Former arch-enemies Kanye West and Taylor Swift are among the many artists who are benefitting from the Recording Academy's decision to expand top award categories.
This year, the Recording Academy chose to make the Big Four categories more competitive by increasing the award pool from 8 nominees to 10, and according to Complex, the decision to do so was made at the "last-minute," reportedly just 24 hours before the 2022 Grammy nominations were officially announced.
Thanks to the rule change, Taylor Swift's Evermore and Ye's Donda were able to break into the Album of the Year category, and Baby Keem and Arooj Aftab were able to be nominated for Best New Artist. In the Record of the Year category, Lil Nas X’s “Montero (Call Me by Your Name)” and Abba’s “I Still Have Faith in You” were both added, and both Doja Cat and SZA's "Kiss Me More" and Carlile’s “Right on Time” were able to nab Grammy noms for Record of the Year.
"For us this is all positive movement [that will] make room for more music, more artists and more genres," Recording Academy President Harvey Mason Jr. explained. "This is us honoring more great artists, more great music, giving artists an opportunity to shine and showcase."
This decision marks the second major change to the top categories within two years, following the expansion from the decades-old tradition of five nominees to eight in 2019. Let us know in the comments if you agree or disagree with the Recording Academy's decision.
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