominations for the largest awards—Album, Document, and Tune of the 12 months—are nearly solely stuffed with music by girls: Billie Eilish, Boygenius, Dua Lipa, Lana Del Rey, Miley Cyrus, Olivia Rodrigo, SZA, Taylor Swift, and Victoria Monét. (Their grasp is so tight that just one man, Jon Batiste, is welcome to hitch their firm.) Elsewhere, Paramore, led by hearth breather Hayley Williams, break up the boys membership that’s Greatest Rock Album; PJ Harvey provides some maturity to Greatest Various Music Album; and Doja Cat, Nicki Minaj, and Ice Spice crash land into the usually dude-dominated Greatest Rap Tune class.

The timing of this takeover—pure happenstance, at finest—carries a refutative undertone; Neil Portnow, the previous chairman and chief government of the Recording Academy who infamously informed girls to “step up” after just one was nominated for Album of the 12 months in 2018, was sued for sexual assault this week. Following Portnow’s departure, the Academy recruited almost 2,000 “various musicians and music business professionals” into its ranks. It was by no means a matter of girls needing to step up, in fact, however somewhat for the previous guard to cease obstructing the way in which ahead. –Nina Corcoran

On the eve of their Saturday Evening Dwell debut, Boygenius earned two of the largest Grammy nominations you may get: Document and Album of the 12 months. Phoebe Bridgers, Julien Baker, and Lucy Dacus additionally received nods for Greatest Rock Efficiency and Greatest Rock Tune for “Not Sturdy Sufficient,” Greatest Various Music Efficiency for “Cool About It,” and Greatest Various Music Album for The Document. It’s a becoming string of accolades for a trio of buddies who not too long ago headlined Madison Sq. Backyard and seemingly achieved each single industrial and important feat a rock band might hope to perform all through 2023. For Bridgers, it’s a second victory lap of kinds, having beforehand earned 4 Grammy nominations in 2021. For Baker and Dacus, nonetheless, it’s a wild new actuality they’ll’t assist however snicker their means by in disbelief.

As artists who minimize their enamel in DIY scenes and scrappy golf equipment, the members of Boygenius know the significance of extending the ladder again down to drag up worthy expertise as you ascend. Sarah Tudzin, higher recognized by her musical moniker Illuminati Hotties, is nominated thrice by the use of Boygenius, after co-engineering The Document. Probably the most direct award for her contributions is Greatest Engineered Album, Non-Classical, a cherry on high of probably the most feel-good Grammy tales this yr. –Nina Corcoran