The 2025 Grammy nominations are a far-reaching reflection of the artists who shaped the past year, with Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Charli to other artists represented in the dozens of categories.

But as always, there were surprises that pleased both: Andre 3000’s flute opus nominated for album of the year! Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter both nominated in the top four categories! – and less. Eyes below…

SURPRISE: In Album of the Year, Taylor, Beyoncé and Sabrina compete against… André 3000? Not at all a knock on André 3000’s instrumental flute album, but Grammy aficionados might be shocked to see his latest “New Blue Sun” competing in the top album category against Charli XCX, Chappell Roan and Billie Eilish. If the Grammys are a popularity contest, then ‘New Blue Sun’ is the zen anti-commercialite soaking up the atmosphere in a sound bath somewhere. It’s certainly one of the biggest surprises in the four major categories, which often lean towards recognizing the most popular music from the eligible period, and ‘New Blue Sun’ was more of an if-you-know -plate. That said, Three Stacks’ latest got the love elsewhere, with nominations for best alternative jazz album and best instrumental composition, where the competition feels much more aligned (at least musically).

SURPRISING: Beyoncé rules across all genres. The discourse surrounding Beyoncé’s “Cowboy Carter” began the moment it was announced: Is it a country album? An Americana record? A completely new genre? Bey’s big swing appears to have not only earned her the most nominations this year (11, in case you were wondering), but also a spread across specific genre categories. In addition to album of the year and both record and song of the year with “Texas Hold ‘Em”, Bey ends up in the pop, country, Americana and rap categories. Among her country and Americana nods: “16 Carriages” (best country solo performance), “II Most Wanted” with Miley Cyrus (best country duo/group performance), “Texas Hold ‘Em” (best country song), “Ya Ya ” (best Americana performance) and best country album. “Spaghettii” ends in best melodic rap performance, while “Bodyguard” ends in best pop solo performance and “Levii’s Jeans” featuring Post Malone is slated for best pop duo/group performance.

It’s worth noting that Beyoncé received almost all the nominations she applied for, with the exception of “Tyrant,” which was up for best R&B song. Regardless, she now has a total of 99 career nominations, making her the most nominated artist in Grammy history (she previously held the record with her husband Jay-Z at age 88), and she’s also the most awarded in Grammy history. This year is also her first to receive nominations in the field of Country & Americana Roots music.

SURPRISE: Chappell and Sabrina secure the big four. Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter are arguably the breakout stars of the year, and their nominations speak for that. Both are nominated for record, album and song of the year, plus best new artist, making them the third pair to be nominated in all four general categories this decade.

KIND OF A SNUB: Ariana Grande has been left out of the general fields. Amid mounting press pressure ahead of her role in the upcoming ‘Wicked’ film, Ariana Grande dropped her seventh album ‘Eternal Sunshine’ but didn’t really promote it as a superstar release, presumably in a attempt to prevent overexposure in advance. the movie. Perhaps as a result, she has been relegated entirely to the pop categories, where she has been nominated for best pop duo/group performance (“The Boy Is Mine” with Brandy and Monica), best pop vocal album and best dance-pop recording (“Yes, And ?”).

SNUB: Victoria Monét and Killer Mike nowhere to be found. Both Monét – who won best new artist last year – and Mike had great success earlier this year when the former took home three awards and the latter swept the rap categories. This year, Monét was nominated in the R&B categories for “SOS,” her steamy duet with Usher, while Mike entered with his latest “Michael & the Mighty Midnight Revival, Songs for Sinners and Saints” and the song “Humble Me.” But despite their differences, they remain out of the vote for next year’s ceremony.

NO SURPRISE: Zach Bryan isn’t getting any nominations. Of course, that’s because Zach Bryan has chosen not to submit this year. Earlier this year, he earned three awards in the country categories, winning for best country duo/group performance for “I Remember Everything” with Kacey Musgraves. But for the 2025 Grammys, he opted not to submit fully, meaning his fifth album “The Great American Bar Scene,” released on July 4, will disappear without recognition. In turn, Bryan joins an illustrious (and growing) group of artists who have no interest in the Grammys, as Drake and The Weeknd have famously hidden in recent years.

SURPRISE: Kendrick is competing with himself. …as if you can really call that a surprise, because Kendrick Lamar is often in a class of his own. This year, even without an album release, he’s in second place with seven nominations (alongside Billie Eilish, Charli year, best music video, best rap performance and best rap song. But he’ll be competing with himself in the final two categories, where his feature film about Future and Metro Boomin’s “Like That” is filmed.

SNUB: Jack Antonoff has been ruled out for producer of the year. Jack Antonoff has locked down the producer of the year (non-classical) category for the past three years, sweeping the category from 2022 through this year. So it comes as a big shock that he’s completely left out of the nominees, which include Mustard, Daniel Nigro, Dernst “D’Mile” Emile II, Alissia and Ian Fitchuk. And it’s not like it was a slow year for Antonoff either. In addition to producing Taylor Swift’s ‘The Tortured Poets Department,’ which is nominated for album of the year, he has contributed to records across the board for Lana Del Rey, Kendrick Lamar and Gracie Abrams, the latter of whom is nominated for song ‘Us.’, with Swift, in the best pop duo/group performance (he also produced that). It’s unclear why he wouldn’t make the cut, but he’ll at least likely pick up an award or two for his work with others.

SURPRISE-ISH: The best new artist is a mixed bag. Everyone you’d expect to be nominated for best new artist is here this year: Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan, Shaboozey, Benson Boone and Teddy Swims. But there are a few less expected inclusions, namely Khruangbin, Doechii and Raye, the latter of whom is the first new artist nominee in Grammy history to also be honored in the songwriter of the year category for her solo work and contributions to other artists. ‘registrations.

SNUB: Why are you Hozier, Tyla and Doja Cat? A few artists who looked like shoo-ins are coming up empty-handed this year. It’s a little confusing that Hozier, who made a remarkable comeback this year with his single “Too Sweet,” has zero nominations for the 2025 Grammys. Tyla took home the Grammy earlier this year for “Water” in the first category for Best African Music Performance, but none of her subsequent singles are anywhere to be found. And Doja Cat released her latest album “Scarlet” within the eligible period, although she also gets nothing.

SNUB: Missed opportunity for diversity in pop categories. Not surprisingly, Latin music is largely confined to genre-specific categories. This is with the exception of another consecutive nomination for songwriter Edgar Barrera in the songwriter (non-classical) category, alongside artists of Latin American descent in categories not part of the main broadcast (Gustavo Dudamel gets his sixth nod in orchestral performance) . This is strange considering the flood of culture-blending Spanish-language pop music released this year. Although the two most eligible (and widely submitted) pop albums – Shakira’s “Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran” and Kali Uchis’ “Orquídeas” – appear in a stacked lineup for the Latin pop album category, recognition from Uchis could have been and Peso Pluma’s bilingual huge pop hit “Igual Que Un Ángel” in the pop duo group category. It’s clearly a snub, but not a surprise: the only Spanish-language songs nominated are “Despacito” (Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee and Justin Bieber) in 2017 and “Un Día (One Day)” (J Balvin, Dua Lipa, Bad Bunny and Tainy) in 2021.