The R&B/Urban Contemporary Grammys are Beyoncé's to lose, if you take most experts' advice into play. Other nominees—including Jennifer Hudson, Chris Brown, Usher and Ledisi—would like to suggest otherwise however.
NOMINEES:
"Drunk in Love" by Beyoncé ft. Jay Z
"New Flame" by Chris Brown ft. Usher & Rick Ross
"It's Your World" by Jennifer Hudson ft. R. Kelly
"Like This" by Ledisi
"Good Kisser" by Usher
WHO SHOULD WIN: "Drunk in Love" by Beyoncé ft. Jay Z
It's one thing to write a smash single and it's another for that track to ingrain itself in pop culture. It speaks volumes that even a relatively obscure moment from Beyoncé and Jay Z's "Drunk in Love," the infamous surfboard moment, has made the Hawaiian sport sexier than it ever was during Elvis's day.
The single packs everything the paparazzi and the rest of society wants to hear about: details regarding the sex life, however fictional it may be, of the most powerful couple in the entertainment industry. Oh, and it also has Beyoncé belting at her best and Jay Z delivering a guest verse that, while on point, doesn't diminish the role his host/wife.
Admittedly the big names associated with "Drunk In Love" might give it an unfair advantage when push comes to shove among Recording Academy voters, but Jennifer Hudson's "It's Your World" duet with R. Kelly earns recognition if not the trophy. It brings the funk where Beyoncé brought the quiet storm, and Hudson delivers an empowering message with one of the most em-powerful voices in the industry.
Ledisi is one of the more interesting nominees due to her relatively unknown status, at least compared to the rest of the A-listers featured among the nominees. "Like This" is underwhelming, again in relation to the huge productions that are her competition, but this is a vocalist who was cast as Mahalia Jackson in the film Selma. That should give you an idea what she's capable of vocally.
Chris Brown's "New Flame" works as a single but even with Usher and Rick Ross in tow, it can't compete with the other joint efforts on the list. Usher gets his own solo feature with "Good Kisser" but, despite his seemingly increased odds, won't land a trophy.
WHO WILL WIN: "Drunk in Love" by Beyoncé and Jay Z
It's a good year to be Beyoncé...as are most years. Fans have had to wait more than a year to see how her surprise self-titled album would fare at the Grammys and it appears that it will fare well. As Music Times writer Caitlin Carter predicted earlier this week, Beyoncé is a favorite to win the Album of The Year prize and many of its parts, including "Drunk In Love" will take home trophies themselves. She's already won five Grammys in both 2004 and 2010 for Dangerously in Love and I Am...Sasha Fierce respectively. It could happen again.
As mentioned before, it's been well over a year since the album dropped, which always lends itself to the possibility that voters may be less excited than they were at this point last year ("Drunk In Love" could have won Best Metal Performance during 2014 if it were nominated, based on the furor the album caused when it dropped by surprise during November).
Fortunately we can at least attest that this is the best recording in play for the Best R&B Performance so popularity politics don't need to come into play. That might be more questionable in the Album of The Year category.
