Life at MA

By Annie Ehm '27 in Winter 2025

The first GRAMMY award ceremony was held May 4th, 1959, awarding artists like Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra with recognition for their musical achievements. In 2025, the 67th annual GRAMMY awards ceremony was held February 2nd, celebrating beloved and emerging artists, songwriters, producers and more for their historic impacts on music in 2024.

Every year, Recording Academy Members and record companies submit songs, albums, music videos, and performances for consideration in the GRAMMY award process. First, members of the Recording Academy, a collective of music professionals, screen the submissions to be sorted into genres and categories. The Recording Academy votes for the nominations for each category and again for the winner. The winners are announced at the annual televised GRAMMY awards, which has become a night of exposure, acknowledgment and a milestone for music’s greats.

The 1600 asked the Marin Academy community to choose their own winners for the categories:  Best New Artist, Song of the Year, Record of the Year and Album of the Year. The votes are in and the winners are as follows.

Best New Artist:

It was a tie between rising pop princesses Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan. Both artists had standout performances at 2024’s Coachella, marking the start of their breakthrough summer. Sabrina Carpenter, a five foot an established artist, has released six studio albums, but it was Short ‘n Sweet that broke through to the forefront of 2024’s music scene. Later in the year, Carpenter went on the Short ‘n Sweet Tour which was filled with extravagant costumes, sets, humor and theatrics. On the other hand, Roan released the song “Good Luck, Babe!” in 2024.  Her popularity soon extended to the rest of her discography, spotlighting her 2023 album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess. Roan has become a voice for the LGBTQ+ community as she brings her own queer stories to the media. Roan played Lollapalooza last year, attracting the largest attendance the festival had ever seen. Both women crafted unforgettably catchy tunes, and brought refreshingly creative pop voices to this year's awards.

Record of the Year:

This award takes into consideration a song’s production, vocals and songwriting. MA awarded this to the rap hit “Not Like Us,” by Kendrick Lamar. The song, a diss track in a series of jabs between him and fellow rapper Drake, created a defining moment in 2024’s pop culture. “Not Like Us” captured listeners’ attention with a driving and addictive beat, as well as hard-hitting one liners.

Song of the Year:

Lamar’s success within the MA community didn’t stop there, as he snagged Song of the Year for “Not Like Us” as well.  Song of the Year, distinct from Record of the Year, is awarded for specifically the songwriting on the track and “Not Like Us” clearly portrays the lyricism and storytelling this category calls for. The song stated Lamar’s opinions on his opponent, with provocative and blunt verses. The witty and satisfying lyrics are framed with a deceptively simple yet effective and memorable chorus that carries the listeners' experience through Lamar’s perspective on the discourse between him and Drake.

Album of the Year:

The win for this category had tough competition in 2024, with many of music’s favorites having released standout albums such as Taylor Swift’s THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT and Beyoncé’s COWBOY CARTER. However, Billie Eilish’s HIT ME HARD AND SOFT came out on top for MA. Eilish stood out with what could easily be considered her best work to date. The collaboration of the brother-sister powerhouse duo– FINNEAS and Eilish– created a perfect storm across the album, demonstrating new ranges of Eilish’s vocal, emotional, and genre abilities. A notable quality of the album is its cohesive listening experience. The album is perfect for a “no shuffle, no skips” listen as it effortlessly transitions from one song to another, wielding a balance of slow, emotional tracks, and catchy jams. 

2024 was a historic year for music, as demonstrated by the quantity of musical power within just four GRAMMY categories. We saw so many new voices, perspectives and ideas reach the music industry. It was clear that this year, music commanded pop culture. After a year as strong as this, 2025 has big shoes to fill, and we can only hope that music will continue to expand and evolve.  Keep listening, cats!