Grammy Nominations Predictions 2017, From Beyonce to Adele to Chance the Rapper

We’re all patiently (anxiously) awaiting for The Recording Academy to release its nominations for the 2017 Grammy Awards on Tuesday. In the meantime, we’ve compiled our own predictions about who’ll win in the major categories, based on critical acclaim and cultural impact. Pour yourself a lemonade and read along.

ALBUM OF THE YEAR

“Lemonade,” Beyoncé

She made history by being the only female act to have all 12 songs from her latest album on Billboard’s Hot 100, Beyoncé is the most Grammy nominated female — she has 53 nominations. She has been nominated for an award almost every year since 2000 and given the success of “Lemonade” it’s very likely that she will be returning the spotlight this time around, too.

Also Read: Beyonce at the CMAs and the Myth That Blacks and Country Music Don't Mix

“Views,” Drake

The Canadian rapper’s album provided “One Dance,” summer 2016’s official anthem. “Views” also surpassed Beyoncé’s “Lemonade” in both sales and streams. According to Forbes, his album’s first week of sales was the highest for a male artist since Justin Timberlake’s “The 20/20 Experience” in 2013.

“Blackstar,” David Bowie

This album was released two days before his death as an apparent parting gift to his fans. They honored him by making “Blackstar” his only album to top the Billboard 200 list in the United States. Expect Bowie to get some well-deserved respect on Grammy night. since this is pretty much the last time the Academy can recognize him for his contributions.

“25,” Adele

Adele is no stranger to the Grammys, having received 10 awards and 13 nominations during her career. “25” didn’t musically stray in style from her previous critically acclaimed albums so there’s a big chance that she’ll receive a nomination this year.

“A Head Full of Dreams” Coldplay

Coldplay’s album debuted at number two on the UK Albums charts and on Billboard’s 200 list — and only because Adele’s “25” was in the number one spot.

SONG OF THE YEAR
“Hello,” Adele
“Sandcastles,” Beyoncé
“Love Yourself,” Justin Bieber
“I Hate U, I Love U,” Gnash
“Cheap Thrills,” Sia

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Song of the Year is usually a little more difficult to predict since the award is to recognize the songwriters, and not the performer. Adele’s “Hello” is pretty much a shoe-in and in her case, the artist was also the writer. Beyonce’s “Sandcastles” might not be her best-known song, but it is the rawest track on “Lemonade.” While “Cheap Thrills” isn’t one of Sia’s best songs (ahem, “Chandelier”), it received a lot of airtime and the Academy might finally give her recognition she deserves.

RECORD OF THE YEAR
“Formation,” Beyoncé
“Work,” Rihanna
“One Dance,” Drake
“Hello,” Adele
“Starboy,” The Weeknd

There hasn’t been one song that caused as much controversy in 2016 as much as Queen Bey’s “Formation,” because not everyone liked that it was so unapologetically black. The song quickly became the anthem of embracing one’s power and blackness. While Rihanna‘s “Work” and Drake’s “One Dance” aren’t quite on the same level musically as Adele’s “Hello” and “Formation,” both were big anthems. “Work” peaked at number one on Billboard’s Hot 100 list and brought Rihanna‘s music back to her Caribbean roots. While the Weeknd’s album didn’t drop in time to be eligible for this year’s Grammy nominations, his single “Starboy” did, and we’re oh so glad. “Starboy” peaked at number two on Billboard’s 200 list and topped the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

BEST NEW ARTIST

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Bryson Tiller

Bryson Tiller’s only studio album, “Trapsoul,” was already nominated at the Billboard Music Awards, American Music Awards and Soul Train Awards — there’s no doubt his music is good. His album practically redefined the meaning of R&B and Trap music. He also made baseball caps cool again.

Chance the Rapper

Chance the Rapper isn’t really “new,” but under Grammy rules, he’s eligible. Although he has yet to release a studio album, the artist made music history when “Coloring Book” became the only mixtape to chart on Billboard’s 200. He also received widespread critical acclaim for it.

The Chainsmokers

This one requires no explanation. “Closer” was all over the radio this year, and when it wasn’t playing in your car, you were definitely singing or humming the tune in your head.

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Maren Morris

Although Maren Morris has been making music since 2005, the country artist was signed to a major label just in 2015. This year, she started touring with major country music legend Keith Urban and her album “Hero” peaked at number 5 on Billboard’s 200 list.

Desiigner

Although a lot of people confused Desiigner with Future, his single “Panda” quickly rose to popularity. “Panda, panda, panda” was literally the only thing anyone kept saying for months. Even Kanye West sampled the song for his “Life of Pablo” album.

BEST RAP ALBUM

“Life of Pablo,” Kanye West
“Views,” Drake
“Evol,” Future
“Coloring Book,” Chance the Rapper
“We Got it from Here… Thank You 4 Your Service,” A Tribe Called Quest

Also Read: Watch Drake Sing Taylor Swift's 'Bad Blood' in Apple Music Parody (Video)

Although Kanye West’s “Life of Pablo” wasn’t one of his best albums, his nomination is inevitable because it’s Kanye and he marketed his album like it was worthy of an Album of the Year title. Drake’s “Views” will be nominated for obvious reasons and Future’s “Evol” did fairly well, debuting at number one on Billboard’s 200 list. Although Chance the Rapper’s “Coloring Book” technically isn’t a studio album, it’s a mixtape, The Recording Academy recently changed its rules to allow streaming-only titles to be considered.

BEST R&B ALBUM

“Anti,” Rihanna
“Lemonade,” Beyoncé
“Hard II Love,” Usher
“BLACKsummers’night,” Maxwell
“Malibu,” Anderson Paak

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The last and only album of Rihanna’s to have been nominated for a Grammy was “Loud,” and that one wasn’t nearly as good as “Anti.” Maxwell has not disappointed since he first stepped into the R&B music. He practically defined ’90s R&B and his most-recent album is in line with the rest of his greatness. “BLACKsummers’ night” received critical acclaim and went platinum. It’s hard to have a best of the best R&B list without including Usher.

BEST POP ALBUM

“Anti,” Rihanna
“Adventure of a Lifetime,” Coldplay
“25,” Adele
“Purpose” Justin Bieber
“This is What it Feels Like,” Gwen Stefani

Adele and Rihanna will again be nominated for this category for obvious reasons — they outdid themselves, in true Adele and Rihanna fashion, on their latest albums. Gwen Stefani’s third studio album marks her first in ten years. Justin Bieber’s “Purpose” marked his transition from a teeny bopper idol to a growing musician.

BEST COUNTRY ALBUM

“Hero,” Maren Morris
“Ripcord,” Keith Urban
“Storyteller,” Carrie Underwood
“Damn Country Music,” Tim McGraw

Maren Morris’ album will likely be nominated due to the success of “Hero.” Keith Urban’s “Ripcord” received critical acclaim and was already nominated for a CMA Award. Tim McGraw is also no stranger to the Grammy Awards, plus his latest “Damn Country Music,” debuted at number five on Billboard’s 200 list.

12 Hip-Hop Beefs Ranked, Wack to Best: From Drake v Meek Mill to Biggie v Tupac (Photos)

In light of the genre's most recent petty feud between The Game and Meek Mill, TheWrap looks back at hip-hop's best and worst historic beefs.
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The Game v. Meek Mill

The East Coast–West Coast feud may never die, even if its combatants occasionally do. In its latest installment, The Game shot disses at Meek Mill in September after the Compton rapper came to believe that Meek implicated him in the assault and robbery of performer Sean Kingston.

The Game released a diss track called "Pest Control," while Meek Mill has yet to retaliate. As of now, this feud is still raging -- The Game likes to call his adversary "Meeky Mouse."
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Iggy Azalea vs. Azealia Banks

The battle of the Azaleas started in 2012, when Banks called out XXL magazine for placing Iggy on its "Freshman" cover after she spit lyrics like "runway slave master" on one of her tracks.

In 2014, Banks called out Iggy for being quick to appropriate black culture while staying silent went it comes to black issues -- like the police shooting of Mike Brown. She also called her "Igloo Australia."

Iggy hit back with a Twitter rant, calling Banks "poisonous" and blaming her lack of success on her "piss poor attitude."
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Drake vs. Meek Mill

The Philly-based rapper called out Drake in a tweet in 2015, claiming the "Views" artist wasn't promoting Meek's "Dreams Worth More Than Money" album -- on which he was featured -- because Drake doesn't write his own raps.

The Canadian rapper shot back with two diss tracks, "Charged Up" and "Back to Back," in the same week. Meek Mill fired back with his own "Wanna Know." The feud still appears to be active, as Drake released "Summer Sixteen" earlier this yeah, which was perceived as another track aimed at Meek Mill.
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The Roxanne Wars

WBLS D.J. Mr. Magic made U.T.F.O.'s "Roxanne, Roxanne" a hit, but When the group bailed on a thank-you appearance on his radio show, the Marley Marl-backed Juice Crew cut a diss track in response, featuring teen Lolita Gooden under the moniker Roxanne Shanté.

U.T.F.O. responded to Shanté's diss, which opened the flood gates for any Roxanne, Rox and Roxy to get in on the feud, which they did, with a number of unauthorized responses by acts like Sparky D, Ralph Rolle and Dr. Freshh.
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Nicki Minaj vs. Lil Kim

Lil' Kim, a.k.a. Queen of Hip-Hop, thought Nicki Minaj was biting her style, so shortly after Minaj's "Pink Friday" release, Kim recorded a diss track titled "Black Friday." "I'll turn Pink Friday into Friday the 13th, Alright you Little Kim clone clown," Queen Bee rapped.

Nicki threw subliminal shade at Kim during her 2015 BET Awards acceptance speech. Although she never mentioned her by name, many took it as a direct slam: “Please make it your business to follow your dreams because one day, you will wake up and look around and your dreams will be gone. And then you’ll be mad at somebody, but be mad at your f------ self," Minaj said.
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The Game v. 50 Cent

These two only recently made up in a strip club after 12 years during which several diss tracks were exchanged. It started when 50 dismissed The Game from his label live on New York's Hot 97 in 2005 because the Compton rapper didn't want to be a part of G-Unit's feuds with other crews.

The two staged a public reconciliation that many dismissed as a publicity stunt, when 50 said shortly afterward that The Game had no street cred. The Game then initiated a boycott of G-Unit.
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50 Cent v. Ja Rule

This beef turned violent, with Ja Rule alleging that 50 was behind a robbery of the "Holla Holla" rapper out of what he called jealousy. 50 was then attacked by Ja Rule's Murder Inc. in a New York recording studio where he was stabbed.

Investigators also believed Murder Inc. was linked to 50 Cent's infamous shooting in which the "Get Rich or Die Trying" artist was shot a total of nine times. Diss tracks and physical altercations ensued, with the rivalry having been most recently revived last year in a series of taunting tweets.
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Lil' Kim vs. Foxy Brown

Lil' Kim and Foxy Brown's careers took off around the same time, fueling rumors that there were tensions between the two -- especially when their debut albums were scheduled for release a week apart.

Then Kim put out "Notorious K.I.M.," on which she took implicit shots at Foxy, who then fired back with some lines of her own. The beef eventually took a violent turn when shots rang out as Kim left Hot 97's studios following a run-in between her entourage and Capone from Capone-N-Noreaga. It was believed to have been related to Foxy's lyrics in the CNN song "Bang, Bang."
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Jay-Z vs. Nas

With the death of Notorious BIG, Nas had rose to the top of the rap chain. But after a few flop albums he made way for Jay-Z to become the new King of Rap, nursing a beef that remained largely subliminal until Hova released an official diss track titled "The Takeover" in 2001. On it, he said Nas "went from Nasty Nas to Esco's trash"and rapped, "Ask Nas, he don't want it with Hov."

Then all hell broke loose because Nas definitely did want it with Jay-Z, releasing "Ether," which attacked HOVA's street cred and more. As the two top rap artists at the time, Nas and Jay-Z were essentially embroiled in a power struggle for hip-hop supremacy, but now the two are besties -- kinda.
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N.W.A. v. Ice Cube

Ice Cube wrote almost all of the lyrics on N.W.A's debut album "Straight Outta Compton," but reaped none of the monetary benefits, so he split from the group, which later released a diss track targeting the newly-solo rapper.

Cube naturally came back with his own expletive-laden diss track, "No Vaseline," searing his former bandmates with a flurry of snaps that comprised an entire scene in N.W.A biopic "Straight Outta Compton."

The death of group member Eazy-E marginalized the beef, which is now long squashed, with Cube and the remaining members of N.W.A. having performed together at Coachella just earlier this year.
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Tupac v. B.I.G.

The feud that defined the East Coast–West Coast rap rivalry. The two were apparently on good terms until Tupac got shot and robbed in a Manhattan recording studio. Pac assumed Biggie was behind it all, especially after he released a track titled "Who Shot Ya?"

The West Coast rapper came back with numerous diss tracks including "Hit 'Em Up," which took shots at B.I.G. Biggie never came back with an "official" retaliation record, but the tension still continued.

Their beef technically ended when Tupac was fatally shot in a drive-by in Vegas. Less than a year later, Biggie was leaving a Soul Train Music Awards after party when he was also fatally shot in a drive-by. There are multiple theories surrounding the two iconic rappers' deaths, including Biggie's involvement in Tupac's murder.
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MC Shan v. KRS-One

But the original East–West rivalry took place between the Bronx and Queens. "The Bridge Wars" broke out when Marley Marl and MC Shan released a track titled "The Bridge," which implied that hip-hop started in Queensbridge.

KRS-One bristled at the notion, so he put out "South Bronx," in which he took shots at MC Shan and praised the South Bronx. Though the feud started in 1985, diss tracks continued well into 2001. The beef officially came to an end when KRS-One and Marley Marl collaborated on the "Hip Hop Lives" album in 2007.
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