Breaking down the likely Grammy winners and losers

Monday night marks the 58th Grammy Awards, honoring the best of the year in music.

Though she’s a self-proclaimed indie music snob and generally avoids pop, music columnist Emera Riley takes a crack at predicting the awards. She avoids trashing the whole show, but still makes it clear who should really win the top awards this year.

It may be hard to catch a flight to Los Angeles to match up her predictions with the real winners, so tune in as the Grammys are broadcast live at 8 p.m. on CBS.

Album of The Year

Who’s nominated:
1.) Kendrick Lamar, “To Pimp a Butterfly”
2.) Chris Stapleton, “Traveller”
3.) Taylor Swift, “1989”
4.) The Weeknd, “Beauty Behind the Madness”
5.) Alabama Shakes, “Sound & Color”

If “To Pimp a Butterfly” doesn’t win, it’s highway robbery. Hailed as a top ten album of the year from multiple magazines — think NPR, Rolling Stone and SPIN — the album has been praised as a cutting-edge sound experience. Lamar brings it all to the table: the beats, the heart and the lyrics. Unfortunately, Lamar has lost out before if the 2014 Macklemore apologizing incident is anything to go by. Here’s hoping the Grammys gets it right this year.

Record of the Year

Who’s nominated:
1.) D’Angelo and The Vanguard, “Really Love”
2.) Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars, “Uptown Funk”
3.) Ed Sheeran, “Thinking Out Loud”
4.) Taylor Swift, “Blank Space”
5.) The Weeknd, “Can’t Feel My Face”

Although you probably haven’t heard “Really Love,” the song sounds like intimate rock and blues at its finest. It’s slick, it’s cool and there’s something incredibly sexy about the way it builds. It leaves listeners wanting more. Most of all, unlike the rest of the artists nominated, it feels less clean cut and perfectly packaged. D’Angelo and The Vanguard aren’t selling their look and it’s apparent — the song is all about the music.

Song of the Year

Who’s nominated:
1.) Kendrick Lamar, “Alright”
2.) Taylor Swift, “Blank Space”
3.) Little Big Town, “Girl Crush”
4.) Wiz Khalifa featuring Charlie Puth, “See You Again”
5.) Ed Sheeran, “Thinking Out Loud”

“Girl Crush” is a well written song that tugs at the heartstrings. While it is country, there are no mentions of tractors, and it isn’t awful and auto-tuned. Although “Alright” is successful in its execution, it’s lyrically repetitive, and “Thinking Out Loud” sounds like any other Ed Sheeran song ever written. “Girl Crush” is subtle, as there’s no soaring notes or fanfare, but that’s kind of what makes it great. You’ll never get it out of your head and the cool thing is, you won’t want to.

Best New Artist

Who’s nominated:
1.) Courtney Barnett
2.) James Bay
3.) Sam Hunt
4.) Tori Kelly
5.) Meghan Trainor

This is a category that is filled with losers. Sam Hunt is a country, auto-tuned mess. Meghan Trainor’s so called “body positivity” is actually skinny shaming, which can be just as harmful. Tori Kelly is just as boring as her music and Courtney Barnett is an overhyped, Lucinda Williams knock-off, which leaves singer-songwriter James Bay. What Bay lacks in originality, he makes up for in the fact that his music doesn’t suck. “Let it Go” is both tender and beautiful, and “Hold Back the River” is pretty enjoyable, too. Really, in this day and age, that’s all we can ask for.

Best Solo Pop Performance

Who’s nominated:
1.) Kelly Clarkson, “Heartbeat Song”
2.) Ellie Goulding, “Love Me Like You Do”
3.) Ed Sheeran, “Thinking Out Loud”
4.) Taylor Swift, “Blank Space”
5.) The Weeknd, “Can’t Feel My Face”

Everybody has their guilty pleasure song and for most people at ‘Cuse it seems to be The Weeknd’s “Can’t Feel My Face.” For one thing, the song is incredibly addicting and say what you want about The Weeknd — the boy can sing. What’s interesting about him is his lack of a cookie-cutter approach. Unlike his challengers, nobody’s broken up with him, he’s not really falling in love and he’s not committing to the girl forever. The relationship is temporary, addictive and a little messed up.

Best Pop Vocal Album

Who’s nominated:
1.) Kelly Clarkson, “Piece by Piece”
2.) Florence and the Machine, “How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful”
3.) Mark Ronson, “Uptown Special”
4.) Taylor Swift, “1989”
5.) James Taylor, “Before This World”

Florence and the Machine isn’t technically pop, but it doesn’t matter. “How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful,” is the kind of music I want played at my funeral. The songs sound like a diary entry and are an incredible return to her Lungs roots. The lyrics are haunting and mesmerizing, a backdrop to the sick drum beats mixed with the fantastic trumpet solos. Think witchcraft. Compared to her auto-tuned, didn’t-actually-write-the-album competitors, she wins every time

Emera Riley is a sophomore magazine journalism major. Her column appears weekly in Pulp. You can email her at elril100@syr.edu or follow her on Twitter @emerariley.