Knight Writers

ISSUE 2: Grammy Nominations Break the Mold: Over Half the Spotlight on Female Artists

The nominations are in and they’re for the girls.

Malia Rodriguez, Senior Staff Writer

December 11, 2023

An illustration of a Grammy trophy.

It is well known that historically in the music industry, men have always been on top. However, recently, this has changed as not only are the top 100 charts dominated by female musicians but so are the Grammy nominations.

Firstly, in arguably the biggest category of the year, album of the year, seven out of eight of the nominations are women. These albums include “Midnights” by Taylor Swift, “the record” by boygenius, “GUTS” by Olivia Rodrigo and “Did You Know that There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Boulevard” by Lana Del Rey. Personally, I think that every one of these nominees deserves it but, “Midnights” probably deserves it the most.

While the other albums on this list are both lyrically and production-wise amazing, “Midnights” is truly an amazing album for many reasons. It was the first album to occupy every spot on the Billboard Top Ten list and broke the record for most record sales in a week. It also is a gorgeously produced album by one of the most talented artists of our generation and has so many hit songs that it’s not even comparable to any other album on this list.

In another category, record of the year, another seven out of eight nominations are also female artists. These records include “Anti-Hero” by Taylor Swift, “Kill Bill” by SZA, “vampire” by Olivia Rodrigo, “On My Mama” by Victoria Moneta and “What was I Made For?” by Billie Ellish. Out of these songs, there was one that followed me around anywhere I went and probably was played a few too many times: “Anti-Hero.” Even though it’s not my favorite from this list, you can’t deny this song was incredibly popular and has also broken records.

On the other hand, for alternative album and music performance of the year, I believe “Did You Know that There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Boulevard” and “A&W” by Lana Del Rey truly deserve to win. Both the album and this song were revolutionary to me and many others have highlighted the talent of Del Rey as not only a songwriter but also a performer, contrasting her previous critique of being ‘boring to watch.’

And finally, the artist with the most nominations overall is SZA with a grand total of nine for Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, Best R&B Performance, Best Traditional R&B Performance, Best R&B Song Best Progressive and R&B Best Melodic Rap Performance. This is incredibly impressive and deserved as SZA is another one of the best artists right now and one who is incredibly talented.

Overall, this year’s nominations are fantastic and really do represent the best of the best musical artists of this year and the fact that they are mostly women is great to see. Every single one of these nominations is deserved and I’m excited to see the results.

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About the Contributors

Malia Rodriguez, Fun Coordinator

Malia Rodriguez is a junior this year and is one of Knight Writer's Fun Coordinators. As Fun Coordinator she plans events and parties for journalism staff. She has been on staff for the past three years. “I like to have fun here, in newspaper," she said. "It can be kind of a stressful environment, so a lot of my job comes with team building. I plan a lot of parties. We do parties for every holiday for every print issue, to keep it a bit happier.” Recently, Malia has written “Cigarettes After Sex’s “X” Blends Familiar Sounds with New Themes” for the Knight Writer’s website. Most of her pieces are A&E or opinions; she says one of her favorite things about newspaper is the community. “I really enjoy having a place that's so accepting and welcoming. We have a lot of different people in this class. Especially when I joined, we had a lot of different people in this class: IB, traditional, preppy, emo. The nature of the elective kind of forces you to be together,” Rodriguez said. Ever since she was little, she has taken some form of dance. She found dance by seeing her cousin do it and wished to do it too. She started in more contemporary dance styles and only stayed in those for a few years. Once she did ballet, though, she fell in love with it and has been doing it for four years. “At my studio doesn’t typically do big productions, we just do a recital at the end of the year. I would love to, though; if an opportunity came up, I would absolutely take it,” Rodriguez said. A crafty person, she chooses to do different types of art in her free time. She does cross stitch, crocheting and builds miniatures. Currently she is working on a yarn project for her mom. She was taught by her grandmother how to crochet and cross stitching. “Every time I would go up there [her grandmother’s house] she [her grandmother] would be teaching me a different craft,” Rodriguez said. "They are definitely old lady hobbies, but I like them, and I think they're fun.” Working in animal rescue has appealed to Rodriguez as a way to obtain service hours. She works at a cat rescue center that she came across in her search for places to do service hours. She received training and then started to work with the kittens. “I’m really passionate about animals and rescuing animals,” Rodriguez said. “They are innocent animals that need protection.”

Janiece Mitchner, Lead Illustrator

Janiece Mitchner is a senior at Robinson High School and is the Lead Illustrator of the Knight Writers. This is her third year on staff. Despite being put into journalism as an accident, Mitchner has chosen to stay in the class. Surprisingly, she found one aspect of this class especially enjoyable. "I thought it would be fun and I don't have to write stories, instead I get to draw," Mitchner said. After watching Tim Burton's A Nightmare Before Christmas in sixth grade, Mitchner's passion for art was sparked. Since then, she has been creating digital art in her free time. Upon graduating, she plans on majoring in illustration or sequential art. "I love the idea of trying to capture the most emotion or importance in a single or multiple image(s) that tells a story, rather than with words. I hope to one day earn an award or Oscar for my art or a New York Times best-selling novel," Mitchner said. Outside of working in journalism, Mitchner is also a part of culinary leadership and enjoys spending her free time working in the kitchen. "I like to help out, stay after in the morning, help with events, and such," Mitchner said. You can also find Mitchner spending time working in her clubs such as S2S (Student 2 Student) where she works as an events coordinator, as well as FCCLA (Family Career and Community Leaders of America), where she holds the position as the president. "I'm really excited, hopefully, we can get some people to join the club this year and get a lot more people into competitions and pro start," Mitchner said.

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ISSUE 2: Grammy Nominations Break the Mold: Over Half the Spotlight on Female Artists

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