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Grammy week is here, so I’m locking my final predictions before the votes are revealed.

In the first official episode of 2026, I break down my Grammy ballot across 12 categories, including Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist. I also compare my picks against hundreds of listener submissions from my Grammy poll to see where the internet agrees with me and where it doesn’t.

This episode is all about how the Recording Academy actually votes, where narratives matter, and which categories are primed for upsets.

In this episode:

• Final Grammy predictions across the Big Four
• Why Album of the Year is a three-artist race
• The category I’m least confident about
• Listener poll results vs my actual picks
• Dark horses the Academy could surprise us with
• 
  

The next episode will be a full Grammy recap reacting to the winners, performances, and biggest moments of the night. Make sure you're subscribed to the podcast to be notified when the next episode drops!

Chapters

01:46 Predictions for Record of the Year

03:53 Album of the Year Contenders

07:55 Song of the Year Insights

18:19 Best New Artist Predictions

19:24 The Rise of Olivia Dean and Leon Thomas

20:37 Predictions for Best Pop Solo Performance

22:37 Best Pop Duo/Group Performance Insights

24:33 Best Pop Vocal Album Showdown

27:01 Best Dance Pop Recording Predictions

28:04 Best Dance Electronic Album Insights

29:17 Best Remixed Recording Analysis

30:38 Best Traditional Pop Album Discussion

31:46 Best Music Video Predictions

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