The past year has been an eventful one in the world of music. Several major hits such as Zedd’s “The Middle” and Maroon 5’s “Girls Like You” took over the charts. Drake, Post Malone, and Cardi B were the kings and queens of music this year, each releasing albums featuring hits such as “God’s Plan,” “Better Now,” and “I Like It,” respectively. Ariana Grande and Travis Scott returned to the spotlight this year, with both artists having their albums reach #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and each having singles do the same. This past year also saw artists use their platforms to relay deeper messages such as in Childish Gambino’s “This is America.” Music of the late XXXTentacion and Mac Miller, who both passed away this year, broke streaming records for amount of plays post-mortem. The collaboration between music and film was put on display, with hits such as “All the Stars” (Black Panther), “Shallow” (A Star Is Born), and “Sunflower” (Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse) all coming off of soundtracks of renowned films. Artists such as Lil Baby and Juice WRLD also burst onto the scene and quickly made names for themselves in 2018 as well.

As 2018 has come to an end, and the new year is in full swing, award season is upon us. In a little over two weeks, on Feb. 10, the 61st Annual Grammy Awards will take place. To no one’s surprise, artists such as Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar, Drake, and Post Malone are nominated for numerous awards. Recently, the Grammys have come under fire, with claims that voters have got several award winners incorrect and that women have been underrepresented in the award show. Fans of Post Malone and Cardi B are also upset that the two are not qualified to run for Best New Artist, as the two have simply blown up in such a short period of time. One change that has been made in order to accomodate a wider range of music is that the amount of nominations for awards are no longer locked at five. For example, this year there are eight nominees for Album of the Year.

In anticipation of the biggest night in music, students at Issaquah High voiced their opinions on who they think will win some of the most coveted awards. First up: Record of the Year. Often confused with Song of the Year, Record of the Year is more based on the composition, production, and mixing of the song rather than its catchiness. The voting for this award ended in a three-way tie, with “I Like It,” “God’s Plan,” and “The Middle” each receiving two votes. “It was so popular when it came out and it was all over social media,” said senior Jameson Pastor on his reason for voting for “God’s Plan.” Album of the Year ended in a two-way tie, with “Scorpion” and “Black Panther: The Album” each receiving two votes. Students seem to be quite split on Song of the Year, as six of eight nominees received votes, with “God’s Plan” and “The Middle” each getting the most votes (two). Sophomore Charlie Dietiker, who voted for “The Middle,” for both Record and Song of the Year said, “This song went hard… an all around great song.” Dua Lipa ran away with Best New Artist, receiving four votes. Students’ justifications for choosing her as the winner was unequivocal. In the words of freshman Ben Hiegel, “She’s the only one I know on this list.” With Post Malone and Cardi B both disqualified from contention of this award, it seems that the high school demographic is not very familiar with the nominees chosen in their place. Ariana Grande won two of three in the Pop category, receiving half of the total votes (four) with “God is a Woman” for Best Pop Solo Performance and “Sweetener” for Best Pop Vocal Album. “Ariana is a goddess… this album is also very different from some of her other work,” said junior Kim Velez-Vega. Senior Ally Salvador echoed this opinion, saying that “She found her sound on this album and it’s a mix of old and new Ariana which I really enjoyed.” Maroon 5’s “Girls Like You” won the other Pop category, Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, with four votes. Travis Scott nearly swept Rap, winning three of four categories.  “Sicko Mode” received over a majority of the votes (five) for Best Rap Performance as well as Best Rap Song, and his album, “Astroworld” ran away with Best Rap Album, tallying six votes. “[Astroworld] was easily one of the most popular songs of the year and I really liked many songs on it,” said junior Owen Erickson on Scott’s third studio album. “It’s better than Invasion of Privacy,” added freshman Charlotte Bagel. Childish Gambino and Post Malone both tied for Best Rap/Sung Performance, with “This is America,” and “Rockstar,” each getting three votes.

Overall, students gave quite consistent votes with quite consistent justifications. Most were not surprised with the nominations, yet  b there were some surprises however. For example, sophomore Emily Robinson was “surprised that the Backstreet Boys received a nomination after being away for so long.” It seems that today’s high schoolers are mainly into rap music, with most citing Hip Hop as their favorite genre and artists such as Drake, Travis Scott, and Post Malone as some of their most listened to. The students’ choices reflected these musical interests, and it will be determined soon whether these predictions are correct when the Grammy Awards air on Sunday, Feb. 10.