The 2021 GRAMMYs are just around the corner, and now the nominations are in for the coveted honor of Record Of The Year. While we'll have to wait until the 63rd GRAMMY Awards air on CBS on Sunday, March 14, to find out who'll win, let's take a look at which records have been nominated for one of the most anticipated GRAMMY Awards each year.
Record Of The Year is a cross-genre award given to the song's recording artist, the producer(s), recording engineer(s) and/or mixer(s) and mastering engineer(s). We've included all of these nominees below, along with more info and music video embeds to help you dive a little deeper into the tracks.
Beyoncé, "BLACK PARADE"
Released on June 19, 2020, Beyoncé's "BLACK PARADE" was meant to highlight multiple causes that all circle back to racial inequality: unveiled in the wake of George Floyd's death and mass protest across the United States in the summer of 2020, "BLACK PARADE" was a charity single to honor Juneteenth (the emancipation day that originated in Beyoncé's home state of Texas). The track was also included on the deluxe edition of The Lion King: The Gift, following the release of Bey's visual album Black Is King.
All proceeds from the song benefit the BeyGOOD Black Business Impact Fund, administered by the National Urban League.
Black Pumas, "Colors"
Black Pumas' self-titled debut featured lead single "Colors," which they performed on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!," "Austin City Limits" and "CBS This Morning." Since its release, the Adrian Quesada-produced single has hit number one on AAA radio and been streamed more than 60 million times. The official live video of "Colors," meanwhile, has been viewed over 25 million times on YouTube.
DaBaby featuring Roddy Ricch, "Rockstar"
Performed by rappers DaBaby and Roddy Ricch, "Rockstar" dropped on April 17, 2020, as the second single from DaBaby's third studio album, Blame It On Baby. In addition to DaBaby and Roddy Ricch, "Rockstar" was written by producer SethInTheKitchen and hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100. "Rockstar" hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in its seventh week.
Doja Cat, "Say So"
Released as the fifth single from last year's Hot Pink, "Say So" went viral after a successful TikTok dance craze this past year. It also topped the Billboard Hot 100 after getting a remix featuring Nicki Minaj, becoming the first collaboration between two female rappers to top that particular chart.
"['Say So' is] about when you go somewhere and you see someone and they don't approach you, but you're looking at each other and you both feel like there's something there," she told MTV earlier this year.
Billie Eilish, "everything i wanted"
Released at the very start of 2020, "everything i wanted" is co-written with Billie Eilish's brother and exclusive producer FINNEAS. Written about her relationship to Finneas, the downtempo track debuted at number 74 on the Billboard Hot 100 and rose to number 8, becoming Eilish's second top-10 single in the U.S.
Describing a dream she had that inspired the song, Eilish recently told "Song Exploder," "I remember in the dream there were newspapers that said, 'Problematic 16-year-old Billie Eilish has finally killed herself'. And my best friends were doing an interview and they were like, 'Oh, we never really liked her'." Eilish and Finneas wrote about the dream in their next recording session, resulting in "everything i wanted."
Dua Lipa, "Don't Start Now"
Appearing on her second studio album, Future Nostalgia, the disco-inspired "Don't Start Now" was written by Dua, Caroline Ailin, Emily Warren and producer Ian Kirkpatrick.
"I wanted to do something that felt fresh and new, something that touched on a memory, something that always rings so true to me, especially in my childhood," Dua told GRAMMY.com earlier this summer about Future Nostalgia. "To be able to recreate that in a modern way was an absolute dream for me. I'm so happy that I stood by and honed in on that sound that I love. It makes me feel so good. I'm really proud of this record because I feel like I found my [footing] as an artist and as a songwriter. I really wrote things that I absolutely love. It's definitely a milestone for me in my career."
Post Malone, "Circles"
Released as the third single on Hollywood's Bleeding, "Circles" hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed there for three weeks, making it the rapper-singer's fourth number-one song. The uptempo yet melancholy track depicts a unravelling relationship, with GRAMMY-nominated performer singing, "Seasons change and our love went cold/Feed the flame 'cause we can't let go."
Megan Thee Stallion featuring Beyoncé, "Savage"
Once fellow Houston native Queen Bey hopped on Megan Thee Stallion's "Savage," where she name-dropped everything from TikTok to Ivy Park to mom Tina Knowles, the Suga single catapulted to number one on the Hot 100. The Beyonce co-sign not only gave Megan her first-ever chart-crushing single, but the two paired up for a good cause, too, with all shared proceeds going to poverty-fighting charity Bread of Life.
2021 GRAMMYs: Complete Nominees List
