Charli XCX and Beyoncé had two of the most impactful albums of 2024, making Brat and Cowboy Carter leaders in the race for the Album of The Year Grammy. Before her sixth studio album dropped this summer, Charli XCX didn’t get much recognition from the music industry. Her only number-one song is 2014’s “Fancy,” a collaboration with Iggy Azalea. While she still hasn’t had a number one album – Brat was blocked by Taylor Swift’s The Tortued Poets Department and Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft – Brat became the album of the summer in 2024.
Cowboy Carter also saw massive success, debuting at #1 on the Billboard 200 album charts. Unfortunately, despite having every one of her solo studio albums reach number one, Beyoncé has never won Album of The Year at the Grammys. It seemed likely she would win in 2023 when she was nominated for Renaissance, a defining album of 2022. However, the coveted award instead went to Harry Styles’ Harry’s House. The race for 2024’s Album of The Year is tight with so many great competitors, but Charli XCX’s Brat and Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter are the most likely winners.
Brat Was A Defining Album Of 2024
Charli XCX’s Sixth Album Invented Brat Summer
2024 was the year of breakout hits for artists who had been putting out music for years. Like Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter, Charli XCX spent a decade building a music career before becoming a mainstream pop star. Brat was an instant success, dominating social media and unexpectedly becoming the center of the 2024 election. When Joe Biden announced he would be dropping out of the presidential race and Kamala Harris confirmed she’d take his place, Brat summer really began. Social media feeds became flooded with edits of Harris to various Brat tracks, including “360” and “365.”
There was also a viral TikTok dance to Brat‘s song “Apple” that took over the internet in 2024. Aside from its virality, Brat was also critically acclaimed, landing at #1 on the best albums of 2024 lists from publications like Rolling Stone and Billboard. Charli XCX is up for eight awards at the 2025 Grammys, one of them being Album of The Year. Given Brat‘s success and acclaim, it’s very likely Charli XCX could go home with the highest honor of the night.
Cowboy Carter Could Be Beyoncé’s First AOTY Win
Beyoncé Brought Country To The Forefront
On the other hand, Beyoncé helped bring country music to the forefront of the industry when she dropped Cowboy Carter in March 2024. Beyoncé and her fans have expressed frustration over the years about her never being properly rewarded for her albums. Beyoncé has reinvented herself over and over again throughout the nearly 30 years she’s been in the industry, but the Grammys have never given her the highest honor of the night. Beyoncé finally called out the Academy in her Cowboy Carter track “Sweet Honey Buckiin.” This might wake voters up and convince them to vote for her.
A-O-T-Y, I ain’t win (let’s go)
I ain’t stuntin’ ’bout them
Take that sh*t on the chin
Come back and f*ck up the pen (yeah)
However, Cowboy Carter wouldn’t win just because the singer called out the Academy. It was also an excellent album that debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 charts and brought Black Americans back into the country scene. Today, the country industry is mostly made up of white musicians like Blake Shelton and Carrie Underwood. However, country music was built upon the talent and creativity of Black Americans. Like she reclaimed disco music with Renaissance, Beyoncé took back country music with Cowboy Carter. This was a major moment and a more than valid reason why Cowboy Carter should be rewarded.
Album Of The Year Could Go To Another Album
There Are Many Deserving Album Of The Year Nominees
Just because Brat and Cowboy Carter saw commercial success and made a big impact in 2024 doesn’t guarantee the Academy will reward them. This is one of the closest races in years, as so many of the nominees had defining albums in 2024. Chappell Roan took over pop music with The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, and Sabrina Carpenter’s Short N’ Sweet succeeded alongside it. The album even became Carpenter’s first #1 album, with “Please Please Please” as her first #1 song. However, no album succeeded more in 2024 than Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department.
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The album was the highest-selling of the year and spent 17 weeks at #1 on the Billboard charts. Swift is also the only artist to have won Album of The Year at the Grammys four times, with her previous albums Fearless, 1989, Folklore, and Midnights. Clearly, the Academy seems to favor the pop star. However, her many wins and the fact she won last year could cause the Academy to go in a different direction. Billie Eilish is also nominated for Album of The Year, which she won in 2020 for When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?
Eilish had another successful album with Hit Me Hard and Soft, which included the popular single “Birds of a Feather.” However, the Academy should also consider the underdog nominees. André 3000 and Jacob Collier are both nominated for their respective albums, New Blue Sun and Djesse Vol. 4. The former OutKast singer has won ten Grammys in the past, while Collier has won six. While the Grammys have given Album of The Year to major artists like Taylor Swift in recent years, there’s evidence they might steer off course.
In 2022, despite being up against Swift, Eilish, and Olivia Rodrigo, Jon Batiste’s We Are took home the highest honor of the night. A similar event occurred in 2015 when Beck’s Morning Phase won over Beyoncé’s self-titled album. While the success and critical acclaim of Charli XCX‘s Brat and Beyoncé‘s Cowboy Carter suggests the Grammy voters could rule in their favor, there’s no way to be sure, and votes might surprise audiences by crowning another artist the Album of The Year winner.
First appeared on screenrant.com