Grammy Predictions: Who Will Win, Who Should Win

The 2015 Grammy Awards will air this Sunday night, and in the run-up to music’s most glamorous night of backpatting and over-the-top collaborations (the coolest of which the show will reliably amputate mid-song), the music world is placing their bets on who’s going home with the gold and who’ll get snubbed.

Before we drink two pots of coffee and live-tweet the Grammys on Sunday night (seriously though, it’s gonna be a blast – watch Crave’s Twitter at showtime), Crave is taking a look at the likely winners, as well as those deserving of the accolades. Let’s not make a big forensic breakdown of the situation here; after all, we’re talking about a goddamned awards show. Even worse is the arbitrary designation of “special committees” of “expert” voting members who determine the nominees and eventual winners. You can never really tell how these things are going to go, and that’s half the fun of it.

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Those little trophies mean the world to emerging and established artists, with the double-edged blade of having “made it” in an industry so bloated and saturated with desperate copycats, coattail riders and out-of-touch corporate shills that we were expected to celebrate Lenny Kravitz showing up at the Super Bowl Halftime Show. In 2015. That’s about as ill-conceived as Andrew W.K. hosting anything, ever. What year is this? No, dude, you can keep your dirty t-shirt and greasy hair. We don’t want to party hard with you. Write a goddamned song.

Naturally, this Grammy predictions list isn’t based on who we like or think should win, because that’s not how the Grammys work. All the confirmation we need on that point is in the fact that U2 is nominated for Best Rock Album for their failed-surprise album, which was force-fed to iTunes users in a move the band called “punk rock”. Meanwhile, the music is terribly unmemorable, and everyone from Iggy Pop to The Black Keys decried the stunt as a devalorization of music itself.

So while we wait for the “expert committees” to determine what the winners are in a list of suspect nominees, let’s play a game of prediction. Below are our picks for who will win – with a nod to who should, and their respective nominee competition.

Album of The Year

Will win: Sam Smith – In the Lonely Hour

Should win: Beyoncé – Beyoncé

We’re truly hoping Smith wins just so we can see Kanye reprise his “I’ma let you finish” nonsense from 6 years ago.

Beck – Morning Phase

Beyoncé – Beyoncé

Ed Sheeran – x

Sam Smith – In the Lonely Hour

Pharrell Williams – Girl