Grammy Burning Questions: Where Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Nicki Minaj, Steve Lacy, Zach Bryan, Ye and Others Landed on First Ballot

The feelings are mutual!

Giving power to the people. The 2022 People’s Choice Awards will be making its triumphant return to Santa Monica, California, to celebrate the biggest stars in the entertainment industry.

Amy Schumer is heading back to 30 Rock.

Nearly three months after the release of his July EP RED & WHITE, Lil Uzi Vert is back with a new solo single. “Just Wanna Rock” is a change of pace for Uzi, who trades the flamboyant trap instrumentals they usually favor for a thumping drill beat and follows suit vocally, rapping in a lower register than usual.

Thania Garcia The top of the U.S. album and singles charts remain unchanged this week, with Bad Bunny’s “Un Verano Sin Ti” keeping at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for a 14th non-consecutive week and Steve Lacy’s “Bad Habit” reigning at No. 1 on the Hot 100 for a third week in a row. “Un Verano” now ties Drake’s “Views” (2016) and Disney’s “Frozen” soundtrack (2014) for the most weeks at the summit in the past decade. Adele’s “21” scored a total of 24 weeks at No. 1 back in 2011 and 2012. “Un Verano” remains at the top with the equivalent of 84,000 units sold in the United States, according to Luminate via Billboard. Lacy’s “Bad Habit,” fueled largely by its command on streaming services and TikTok, holds its No. 1 streak on the singles chart with 42.3 million radio airplay audience impressions (up by 4% from last week) and 20.1 million streams.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Grammy and Oscar winning singer-songwriter Sam Smith has announced their fourth studio album, “Gloria,” will be released on January 27, 2023 via Capitol Records. Made with longtime collaborators Jimmy Napes, Stargate and Max Martin stablemate Ilya, the album is described in the announcement as “not only a creative revelation but something of a personal revolution for the celebrated artist. Lyrically, the subjects dive deep and wide, into contemporary narratives around sex, lies, passion, self-expression and imperfection.” Smith says, “It feels like emotional, sexual and spiritual liberation. It was beautiful, with this album, to sing freely again. Oddly, it feels like my first-ever record. And it feels like a coming of age.”

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic The fact that Nicki Minaj’s “Super Freaky Girl” was shifted out of the Grammys’ rap categories and into the pop division on a preliminary ballot has nearly resulted in an international incident, given the ensuing publicity and controversy as voting began this week. It’s certainly resulted in the year’s most visible hip-hop feud, with a fiery war of words between Minaj and Latto, whose “Big Energy” stayed as a rap contender and was not bounced to pop. But lost amid all this — or unreported till now, anyway — is the fact that Minaj is, in fact, on the ballot in rap categories this year… just not for “Super Freaky Girl.” Grammy voters who’ve received their ballots tell Variety that Minaj is in contention in the best rap performance category for another song of hers, “Do We Have a Problem?,” which has a featured appearance from Lil Baby. The Grammys’ rap screening committee apparently considered this more of a true hip-song and “Super Freaky Girl” more pop in nature, splitting the difference.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic It’s only the first week of first-round voting for the Grammys, but the awards process has already stirred up a major controversy in the hip-hop world and beyond, bringing sparring between rappers Nicki Minaj and Latto out into the open after Minaj said she felt the Recording Academy was showing a bias toward Latto in the way their work was being categorized. As the Twitter war between the two went full-bore Thursday night and Friday morning, Minaj called the newcomer “an entitled Karen,” while Latto returned fire by saying that Minaj was “a 40-year-old bully” acting in a way unbecoming of her age and stature. The younger artist even referred to Minaj as “my idol-turned-rival” as the conversation went nuclear. “Super freaky grandma is married AND related to fucking rapists. You ain’t gone bully me BITCH! My idol turned rival now u hating!”

Nicki Minaj has slammed the Grammys for putting her August single ‘Super Freaky Girl’ in the Best Pop Solo Performance category for the 2023 awards.As per The Hollywood Reporter, Minaj originally submitted the song for rap categories, but the Recording Academy’s rap committee decided to reclass it in the pop awards categories.In an Instagram Live that has since been posted to her feed, Minaj clapped back at the decision, saying: “‘Super Freaky Girl,’ where I only rapped on the song, was removed out of the rap categories at the Grammys and put in pop.”“[Drake’s] ‘Hotline Bling’ won Best Rap Song and Best Rap Sung [Performance],” she said— referencing the 2016 single that the artist himself said had no place in the rap category — with Drake saying at the time: “I’m a black artist, I’m apparently a rapper, even though ‘Hotline Bling‘ is not a rap song.”“Now, let’s say that ‘Super Freaky Girl’ is a pop song,” Minaj continued. “Let’s just say that.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Nicki Minaj is protesting the Recording Academy shifting her “Super Freaky Girl” from consideration in the Grammys’ rap division to a pop category, saying that she would be OK with the shift if it were applied consistently to other artists that straddle the crossover line, which she believes is not the case. “I have no prob being moved out the RAP category as long as we r ALL being treated FAIRLY,” Minaj tweeted late Thursday, in response to reports that her submission had been moved out of her chosen category. “If SFG (‘Super Freaky Girl’) has 2B moved out RAP then so does Big Energy!” she added, referring to the Latto hit of that name. “ANY1 who says diff is simply a Nicki hater or a troll.”

Nicki Minaj has some questions. After it was announced that her song «Super Freaky Girl» will compete in the pop category at the GRAMMYs, after it was moved out of the rap category, Minaj wants to know why.The rapper took to Twitter on Thursday to explain that she feels her song is being unfairly treated, in comparison to how the GRAMMYs have designated other songs in the same categories.«I have no prob being moved out the RAP category as long as we r ALL being treated FAIRLY.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic When it comes to the 2023 Grammys, it’s easy to jump ahead and look at what we expect will be the final showdown on Feb. 3 between the top two competitors — Adele and Beyoncé. Because, yes, in the top three general categories, it’s likely to be a narrow contest that runs the gamut from A to B, as it were … almost a direct sequel to the 2017 Grammy race, in which “25” was pitted against “Lemonade.” The big question may be, will this movie have the same ending, with Adele apologizing to Bey for besting her, again? But there’s a lot of road to travel before then and considerable suspense over which other eight artists will fill out the 10 available slots in the album, record and song of the year categories. (The Recording Academy upped the slots from eight at the last minute last year, only in those divisions.) The only other virtual certainties in all three of those categories are Harry Styles and Silk Sonic, neither of whom can be completely counted out as ultimate winners, should the voting members decide they don’t even want to have to decide between all that big diva energy again

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic The top spots on the respective U.S. album and singles charts remain as they were last week, with Bad Bunny holding the No. 1 slot on the Billboard 200 for a 13th non-consecutive week and Steve Lacy claiming the top song for a second week in a row. No surprises there, but at least there was some fresh blood in the No. 2 positions. A new album from hard rock veterans Slipknot debuted in second place. And on the Billboard Hot 100, a duet by Sam Smith and Kim Petras, “Unholy,” showed surprising strength in moving up to No. 2 after debuting well one spot behind that last week. Billboard points out that Bad Bunny is within striking distance of a record on the album chart, or at least a recent record. His 13 weeks on top with “Un Verano Sin Ti” have the album tied for the most weeks spent by an album at No. 1 in the last decade; he’s currently on par with Drake’s “Views” and the “Frozen” soundtrack. If he reaches No. 1 next week, he’ll singular own the record for most weeks spent on top over the last 10 years. But if we go back more than a decade, he still has a way to go to surpass Adele’s “21,” which spent 24 nonconsecutive weeks leading the chart in 2011-12.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Right Said Fred has officially stirred not just the Beyhive but the Bey. Beyoncé herself, who rarely comments on such matters publicly, has issued a statement vehemently taking issue with the duo’s reported claim that her camp never sought permission to use “I’m Too Sexy” as a part of her recent “Alien Superstar” track. Right Said Fred’s allegations, as reported in the U.K. newspaper the Sun, are “erroneous and incredibly disparaging,” Beyoncé said in a statement issued to E! Entertainment News. Beyoncé pointed out that her track technically does not actually sample theirs, as the duo was quoted as contending, but is an interpolation in which “I’m Too Sexy” is essentially paraphrased through a re-recording of the elements used. Thus, she says, permission only needed to be sought from the songwriting publisher, not the holders of the original “Sexy” recording — and it was asked for and granted.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Taylor Swift kept the “Midnights” oil burning later than usual late Thursday night and early Friday morning, revealing not just the name of one song at midnight, as has been her custom in the buildup to the Oct. 21 album release, but all five of the remaining mystery track titles, one per hour, until she finally reached a grand finale at 4 a.m. ET. And that final track reveal had — as she promised — “QUITE the twist of an ending,” with Lana Del Rey being revealed as making the only featured appearance by a guest on the album. Del Rey will make her cameo on a song titled “Snow on the Beach,” which will be track 4 on “Midnights.” The other four tracks whose titles were revealed over the course of the wee hours were “Lavender Haze,” set to be the first track on the album; “You’re on Your Own,” track 5; “Labyrinth,” track 10; and “Sweet Nothing,” track 12.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Taylor Swift kept the “Midnights” oil going once again with the late-night revelation of yet another new song, with an explanation of its subject matter to match. But this time, indications are that she may keep going into the wee hours and not just call it a night at 12:02 a.m. The new song Swift revealed and talked about as the clock struck 12 on the east coast is “Lavender Haze.” About the song, Swift said in a video message on Instagram: “Track 1 on ‘Midnights’ is ‘Lavender Haze,’ and I happened upon the phrase ‘lavender haze’ when I was watching ‘Mad Men.’ And I looked it up because I thought it sounded cool, and it turns out that it’s a common phrase used in the fifties where they would just describe being in love. Like, if you were in the lavender haze, you were in that all-encompassing love glow… and I thought that was really beautiful. And I guess theoretically, when you’re in the lavender haze, you’ll do anything to stay there and not let people bring you down off of that cloud. And I think a lot of people have to deal with this now, not just like ‘public figures.’ because we live in the era of social media, and if the world finds out that you’re in love with somebody, they’re going to weigh in on it. Like my relationship for six years: we’ve had to dodge weird rumors, tabloid stuff, and we just ignore it. So this song is about ignoring that stuff to protect the real stuff. I hope you guys like it.”

Earlier this week Kanye West launched his Season 9 show at Paris Fashion Week. The runway show was notable for Ye's decision to wear a T-shirt with the phrase "White Lives Matter" emblazoned on the back.

He Identifies As BisexualStarting back in 2017, Lacy commented publicly that he identifies as bisexual.“As a kid, I just thought it would be a fantasy. I kiss a boy?,” he shared during an interview with The Guardian.