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The nominations for the 2026 Grammy Awards got announced today. Leading the field is Kendrick Lamar, and Lady Gaga and producers Jack Antonoff and Cirkut trail closely behind. There are newcomers—such as Best New Artist nominees Addison Rae and Leon Thomas—and familiar faces, like Tyler, the Creator and Turnstile. Below, see a handful of takeaways from the nominations.
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What Genres Are Tyler, the Creator and Turnstile?
When he won Best Rap Album, for Igor, at the 2020 Grammy Awards, Tyler, the Creator had some choice words for the Recording Academy. “It sucks that whenever we—and I mean guys that look like me—do anything that’s genre-bending or that’s anything, they always put it in a rap or urban category,” he told a Rolling Stone reporter after accepting the trophy. ““When I hear that, I think ‘why can’t we just be in pop?’ Half of me feels like the rap nomination was a backhanded compliment.”
Five years later and Tyler’s wish has finally come true—kind of. In addition to several nods—including Album of the Year and Best Rap Album—for 2024’s Chromakopia, he’s up for Best Alternative Music Album, for Don’t Tap the Glass, his homage to the dance styles of the 1980s. It’s an odd fit for a record that has far more in common with Beyoncé’s Renaissance than it does, say, Wet Leg, and does seem to reflect a limited imagination on the part of Grammy voters. The implication is that a career rapper cannot make a dance album, only an album that is alternative to the other music he has made in his career, are thereby still defined by it.
Turnstile are another act stuck in genre purgatory. The Baltimore hardcore outfit has three songs from Never Enough nominated in three separate categories: Best Rock Performance (“Never Enough”), Best Alternative Music Performance (“Seein’ Stars”), and Best Metal Performance (“Birds”). (The full-length is also up for Best Rock Album!) In Turnstile’s case, though, the spread cements a popular embrace, even by the most entrenched establishment types, that began in earnest with 2021’s Glow On. The only question left is when the Police will be able to claim their retroactive Best Metal Album Grammy for Zenyatta Mondatta.
–Walden Green
The TikTok to Best New Artist Pipeline
The Recording Academy again names eight contenders for Best New Artist; this year’s lineup feels solid if unsurprising, with predictable nods for newly minted pop star Addison Rae, emo-pop heartthrob Sombr, the K-pop-inspired group Katseye, and actor turned Top 10–charting R&B singer Leon Thomas. Rounding out the category are two fresh vocal talents from the United Kingdom, Olivia Dean and Lola Young, who each released a breakthrough debut this year; Alex Warren, of the very dull No. 1 hit song “Ordinary”; and Los Angeles band the Marías, who are not strictly new but surged in popularity following a standout Coachella performance this April. If there’s a lesson here, it’s that the path to Best New Artist starts with short-form video: All these acts have found notable success on TikTok, with Addison Rae and Alex Warren originating as video creators, and Lola Young’s video for her song “Messy” becoming a viral phenomenon in its own right. Alex Warren is probably the weakest pick here, while Addison Rae and Lola Young’s appeal seems like it might go over the academy’s heads; Sombr or Katseye feel more likely, with the ultimate parlay being a Leon Thomas Album of the Year/Best New Artist sweep.
–Anna Gaca
Billie Eilish Finds a Way
Do Grammy voters listen to new music? Your guess is as good as mine. This time, the sometimes dubious group went out of its way to lavish golden child Billie Eilish with yet another sweep of top-shelf nominations in a year when she didn’t release a new song, let alone a full album. “Wildflower,” the sedate final single from Eilish’s previously Grammy-nominated 2024 album, Hit Me Hard and Soft, met the Recording Academy’s nebulous eligibility rules when it was sent to radio this past winter, and now it has prime real estate in both Record and Song of the Year at the upcoming ceremony. The pleading, fingerpicked ballad isn’t bad—Eilish can imbue even the most minor of her diary entries with gravitas—but you have to imagine even she let out a laugh this morning at the recognition, received late and with little to no effort on her part. Did those voters really think “Wildflower” is better than anything else actually released this year? Or did they simply see Eilish’s name on the ballot for the seventh year in a row and say, “What the hell, sure?”
–Eric Torres
Leon Thomas’ Superstar Rise Hits the Next Level
The world is completely unpredictable right now, but there’s one thing that I know for sure: When I turn on the car radio I will hear Leon Thomas’ “Mutt.” It’s the song that officially made him go from former Nickelodeon teen star (he was Andre Harris on Victorious) quietly penning deep cuts for pop hitmakers, including his co-star Ariana Grande, to the face of R&B classicism. (Specifically the remix with Chris Brown, who is sneakily as popular as ever.) Though what really sent him to another level was his breakout “Tiny Desk” performance backed by a loungey funk band, so much so that it is the live version of “Mutt” that is nominated for Best R&B Performance—one of his six nods, which includes major categories like Album of the Year and Best New Artist. The praise makes sense when you think about it: He makes an easy-to-down brand of writerly R&B smeared with Recording Academy–approved soul and hip-hop influences, kinda like if you mashed Brent Faiyaz’s player spirit with H.E.R.’s traditional, family friendly appeal. He won’t be falling out of radio rotation anytime soon.
–Alphonse Pierre
Checking for a Pulse
Have you met that guy at a party who asks, “So, you like electronic music—have you heard of Fred Again..?” Is that guy also on the Grammy nominating committee? It’s possible that many labels releasing great electronic music right now don’t submit to the Grammys, so the Dance/Electronic categories, never a destination for cutting-edge taste, continue to present a sorely dated and incurious view. This year’s nominees for Best Dance/Electronic Recording are: Fred Again.. featuring Skepta and PlaqueBoyMax (Fred’s third consecutive year in this category); electronic’s hottest commodity of 2013, Disclosure, featuring Anderson .Paak (also the duo’s third year in row); a song from Skrillex’s recent album that’s been kicking around since 2012; a totally fine Kaytranada track; and the lead single from Tame Impala’s very sad new techno album. On the album side, PinkPantheress and FKA twigs receive noteworthy nods—with less competition than they might face in the pop categories—alongside Skrillex, Rüfüs Du Sol, and Fred Again.. again. Again??
–Anna Gaca
Making Sense of JID and the Rap Categories
None of the Best Rap Album nominations caught me by surprise except for JID’s God Does Like Ugly, which I didn’t even think about. That was pretty dumb on my part, considering he has become the figure certain corners of the hip-hop world rally around as an example of the sort of lyrical, jazz-infused rap that doesn’t make too much mainstream noise these days. It helps that he’s had J. Cole and Dreamville in his corner for years now and that he can make as much sense going back and forth with Eminem as he does being slotted into the Lyrical Lemonade universe. His inclusion is a sign that, despite all the changes, the Grammys’ preference in rap is still very safe and traditional. You can probably get the gist of that just by looking at the Best Melodic Rap Performance category, in which JID is also nominated, where a dated interpretation of the style continues to be rappers with R&B hooks instead of singing rappers. And, no, I didn’t write all of this about JID just so I can come around and advocate for 03 Greedo’s Crip, I’m Sexy as real melodic rap, but, also, I’m not not doing that.
–Alphonse Pierre
Best Album Cover Comes Through
After merging the Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package awards into one unified Best Recording Package, the Recording Academy also introduced the newly christened Best Album Cover to streamline things further in 2026. Thankfully, voters met the bill for the new category with a roster of striking, actually interesting album art that reflects their diverse artists’ ethos. There’s the languid island backdrop and empty lawn chairs on Bad Bunny’s Debí Tirar Más Fotos, suitably resembling an unearthed, nostalgic family photo while also pointedly underlining ongoing displacement in Puerto Rico. Wet Leg’s memorably creepy artwork for Moisturizer is another inspired pick, which finds band members Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers crouched down and sporting long acrylics, ombré hair, and a demonic smile. Voters even made room for Tyler, the Creator’s noirish, grayscale Chromakopia, the first nomination for the rapper’s characteristically strong artwork throughout the years. But my personal favorite choice goes to Perfume Genius’ Glory, where the singer-songwriter looks like he’s just been violently flung through an open window, clad in heeled boots and tight, low-riding jeans that reveal an eye-popping tanline sliced along his waist. In a just world, art directors Cody Critcheloe and Andrew J.S. easily take the top prize for Glory’s intense, eerie daydream, all bathed in gorgeous lambent orange.
–Eric Torres
