Where Ya At: Genius Highlights the 2016 Grammys Biggest Snubs

Tis the season to be salty. The 2016 Grammy nominations have rolled in and, as usual, the Academy has made some on-point selections—shout out to Kendrick Lamar’s 11 noms—and elsewhere completely missed the mark (where’s Rae Sremmurd?). Everyone from Omarion to Wale to Lupe Fiasco have complained about being snubbed. Genius sifts through the nominations and points out the most egregious omissions.

Best New Artist: Fetty Wap

No one saw his success coming. But as the old proverb goes: In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king. Give Fetty Wap his crown. After kicking the door off its hinges with the inescapable “Trap Queen,” many expected the Paterson, New Jersey native to sputter down the road of one-hit wonders, soon to become rap Trivial Pursuit fodder. But then the hip-hop soul savior dropped #anotherone and #anotherone, leading up to a head-nodding debut album that included anthems like “My Way,” “679,” “RGF Island” and “Again.” Fetty Pendergrass got 2015 sewed up by singing his trap-king heart out (and dropping some turn-up raps along the way). Fetty Levert is a national treasure—his omission as Best New Artist is downright treacherous. —John Kennedy

Best Pop Vocal Album: Carly Rae Jepsen, Emotion

After the virality of Carly Rae Jepsen’s break-out hit “Call Me Maybe,” it was hard to imagine the pop singer becoming anything more than an internet meme. Her third full-length album, Emotion, proved us all wrong. The songs are clean and expertly-produced with a clear ’80s synth-pop influence. Her anthemic ballad “All That” is one of those songs you find yourself starting over the second it ends. Of course, Taylor Swift’s 1989 is a shoe-in for this category but the remaining nominees are suspect—particularly James Taylor, whose nomination just goes to show how incredibly random these decisions seem to be. —Anna Oseran

Best R&B Performance: Janet Jackson and J. Cole, “No Sleeep”

1. Cole made his mark on R&B in a big way this year—but it wasn’t on Jeremih’s nominee “Planez.” While the Chicago singer’s vocals are sweet, Cole’s verse is clever but cumbersome and kinda uncomfortable (he compares his genitalia to a foot…ew.) Instead, Grammys should’ve given a nod to Janet’s nostalgic single “No Sleeep.” On it, the youngest Jackson brings her vintage mid-tempo seduction to a smooth Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis melody that makes you forget the seven-year delay that preceded her October album Unbreakable. And J. Cole comes across smooth as a Wallabee shoe; he even gets a chuckle from Ms. Jackson when he suggests “Maybe we’d be better off friends… with benefits.” Janet named the song “No Sleeeep” and the Academy did just that. SMH. —John Kennedy

Best Pop Solo Performance: Lana Del Rey, “High by the Beach”

In 2013, Lana Del Rey was nominated for two Grammys—Best Pop Vocal Album for her Paradise EP and Best Song Written for Visual Media for “Young and Beautiful.” While she didn’t go on to win either, Del Rey was recognized as an important new force in the pop community. This year, she released Honeymoon—an album that returns to the dark and brooding sound she had previously become known for on Paradise and Born to Die. “High by the Beach” is an aching portrait of a woman worn down by her tormented relationship. The song is all chorus as Del Rey repeats her simple desire (to get high by the beach) over and over until you are left with no choice but to sing along. Isn’t that the definition of a perfect pop song? This would have been an easy fix: swap Kelly Clarkson out for LDR. —Anna Oseran

Album of the Year: D’Angelo, Black Messiah

When has another album ever been so long overdue, yet right on time? D’Angelo’s surprise comeback, which arrived 14 years after its predecessor Voodoo, caught flack for its sometimes incoherent lyrics. But the organic jam sessions (“Another Life”), that soothing falsetto (“Really Love”), the urgent political energy (“The Charade”), and classic rock, funk and soul vibes are undeniable. While Black Messiah is recognized in the Best R&B Album category, the LP deserves to be nominated aside its hip-hop counterpart—Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly—for Grammy night’s grand prize. —John Kennedy

Best Alternative Album: Sleater-Kinney, No Cities to Love

One usually associates “comeback albums” with burnt out artists trying to make a buck in an embarrassingly public victory lap (think Guns N’ Roses Chinese Democracy or Mase’s Welcome Back). But, in January 2015, after nearly a decade of silence, Sleater-Kinney returned with No Cities to Love, an album that “crackles with the palpable excitement of three rock lifers in a room, eager to see what happens when they plug in and let it rip,” according to Rolling Stone. No Cities is a feminist punk manifesto filled with some of the band’s most accessible and catchy songs to-date. Why on earth is Wilco’s seemingly emotionless Star Wars nominated over S-K? Did anyone even listen to that My Morning Jacket album?!? —Anna Oseran