A Little Jaded - Season 2, Episode 5

Jade: Hi, everybody. Welcome back to A Little Jaded! It's Jade here with Joanna. Joanna, you want to say hey? 

Joanna: Hi, guys!

Jade: So welcome back. This is actually our 18th podcast, and we'll be talking about the 64th annual Grammy Awards and the nominations. 

Joanna: Whoo!

Jade: Yeah. So if you don't already know, we're doing this a little bit earlier. So as of right now, the only thing that we have to work with are the nominations, which is very exciting in itself and always brings up a lot of new emotions, new feelings, new drama, new everything, which is why I'm super excited to get into it. But first, Joanna, do you think the Grammys are going to be moved? 

Joanna: I don't know. I… eh! I definitely think that there's a possibility. But also, the Grammys is happening way earlier this year than it has, at least I know last year, because one of the first events I completely forgot about until Jade brought it up. But one of the first events that we did as Jaded Productions also, this is our first podcast of the year! Hello, 2022.

Jade: Hello!

Joanna: But one of the first things that we did as Jade Production is, like us together. We did an Instagram Live about the Grammys after the Grammys had happened and just talking about all of our thoughts and everything but the winners, the fashion, Harry Styles, everything.

Both: chuckle

Joanna: But I remember that was like in March of last year. So it's very interesting that it's happening really early. I think that there's definitely a possibility with obviously, like, the state of the world and everything. Obviously, you have to keep everybody's safety as number one, especially having an event with that many people. It's definitely a questionable thing. Even with concerts and everything, people are starting to wonder, like, are stuff going to get moved again? Which fingers crossed that it doesn't and don't want it to happen again. But I don't know. 

Jade: Yeah. And speaking of number one, Justin Bieber, H.E.R., and Doja Cat are all coming out with eight nominations this year.

Joanna: That is insane.

Jade: And they're number one, as they should be.

Joanna: Literally, I was going to say this year for Doja Cat. Well, not this year, technically, 2021 for Doja Cat was insane! You literally cannot go on TikTok without hearing a Doja Cat song. That's pretty much it, which is like you love her or you hate her, whatever, you're going to know that the song is by Doja Cat. And so I think she was definitely one of the biggest predictions. Everybody knew that she was going to be nominated for a lot of things, and she was for Planet Her the deluxe version. She was nominated for so many different things. This was definitely a crazy year for her, and Justin Bieber also! I mean, he was obviously nominated for last year's Grammys for Changes, but with his Justice album, that was huge for him.

Jade: Mhmm. And then the Triple Chucks Deluxe version came out, and that was even bigger because I believe that came out with Tori Kelly, obviously, did the duet with him on “Name”. I can't even. But if you want to talk to me about that more, pick me up. But I won't talk about it that much, though I could! laughs There's that and just all of the differences. He had a lot of collaborations on Justice in general and then get to the Triple Chuck Deluxe version and I'm pretty sure almost every single song that came out of that, besides like, “Haley” and something else, I want to say, were all like collaborations.

Joanna: Oh, yeah

Jade: Which is crazy. And when you think about it, these names were ginormous. They're like Lil Uzi, I'm pretty sure, right?

Joanna: Yeah.

Jade: Just a bunch of other huge names were on that album. So I think that it's only fair.

Joanna: And he had- Obviously, he had the Kid Laroi on there, which the Kid Laroi is also nominated for a bunch, and he's nominated for Best New Artist, and I really want to talk about the Best New Artist “curse”. I hadn't heard about this until recently. And I know Jade just told me that she isn't really aware of this, and it's basically there's speculation that anybody who wins Best New Artist at the Grammys is destined for that to be kind of their “peak”. And then from there, it just kind of all goes downhill, and it's such an interesting thing. I saw somebody on TikTok. She did a whole video about this theory and how there's a lot of speculation that the curse has been “broken”, I guess because some of the past winners, especially the last three, are still some of the biggest names in music, like Dua Lipa, Billie Eilish, Megan Thee Stallion, and then now this year, with the amount of people who are nominated, it's just like… obviously, Billie- her career, I don't think it's going downhill anytime soon. She's still doing amazing. Megan thee Stallion, she's still doing amazing. Dua Lipa, still doing amazing. But some of the past winners before then was like Meghan Trainor, Alessia Cara, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, like a lot of these people, and obviously these artists, they still have super successful careers… But I guess the speculation is that they are not as “mainstream” anymore and this and that. And it's such a funny thing to think about, but I don't know if I believe in the Best New Artist curse? But I think that in terms of the people who have won in the past few years and the people who are nominated for the one this year, I don't see any of these people's careers going “downhill” anytime soon. And I don't like that term of like an artist reaching their “peak” and they're going downhill from that, and “that project was the best they're going to do” and this and that. I don't really like that idea because I think that artists should be allowed to keep reinventing themselves and keep changing different things and experimenting and things. And if that project is not “mainstream enough”, then as long as they're proud of whatever it is that they're producing, I think that that's really the most important thing. 

Jade: Exactly.

Joanna: I just thought that was interesting.

Jade: No, I think that's so interesting. I've actually, like you said, I'd never heard about that. But the fact that they're not making things that are being nominated for Grammys or “mainstream things”, it doesn't take away from the importance of it, and it doesn't take away from the artistry of it. And it doesn't take away from the fact that they're still creating music, even if it's not “mainstream”. If their fans still like it and if they're still enjoying what they're doing, then it is what it is. And that's still a success to them. And that's still success to anybody, because it really doesn't matter honestly, if they think that they're successful, then they're successful because it doesn't really matter what everybody else says about them, in a way. But I still think that obviously putting a Grammy on your shelf would be amazing!

Joanna: I mean yeah, obviously! It's like ,nobody can deny it's the Grammys and everybody- so many artists will talk about like it's one of the biggest honors to even be considered, even be nominated for a Grammy. Like, it's huge. And I know- if you're a Taylor Swift fan, if anybody saw her Miss Americana documentary, she talked about how obviously she won the Grammy for Album of the year for 1989, like a few years ago. And then after 1989 was the Reputation era, she released Reputation, and that was not nominated for anything. She wasn't nominated for any Grammys at all with that album. And kind of an infamous thing that she says in that is: “well, I guess I'm going to have to make another album because this one wasn't good enough”. And a lot of people have that different mindset like, “if it wasn't nominated for a Grammy, then I guess it wasn't good enough”. But Reputation in terms of her fandom as a whole, for her fans, Reputation was like a fan favorite. It was one of the most successful in their eyes, and it still was a super successful album! Maybe it wasn't nominated for a Grammy or whatever, but that doesn't take away, like, the validity of it as a good project and just like a good piece as a whole. And last year she went on to win Album of the Year for Folklore, and now she's nominated for Album of the Year again for Evermore. And it's just like even if you have a couple of years where you're not nominated for a Grammy, it doesn't mean that you're “falling off as an artist” or whatever. That doesn't really mean anything.

Jade: Well I also think that award show success is different from fan success and is different from financial success. It's different from- like you could place an album into so many different categories. And I'm not talking about categories like Song in a Year like that- it’s not what I mean. chuckles You could place an album or a song into different categories of success. Being financially successful doesn't necessarily mean it was a fan favorite. Maybe they were just, like, excited for new music, but the new music wasn't amazing, you know what I mean? Or to them, at least. So it doesn't necessarily mean that- I think that there's different success in different categories. So looking at it that way is probably a better picture and helps you to find a little bit more like the success of your overall project, which is amazing to think about. And the fact that- can we just talk about the fact that so many artists are like repeat artists and the fact that they're like, I mean, on top of the artist “curse” or whatever, the best new artist curse, there are so many artists that did win, that you said, that are still back and still winning Grammys and still getting nominated for Grammys, which is like spectacular. Like you said, Billie Eilish. I don't know if Justin Bieber ever won, but it feels like he did… sort of, you know, and like all the new nominees, their music is absolutely amazing. I feel like they're going to break it again. 

Joanna: Yeah, for sure. And it's like, obviously, we're never going to know how the nominations really go with the Recording Academy and the Grammys and everything. But even just like another example of obviously, like we said, being nominated for a Grammy, it's huge. And obviously it's amazing for these artists to be recognized for their work and everything, but even looking at artists like The Weeknd, he wasn't nominated for anything, and that caused a big uproar for the 2021 Grammys. He wasn't nominated for anything, and he had his After Hours album, and that was a huge piece of work for him. Obviously he had, like, “Blinding Lights”. He had, like all of these massive, massive hits, and he wasn't nominated for it. But that doesn't take away the fact that, for his fans, and for fans of music in general, that was a big album for him, and that was like a really popular album. And it's just like, just because you're not nominated for a Grammy doesn't take away your validity as an artist. And we're also not saying that because you are nominated for a Grammy, that it doesn't mean anything. You know what I mean? It's just an award at the end of the day, obviously, it's a very coveted, very “well known” award, and everybody takes them very seriously. But either way, take it with a grain of salt. Take all of our opinions with a grain of salt. We're just fans of music, so talking about the Grammys is very interesting and very fun.

Jade: And also, I think that on that a little bit, at the end of the day, I would define my success differently than you would define your success, you know what I mean? So it's up to you how much you want to value anything- how much you want to value the support of your fans, how much you want to value an award, how much you want to value anything. That's completely up to you, because I can't define your success and you can't define my success. So, like, placing it into these different categories, as I was saying, you could value as an artist, you could value one category over another. It doesn't make it less important to somebody else, doesn't make it less important to the music world. You know what I mean? It's just like whatever you value is… we can't take that away from you. You know what I mean?

Joanna: Yeah! It's very person to person. Everybody's going to be different like you said, they're going to view success differently. And that's why it's fun to talk about the Grammys, but not every artist might really care about the Grammys. Some they might be like, this is the biggest honor of their lives. Like, you can't really take that away from each person. They all are going to view it a different way. Each artist is going to view it a different way. And yeah.

Jade: Definitely. Yeah. So you want to get into some, now that we've talked about all that, you want to get into some predictions, because I'm really excited, you know, I'm going to be watching.

Joanna: Oh, yeah. The Grammys last year.

Jade: Looking out for the outfits!

Joanna: Yes. It's so fun to watch the Grammys for so many different reasons. Whether it's like the performances, what everybody's wearing, obviously the winners. It's just like also just like, as a fan of pop culture myself, I've grown up as a fan of watching these different award shows and just like a fan of celebrities and music and everything. Obviously, that's why I want to work in it, because I'm a fan of it. But just seeing the amount of artists all sitting in one room together is also huge in and of itself. You know what I mean? Just seeing all these different artists interacting, I know everybody went crazy when they panned to Billie Eilish, watching Harry Styles perform. Like, even just seeing different crossovers of different people, it's huge for fans because it always just causes an uproar. It always does. It's just interesting to watch the interaction.

Jade: And also, because speaking from a fan perspective, nobody is just supporting one artist. Nobody's just watching the Grammys- maybe some people are, maybe some people are, but nobody's just watching the Grammys to see Justin Bieber. They want to see Justin Bieber interact with his biggest fan, Billie Eilish. You know what I mean? That's kind of what you're watching. Like you said, you're watching everybody watch each other, and watching all these insanely creative minds give a standing ovation to another insanely creative mind, like Lady Gaga just being in the same room as Doja Cat- I can't.

Joanna: It's insane. It's going to break social media.

Jade: It might break social media.

Both: laugh

Jade: Yeah. So you want to jump into predictions?

Joanna: Yes. Okay. So just for the sake of time, because obviously there's like a billion different categories, there's no possible way that we could talk about every single category. So just for the sake of time, we're just going to be talking about the top four. And I think this year is actually the year where they extended the amount of nominees per category, and now it's up to ten, which is awesome. But it's also insane, like up to ten different people or groups or artists, whatever you want to say, like nominated per category, which is insane. But yeah. So we're going to be talking about Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist. So I guess since we kind of already talked about Best New Artist a little bit, do we want to go into that one first?

Jade: Yeah. Although… can we give a quick shout out to I think it's like the Best Traditional Pop Album?

Joanna: Yeah.

Jade: I believe that's the category, but Tori Kelly's Christmas album is in that one. So just like… Miss Girl… really had it going chuckles but anyways! Yeah, let's get into it. Let's get into it. What are your predictions?

Joanna: Oh, my God. First of all, like I said, there are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. There are ten different artists nominated. And something that I did want to say is that it's very interesting, and this is always something that I've wondered about for categories like Best New Artist, what qualifies as “new” because a lot of these artists have been around for a long time. Like Saweetie is nominated and I listened to her back in my freshman year of college, which was in 2018, and she's been around for a while. And then obviously there's different artists like Olivia Rodrigo, whose debut album was this year, and The Kid Laroi, his debut album was actually in 2020. Japanese Breakfast, they've been around since 2016. And Finneas obviously has been around for a while, too. And so there's all of these different artists. So it's very interesting wondering how these people are nominated and what qualifies them as a new artist compared to the ones who are obviously from 2021. But I don't know it’s just something that I've always wondered about, but something that I do like is a lot of the different artists of Best New Artists is it's very well incorporated across different genres, like country, rap...

Jade: I was going to say I love the genre diversity in this category because it's just like nobody would. I don't know. It's just crazy!

Joanna: I love it because I feel like it's a very controversial topic. I feel like a lot of people shun the Grammys because they're like, “oh, it's all about “mainstream” music”. And I think that they're putting in more work to recognize different people from different types of genres, and I think that's really cool. With that being said, though, if I had to guess who was going to win Best New Artists? I mean… if Olivia Rodrigo doesn't win, I think that's going to be- I don't know. She had one of the biggest year ever. We just talked about it in our last podcast, our 2021 Wrap Up. If you want to listen, go listen. We talk about different things that will happen for different artists' careers in 2021. But Olivia Rodrigo basically started her whole career as a solo artist in 2021, and she's already one of the biggest names, and she just turned 18.

Jade: Yeah, I think not that- obviously I know more about music than this, but I just always find it funny. And I always feel like I know that when a person gets big, whenever my mom voluntarily puts them on in the car, you know what I mean?

Both: laugh

Joanna: And she does that with Olivia Rodrigo?

Jade: Yes! And I feel like when your parents know about an artist, that's when you're like, okay, yeah, they're pretty big. They're not always strolling social media, they're not in the music world like I am. You know what I mean? So if you know about them, then they're probably pretty big.

Joanna: Also, I feel like Olivia Rodrigo, I feel like her journey as an artist is very comparable to Billie Eilish, who won Best New Artist in 2019. And obviously that was also like a massive year for her. Wait, was it 2019? No, it was in 2020. It was the last one that was in person before the whole pandemic happened. She won, and obviously, 2019 was when she released her debut album. And obviously that album had “bad guy”, it had “bury a friend”, it had all of these insane bops. And so obviously, that was probably the biggest year for her career. And I think that this has also been a huge year for Olivia Rodrigo's career, I think that especially thinking about how close they are in age, too, like, when they are reaching this massive success. I think that it makes sense that Olivia Rodrigo would follow in Billie Eilish's footsteps and would win. But then also looking at all these different artists, obviously, every single one of these artists have had a big year, that's why they're nominated. It's so hard to tell sometimes. Obviously, this year was also really big for the Kid Laroi, obviously…

Jade: Yeah.

Joanna. Like, he “blew up”, like in 2020 when he had a song with Juice WRLD. But this year in general, like, “Stay” with Justin Bieber! Are you kidding me? Huge. Just the fact that now he had his own fans just from him. And now after collaborating with Justin Bieber, I feel like their fandoms really meshed together and have made him even larger.

Jade: laughs Yeah, I could speak for that just because I'm a Justin Bieber fan, and then he collaborated and I was like, oh, who's this guy? You know what I mean? 

Joanna: Exactly.

Jade: That's exactly how it happens. And that's why this is huge. But I agree. I think Olivia Rodrigo is probably going to win it. But there's like, Saweetie, and it's going to be a competition. It's not going to be easy. I think there's a lot of really amazing, like, Glass Animals. There's a lot of really amazing artists and bands in this category that I just think- I think it's going to be a tough one, but I think it might lean toward Olivia Rodrigo, but who knows?

Joanna: I would say if I was to put in my prediction of who I think will win, probably Olivia Rodrigo.

Jade: Yeah, I agree. So what about… Song of the Year? Because I'm excited because… okay.

Joanna: Lots of good songs!

Jade: Are you kidding me? Like, “Bad Habits” was giant. “Drivers License”! Oh, my God, that was on the radio for, like, how many- I think it might still be on the radio, I’m pretty sure!

Joanna: It probably is.

Jade: “Leave the Door Open”! Silk Sonic. Aw Lil Nas X, “Peaches”!

Joanna: It’s gonna be a good one. But also! Can we talk about how Brandi Carlile is nominated twice!

Jade: gasps Yes!

Joanna: That's kind of insane, because she's nominated for her own song, obviously, “Right on Time”, but then she's also nominated for “A Beautiful Noise” with Alicia Keys, which obviously I get it's own separate song. But that's kind of insane! I don't know if that's something that's very common?

Jade: Yeah, has that been done before? I'm not sure.

Joanna: Maybe. I don't know.

Jade: That's interesting, but I think very interesting. It's a double chance right there.

Joanna: Yeah, I guess so. Like, all of these songs, obviously, “Bad Habits”, “Beautiful Noise”, “drivers license”, “Happier Than Ever”, “Kiss Me More”, “Leave the Door Open”, “Montero”, “Peaches”, “Right on Time”. All of these songs have been really big. I feel like… I don't know what! Well first of all, I knew that “drivers license” and “Happier Than Ever” were going to be nominated, because “drivers license”, like we said, Olivia Rodrigo literally took 2021 by storm. It was a massive year. And she also released it at the top of the year, literally in January, so it had the entire year and it still is huge. Like, everyone still talks about it. It took TikTok by storm. It was massive.

Jade: That's what I was going to say! Have you noticed that all of these songs on here are all songs that were trending at some point on Tiktok? Isn't that interesting?

Joanna: I mean, we can talk about how TikTok is influencing everything in music forever.

Jade: We did talk about that, actually! We talked about it in a podcast before on how influential TikTok is. And we talked about it in “Music in the Social Media Age”, and it was actually one of our first podcasts, like, first top five podcasts that we ever made. And it's really up there, and we talk about how TikTok is extremely influential and we talk about it with people that make the Jaded Productions Tiktoks. So check it out! But anyway…

Joanna: That was one of my favorite episodes. It's such a relevant topic, and it always will be. Social media is always changing, and especially with TikTok, it helps these songs so much. Like “Kiss Me More”, “Leave the Door Open”, you couldn't go on TikTok throughout this year without hearing them, and you still hear them even months after they've released. 

Jade: I agree. I think it's going to be a tough category for sure. There's so many good ones that everybody's heard and it's just like, I don't know, I don't know. But if I had to guess, if I had to leave my prediction… you know, I got to go with Justin Bieber, “Peaches”. laughs That was just giant.

Joanna: Oh, yeah, no, “Peaches”… it was so, so big and it's kind of insane, because obviously “Peaches” was Justin Bieber, Daniel Caesar, and Giveon- huge! It was a massive pop/R&B number. Ya’know? And I think that that's why it was really big, because obviously Justin Bieber, you think of him as a pop artist, and Daniel Caesar is a lot smaller. He is definitely a lot more like groovy, R&B, very chill music. And then Giveon is also kind of like that same, like Daniel Caesar type of vibe. So having all of them together created this sonically, just interesting song. And so everybody loved it, even if you didn't like Justin Bieber… I know so many people who don't listen to Justin Bieber, don't claim themselves as a Justin Bieber fan, but they liked “Peaches” and they said, yeah, “Peaches” is a good song, and it's catchy! You can't not sing.

Jade: It's really catchy. And we already have an Artist Spotlight on Justin Bieber. But just talking about that, I feel like we could go on for days about the fact that Justin Bieber, I know he was at the 2011 Grammys, and he's still showing up at the Grammys now. 2011 Grammys, I believe. I'm not positive on that, but I'm pretty sure. So the fact that after ten years, ten plus years, still relevant, still being nominated for these things?

Joanna: Insane.

Jade: Insane, insane! And we talked about his marketing actually in a different podcast. But enough about podcast plugging. I just wanted to say that. laughs

Joanna: Yeah.

Jade: But yeah, mine is “Peaches”. What do you think? 

Joanna: Honestly, I feel like all of these songs have a really, really big chance. I feel like… not talking about popularity per se, but just talking about lyrically and just like as a song, like sonically, just everything together, I think that the standout, and I knew this was going to be nominated, I knew that “Happier Than Ever” was going to be nominated. That song was just, it was interesting because it felt like Billie Eilish, but it also felt different, because when you think of Billie Eilish, you think of the way that she started off her song, the small, almost like ukulele type of vibe, like the “when I'm away from you, I'm happier than ever” - that snippet. And then it just completely drops into this big, almost like “rock” ballad where she's just screaming, literally screaming at the top of her lungs. It's just insane, and like, I don't know. I feel like that song was really big for her, for this era, for her, the “Happiest Than Ever era”, like her showing that this is like a “new her” and just her growing as an artist. I feel like “Happier Than Ever” was huge.

Jade: Yeah.

Joanna: But then I look at songs like “drivers license”, and I'm like, how is it actually literally how it is not going to win?

Jade: chuckles Exactly! It's a tough category. Like “Bad Habits”, Ed Sheeran. I feel like anything Ed Sheeran does wins things, like laughs

Joanna: Literally. Literally, it's kind of insane. But okay. I'm locking in my guess. I think that… AGH okay!

Both: laugh

Joanna: I'm going to say... I'm going to say “Happier Than Ever”.

Jade: Yeah.

Joanna: Not only was it just big for her as an artist and everything, but for fans, it was huge, on TikTok it was huge. Charting wise, it was huge. I'm going to say “Happier Than Ever”.

Jade: I like it.

Joanna: If I'm wrong, then, I mean, I don't care. Whatever wins deserves to win regardless!

Jade: That's okay. Yeah. You want to jump to let's do Album of the Year? Because I'm excited about that one. I think that… I don't know, because it's tough. I think that Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga are such a combo that they might come out and just like, steal it. Steal everything. But also… look at Planet Her by Doja Cat.

Joanna: Oh yeah.

Jade: Like “Woman”, literally every single song on there is just you could play- that is one of the albums that I play, and I just play it all the way through. Every single song on there is amazing. You know what I mean? It's just one of those- I would say more, but I can't swear on here…

Both: laugh

Jade: But like the entire album as a whole, Planet Her, is just so good! And then you watch her as like, I didn't know we're talking about the actual artistry and the music and stuff, but even just and it's totally off of that, but the way that she just throws herself into her music when she's performing, like, she's an amazing performer. Amazing. So I'm always captivated and I'm like, I'm going to go listen to more of her songs because she's amazing!

Joanna: Yeah. And the cool thing about her is you can tell that she genuinely enjoys all the music that she puts out. Like when she's on that stage, you can tell that she's enjoying it, she loves the songs, she's proud of the songs. And I feel like that says a lot about her as an artist and where she's going to go as an artist. But also I think that it says a lot about this project that she put a lot of her into the album and it shows. And I think that's why it was so successful.

Jade: Yeah, I totally agree. But also think about this: Evermore is in the same category…

Joanna: Yeah.

Jade: As well as Donda AND Sour AND Montero and Justice!

Joanna: AND Happier Than Ever AND Justice!

Jade: Love for Sale, like I said, Tony Bennett, Lady Gaga, they might come out and steal everything! We Are, John Baptiste. It's a tough category!

Joanna: I feel like it's hard because obviously, like we said, with Song of the Year, Best New Artist, obviously all of these different people are nominated because they had such massive years, so it's so hard to compare. Even like, obviously with Album of the Year, we're not thinking of any genre, obviously like Planet Her is rap with a little bit of pop. Happier Than Ever is like a pop-rock, alternative kind of thing. Montero is like a little bit more of the rap side. Sour is a lot more like pop and a lot more filled with ballads, and then there's the Evermore with more like folky kind of pop, and then there's Donda. And it's like there's so many different genres in here.

Joanna: Yeah. That’s so interesting, because I feel like other award shows, they typically go like best Pop Vocal Album or something like that, which is so interesting that the Grammys just says Album of the Year, straight up, put all the genres in one category, and let's just fight it out. laughs But it's also really cool because it's just like you said, you get to see something different, you get to see different people that you wouldn't see in the same room together… are in the same room together, because they literally put everybody in their categories. It's just really cool. It's really cool to see. I wonder how they put it together and judge it. But I think the part that everybody's watching for is just like, oh, my gosh, who’s going to come out on top. Who's going to get it?

Joanna: Yeah. I think… okay, if we're talking about, like, you know how I said before, how it seemed like Olivia Rodrigo was almost kind of “mimicking” Billie Eilish and following in her footsteps? If that is the case, then this could be a whole Olivia Rodrigo sweep and she could just win. She could win Album of the Year. She could win Record of the Year. She could win Song of the Year. She’d win Best New Artists, because when Billie Eilish won, she was the youngest who had sweeped all the top four categories. She literally won all four, and then some! It's kind of insane. So if we're looking at it from that perspective, like I said, this year is super comparable to what 2019 was for Billie Eilish, when looking at Olivia Rodrigo. So I think Sour has a really big chance of winning because every single song we talked about in the last podcast, I said… I think it was the album where every single song reached 10 million streams- it broke the record for the fastest for every single song to reach 10 million streams, which is a lot! When you think about the fact that not all of those songs are singles, obviously. It's just the fact that everybody liked every single song enough to stream them 10 million times that fast.

Jade: And even songs that weren't singles were just hitting better than the singles were.

Joanna: Yeah. Like “favorite crime”, not a single.

Jade: No.

Joanna: But look at it! It's massive. So just thinking about it is like, oh, my God, I feel like Sour has a really big chance of winning. But then, obviously, the fact that Taylor won last year for Folklore definitely gives her a little bit of an “up”. Like, maybe she's going to win again with Evermore, because Evermore was definitely like the sister album to Folklore.

Jade: Yeah.

Joanna: But then thinking about another artist that had a massive year was Lil Nas X and he released his debut album Montero.

Jade: That’s true.

Joanna: So thinking about… like how-I don't know! It feels like every single album- like, well, how could Evermore not win? Well, how could Sour not win? Well, how could blah, blah, blah not win?

Jade: But then you have to look at the other huge albums in that category and be like, it's going to be tough, but I'm going to go with… I feel like Planet Her. I really do. What about you?

Joanna: Oh, my God… Honestly, I think the top two that are really sticking out to me just in terms of the Grammys and who I think that they're going to choose. I think that it would be Sour or Evermore just because, I mean, literally Olivia Rodrigo, she's inspired by Taylor Swift. That's why she has it-That's why her lyricism is so insane. And just in general, what she does with her production and everything is just so insane and so good for her age is, because she grew up being a fan of artists like Taylor Swift, who literally like, she is a songwriter. Every single song is her, and it shows. And Evermore was also really, really big. So I feel like if I had to choose, it would be one of those two. But honestly, I can't pick just one. It's so hard.

Jade: I get it. And isn't it funny that the artists that we grew up liking, there's people that were at the same time, like, fangirling over those artists that we were? And now they're artists next to these artists.

Joanna: Yeah! Like Billie Eilish and Justin Bieber, they're both nominated for Album of the Year.

Jade: That's so cool. I can't imagine how cool that must feel.

Joanna: Yeah, like that must be, like the biggest full circle moment for them. That's so cool! I didn't even think about that. The fact that Billie was, like a massive Justin Bieber fan, and now they're both nominated. Olivia was a massive Taylor Swift fan, and now they're both nominated. Like, they're all nominated in the same category… It's like looking at, like you said, thinking about obviously, like, the rise of new artists like Billie Eilish and Olivia Rodrigo, but the still massive careers and the longevity of these careers of people like Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber, who've been around for so long and they're still being dominated.

Jade: Yeah. I have a fun idea, since we're going to do Record of the Year last, I have a fun idea for it, and this is super cool, on the spot! On the spot, no explanation. Just say who you think is going to win. Like, absolutely nothing behind it. Just put it out there, like a Record of the Year. Who's going to win?

Joanna: It's hard I'm going to say… honestly, I'm thinking maybe “Peaches”.

Jade: “Peaches”.

Joanna: I'm thinking, I'm thinking if it's not= if it doesn't win for Son of the Year, I feel like it could definitely win for Record of the Year.

Jade: Yeah. I don't know. I'm thinking either “drivers license” or “Peaches”.

Joanna: “Peaches” was just huge, man.

Jade: “Peaches” was huge. Yeah. And I think that on that note, I'm very excited for the Grammys. I know you're very excited for the Grammys. I know we'll both be watching, possibly live tweeting? chuckles

Joanna: Hey, who knows… who knows maybe in a couple of years time we'll be at the Grammys. That's a big dream. I'm manifesting it right now. I'm putting this out here so maybe in however many years I'll look back and I'll say that I wanted to be at the Grammys. 

Jade: Yeah. Manifest it for us. Manifest it for everybody that is an aspiring music industry professional, and everybody that wants to do these things: get started. Get started, you got it… we'll be here. chuckles So cool! Then, on that note, this has been another episode of A Little Jaded.

Transcribed By: Mai Vo

Edited By: Joanna Serrano