Multiple Grammy award nominee Sam Smith performs at a Dec. 2014 show. Official Facebook photo.
Multiple Grammy award nominee Sam Smith performs at a Dec. 2014 show. Official Facebook photo.

SoundBreak: Who should take the Grammy home?

Over the years, the Grammys have gone from being an achievement most artists and musicians strive for to something that some turn a blind eye to. Music’s biggest night has no doubt turned into the music industry’s biggest popularity contest usually awarding albums that topped the charts than were critically successful. While everyone might not agree with the Grammy voters’ picks for whatever category, it does spark a healthy debate amongst music lovers about who’s nominated and who should have won. Even though the awards show isn’t until Feb. 8 here’s some predictions to get the ball rolling.

1. Best Hip Hop Album.

Who is probably going to win: Iggy Azaela.

Who should win: Anyone but Iggy Azaela.

The Best Hip Hop category is guaranteed to raise some eyebrows, usually nominating more pop driven hip hop albums rather than the straightforward ones. However, this year’s category is surprisingly full of contenders. From ScHoolboy Q’s stellar third album “Oxymoron” to Common’s compelling and raw ode to his hometown of Chicago in “Nobody’s Smiling,” with the likes of Eminem, Childish Gambino and Wiz Khalifa in between. Then there’s the token popularity nominee, Iggy Azalea. Azalea’s own brand of hip hop has made waves, good and bad, over the past year and will win based on the fact that a majority of the Grammy voters are conservative and the sad truth is that Azalea is probably one of the only artists in the Best Hip Hop category that they’ve probably heard of.

2. Best New Artist.

Who is probably going to win: Sam Smith

Who should win: Sam Smith

The Best New Artist category has been plagued by a selective curse, some artists who go on to with the award don’t duplicate the success they received the year before. Sam Smith, however, is a name that’s on the tip of everyone’s tongue. The “Stay with me” singer has been compared to the likes of his brilliant fellow Brit Adele and “Stay with Me” is Smith’s most successful song to date. With this nomination, and hopefully win, things will only go up from here. It’s a guarantee Sam Smith is a name everyone will be hearing for a long time.

3. Record of the Year.

Who should win: Sia – “Chandelier”

Who’s probably going to win: Sam Smith – “Stay with Me”

The winners of the Record of the Year category are as diverse as it can possibly get, with past winners that cascade various genres such as Gotye, Billy Joel, Daft Punk and the late Amy Winehouse. While there is no doubt that Sam Smith’s “Stay with Me” is a great and powerful song, “Chandelier,” Sia’s lead single off of her sixth studio album “1000 Forms of Fear,” is an electropop masterpiece that touches upon influences from other genres such as reggae, R&B; and electronic dance music (EDM). “Chandelier” succeeds in solidifying Sia as an amazing performer rather then just some run of the mill behind-the-scenes songwriter.

“Chandelier” quickly rose through the ranks as one of the most unforgettable songs of 2014 and peaked at No.8 on the Billboard Top 100 chart. It’s a song that will get stuck in your head and have you begging for more, guaranteed.

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  • B

    beekoeFeb 4, 2015 at 6:32 pm

    Well, I’m sure that whoever wins is deserved of the prize. They have worked hard to master their artistry, they are skilled in their field

    Not so Gov. Jerry Brown’s choices of state Supreme Court justices! Exactly the opposite, in fact! Gov. Brown has actually selected three (yes, not just one!) justices who have never (yes, that’s right, never! Not once!) been a judge at all! How could that be? These are people who do have experience in the legal profession, but they have zero work hours experience sitting in robes as a judge, either state or federal. It is unknown how Gov. Brown, a highly intelligent man himself, could have made such an imbecilic decision not just once (yes again, not just once!) but three times in succession, thereby reducing the highest court in the state (yes, that’s right, it tops out here!) to the most inexperienced. That’s one requirement that a person is expected to expect to see when he enters a courtroom: A judge!

    And that’s what’s missing from the Supreme Cout now! Three judges! Three judges on the state’s highest court now look like this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_wise_monkeys

    Actually, there’s supposed to be four, Gov. Brown himself: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zippy_the_Pinhead

    Can these three new judges be from a temp agency? Maybe on-the-job training or something? Maybe they sought to win Grammys and just got lost on the way to the Forum, that could be it. Or, maybe real judges got confused and tried to write judicial decisions that got turned into award-winning songs instead, and decided to stay in that role as songstresses as it pays better and has more perks.

    Or maybe none of them sit on any judging panels at all, either in a courtroom or in the entertainment industry. That’d be my guess, as we now know that Gov. Brown is himself from a temp agency. Gov. Brown + His Unemployment Check = His Election and Our Loss.

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SoundBreak: Who should take the Grammy home?