On November 7th, the 2026 Grammys nominations were announced. As I took a look, I couldn’t help but give my input as to what the Grammys take on music has come to. 

Now, as is commonly known, the Grammys is essentially just a popularity contest based on fame and not on how great the song or how beautiful the album really is. This is where, I believe, that less-populated artists in the same category have an unfair disadvantage. They get overthrown by the artist who’s blown up for one song on TikTok. 

The music has to be solely mainstreamed, overplayed on every platform, to even have a slight chance of winning. Yet, the same people win every year, so what’s the point? 

Smaller artists are way more deserving to win. For instance the comparison between mainstream music and underground music has significant contrasts. A mainstream song that’s known everywhere, with lazy production and dense lyrics is only known for a catchy beat, or just from one part of the song. While underground music has great composition and beautifully written lyrics. Somehow, people just like mass produced music instead.   

“[The Grammys] are big on favoritism, not on real talent.” said freshman, Hailey Aguilar.

Controversial as this may be, I don’t understand how “Golden” from “KPop Demon Hunters” got nominated for Song of the Year. How much commercial success can one song from a kids movie have that got nominated for such a high title? If Song of the Year is even a high title anymore. Each year, awards have gone to the same mainstream artists. It defeats the purpose of it in general. That category is supposed to highlight excellent songwriting, focusing more on the composition rather than performance. With this nomination, I believe it’s against what the category is truly about.

“Golden”, also from “KPop Demon Hunters”, has also been nominated for “Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.” Can you even count it as a performance if it was written specifically for a movie? I believe that it’s ridiculous. There’s so many group performances, written for an audience that are far better than what is in the movie.

Similarly, I’m against songs like “Anxiety” by Doechii. That single song, quite frankly, blew up on social media far more than it should’ve. It got overplayed way past its limit, and now people are just dragging it along, bringing it to various nominations and Record of the Year.

Then again, some artists do earn the applause they get. For instance “MUTT,” by Leon Thomas, from acting from an early age to now growing a music career, this hit was a one I really enjoyed. The synths and catchy feel gave a great sense into how he’s evolved as an artist. As well as Tyler, The Creators album, “CHROMAKOPIA.” Both artists are getting nominated for various awards, such as Album Of The Year.

“To be honest, I stopped watching [The Grammys] a long time ago,” said freshman Ariel Alvarez, “I haven’t missed out on anything.”

I’ve been convinced, for many years now, that the Grammys is rigged to the point of no extent. It’s sad to say, but the only thing I’m slightly interested in is who’s going to win Best New Artist. 

It’s a pretty tough settle this year. Many names you’ve heard, including Sombr, KATSEYE, The Marias and Addison Rae have all been nominated into the category. All artists, some more talented than others, will make it a hard dispute for who to root for.

I’m really interested to see how this year will play out. I just hope it’s not one artist sweeping every category away because there needs to be variety. The event should be less focused on awarding already very popular artists and give praise to artists who actually deserve it. This would mean  actually stepping out of the popularity contest for just a quick second to see what other artists can accomplish too. Yet, unfortunately, that’s just how the Grammys are for now.