The Grammys are one of the most prestigious and notable musical events of the season. This year, the public has seen many artists take their music in different directions. Usually, the Grammy’s is seeing a handful of basic pop albums. This year, the genre is still pop music, but the albums are all pop albums in different ways. People like Charli XCX took pop and gave it a techno flare, while Sabrina Carpenter stuck to what she knows and produced a flirty bubble-gum pop album. With the VMA’s out of the way, the Grammys are now at the forefront of pop culture, and the public at Cresskill is anticipating to see who will be taking home the most acclaimed awards of the night.
Kicking off the 2024 year, on March 8th Ariana Grande released her seventh studio album, Eternal Sunshine. This album was highly anticipated by many fans because Grande had been on a hiatus since releasing Positions Deluxe in October of 2020. Eternal Sunshine has been spoken highly of by both fans and music critics. However, there is some criticism that the album lacks production quality and that the songs feature cringy lyrics that sound like something one would see on a poster in a therapist’s office. We asked freshman Tamar Greenberg about her thoughts on the album, and she said, “It was enjoyable at first, but I found it got boring. I didn’t feel motivated to keep listening and ended up stopping halfway through.” So it looks like this one won’t be difficult to surpass based on Cresskill’s student opinions. Grande has 15 nominations and 2 wins on her record, but only time will tell whether or not Eternal Sunshine marks another win for the artist.
On March 24, 2024, Beyonce released her eighth album. Cowboy Carter will be her fifth Album of The Year nomination. Instead of her usual R&B albums, this one leaned towards country, and while some fans love it, others hate it. Even though Beyonce has southern roots, some people find this album to sound inauthentic and lackluster in comparison to her past projects. Cowboy Carter was introduced by “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages”, and the debut skyrocketed through the charts and peaked at No. 1 and No. 9. Some of her fans say that the album had a certain special feeling to it, it was upbeat, and every song on the album was more spectacular than the last. But Cresskill Students think otherwise, Maya Pisano commented, “I didn’t hear much buzz about this album, and while it was good, it didn’t feel particularly remarkable.” So the real question is: Will it surpass the other hit albums?
On April 19, Taylor Swift released her highly anticipated eleventh studio album, The Tortured Poets Department. Swift teased this album on her tour and created a buzz by announcing it at last year’s Grammy ceremony after winning two awards. Her die-hard fan base allowed this album to reach one billion streams on Spotify in only one week. Recently, at the VMAs, she won seven awards, tying her with Beyonce for the “most VMAs wins of all time”. Taylor Swift’s constant wins have led to online speculation of the VMAs being rigged, and in our high school, similar rumors are circulating. “I hope that the winner is Hit Me Hard And Soft, but I feel like it will most likely be Taylor Swift because there has been a pattern lately.” Says freshman, Anna Park. With all this in mind, perhaps Taylor Swift will be taking home even more awards than she already has, based on her huge fanbase regardless of the public’s opinion on her recent works.
On May 17th, Billie Eilish released her newest album, Hit Me Hard And Soft. Everyone was left wanting more after she teased “LUNCH”, “L’Amour De Ma Vie”, and “Chihiro “. These songs instantly hit the top of the charts within days of release. As of now, the whole album has gotten 72.2 Billion streams on Spotify. Many are saying this is “the most raw album” to have come out this year. The transitions between each song are smooth and flow together easily, so it feels like one large complex song. The album takes the listener on an emotional rollercoaster and leaves them feeling fulfilled at its end. People have high hopes for the album this year, and so do the people of Cresskill. Emilia Garcia, an underclassman, shared, “I wasn’t really into her music before this album, but after listening to it, I realized how powerful Billie’s music can be. It made me want to listen to it on repeat.” With such a tremendous audience listening to her music, let’s see whether this record-breaking album can win.
Most recently, on August 23, Sabrina Carpenter released her increasingly popular album, Short N’ Sweet. Her songs “Espresso” and “Please Please Please” hit the top of the charts and remained there for almost 2 weeks. The whole album altogether has been sitting at Number 1 for 3 consecutive weeks. It seems it poses real competition for “Hit Me Hard And Soft.” Sabrina’s album, however, doesn’t quite give off the same effect as Billie’s. While the album Hit Me Hard and Soft almost sounds like we’re underwater with Billie’s strong but delicate voice; Sabrina Carpenter’s album is a refreshingly light album that is flirty and bubbly. Since these albums are entirely different, it’s hard to tell which is going to win.
With all of this talk about the smash hit albums that have come out. Let’s see Cresskill’s opinion on this. Freshman Maya Pisano talks highly about how Billie Eilish’s new album might be the one to win. “I love Billie’s album because lyrically it’s extremely well written and deep. It’s the type of music you can listen to for days on end. I just think it has so much more meaning than the other albums.” Every single one of the interviewed people agrees that Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft is the best album of the year. It seems like Hit Me Hard And Soft best resonates with Cresskill’s teenage audience. The consensus predicts that it will take home the most awards. But no one can truly determine what will happen that night at the Grammys.
