It goes without saying that the Grammys mostly do not do a great job at representing the state of musical innovation — and popularity, even. This year, we got a few pleasant surprises from the Recording Academy (notably Alvvays getting nominated for Best Alternative Music Performance with Blue Rev's "Belinda Says"), but there were also snubs aplenty.
With six nominations, boygenius — who made one of your favourite records of 2023 — were not among the unrecognized. But they've pointed out a glaring omission from this year's pool of Grammy nominees: Mitski.
In a new interview with Maria Sherman for the Associated Press, the supergroup of Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus discussed their nominations, as well as the disconnect between the music that achieves institutional recognition and what people are actually into.
Bridgers was quick to cite Mitski, who is currently No. 73 of Spotify's most listened-to artists in the world (which is wild for those of us who watched her open for Lorde and Run the Jewels in a mostly empty arena just a few short years go), as an example.
“We’re like, what does it even represent if you’re not representing one of the most listened-to artists of our lives in our genre?" she remarked. "It’s super weird.”
Mitski's 2023 album, The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We, landed at No. 2 on our Best Albums list last year. In addition to widespread critical acclaim, it also garnered the artist's first Billboard-charting track with "My Love Mine All Mine."
Of boygenius's own nominations, Baker added, “It’s always a big of a double-edged sword, being recognized by an institution. It’s either buying into the values of the music biz or we’re only successful to and for each other. It’s nice to see that it translated on a tangible scale.”
We'll see if they translate fully into gramophone trophies for the boys on Sunday (February 4), with the 2024 Grammys airing on CBS and Paramount+ starting at 8 p.m. ET. Hosted by Trevor Noah, the broadcast will feature performances from the likes of Joni Mitchell, SZA, Billy Joel, Dua Lipa, Olivia Rodrigo, Billie Eilish, U2, Travis Scott, Burna Boy and Luke Combs.
