We're always thinking about the upcoming festival season and we have a number of people that we hope to see on stages we're heading to! Martin Garrix is a legendary international EDM DJ/Producer with residencies around the world, that we love rocking to. His passion for bringing people together with his music and those that he has collaborated with is undeniable! Just in the last few days alone, he has dropped tracks, revealed his full sets for performances at Amsterdam Dance Events - ADE last fall, and has announced his summer residency in Ibiza which he is currently in the midst of his South American tour. This artist is constantly on the move and we took a moment to find out about how when he fell in love with music, how he approaches creating his music, collaborations, recent releases, his residencies, and how he truly loves when people are able to enjoy his music and the vibe he presents!
ATHLEISURE MAG: When did you first fall in love with music?
MARTIN GARRIX: I have always loved music. I grew up in a musical household and started playing guitar by the age of 8. However, the moment I fell in love with electronic music was while seeing Tïesto perform at the 2004 Summer Olympics, for the Opening Ceremonies. They were airing this on tv, and I remember my mom calling me over to come and watch it. The energy that I felt from the music was amazing. After that, I started experimenting with electronic music myself.
AM: How would you define the Martin Garrix sound?
MG: I would say it’s energetic, uplifting and melodic. The most important thing for me is to make people feel something with my music.
AM: What's your creative process when it comes to making your music - where do you start and how do you get inspired?
MG: I can get inspired by basically anything, and inspiration can come at the most random moments. That’s why the voice notes app on my phone is filled with me most random moments. That's why the voice notes app on my phone is filled with me humming new song ideas while I’m on the road. Then when I get into the studio I usually start with melody lines either on guitar or piano. Especially the songs with lyrics they always start with a guitar and vocal or piano and vocal and then afterwards I produce it out. I much rather start with stripped-down versions so the song is strong on its own and not relying on the production. I really enjoy the songwriting process and have a soft spot for beautiful chord progressions and melodies. If the song sounds good with just a vocal and guitar, you can produce an electronic version, rock version, anything. Every song starts and ends differently. I do need to be in my own home studio to finish a song, that’s the place where I work the most comfortable and know the sound system the best.
AM: You have collaborated with a number of artists from Bebe Rexha, David Guetta, Dua Lipa, Khalid, Usher, Tïesto, to name a few. What do you look for when it comes to creating with other artists?
MG: I really need a certain connection with an artist, otherwise I can’t be in the studio with them making music together.
AM: We’ve been fans of your music since Animals and have enjoyed In the Name of Love with Bebe Rexha, Scared to be Lonely with Dua Lipa, Summer Days featuring Macklemore and Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy, and Carry You with Third Party, Oaks, and Declan J Donovan. What are 3 of your favorite songs?
MG: It's impossible for me to choose. All my songs have different memories attached to them which make them special to me. Of course Animals will always be special because that song really kickstarted everything for me. At the moment I’m really loving playing the new songs live and seeing the crowd’s response to it.
AM: I’ve had Carry You on a loop since it came out! What's the backstory of the song and how did it come together?
MG: The song was in the making for quite some time before we released it. Third Party and myself created the lead melody a year ago and I premiered it during Ultra Music Festival. After that it become a staple in my sets and I even used it as intro to my sets every now and then. The response from the crowd has been amazing every time I played it, so we just had to finish it. The vocals from Oaks and Declan really pushed the song to another level and I’m super proud of the end result and the responses we have been getting so far.
AM: Last fall you dropped Real Love with South African singer/songwriter Lloyiso. You guys teamed up here in New York and created this song. How did this song come about and why were you so excited to work with him?
MG: I found an Adele cover from Lloyiso online and was immediately blown away by his amazing voice. I reached out to him, but due to travel schedules and visas we weren’t able to meet in person for two years. We finally hit the studio together when we were both in New York and recorded Real Love there. He has one of the most amazing voices I’ve ever heard.
AM: You just dropped Breakaway with Mesto and WILHELM. How did this song come about?
MG: Mesto has been a really good friend of mine for years and we have worked together before. We had an early version of the song which I also premiered at Ultra and we both played it in our sets throughout the summer. A few weeks ago we decided to finish the song and added in vocals from Wilhelm.
AM: A few days ago you dropped your 3 hour set, IDEM for ADE from last fall and we thoroughly enjoyed it! What's it like to perform at that event, especially being in your hometown?
MG: ADE is always a special one for me as it is in my hometown. It had been 4 years since we last did my ADE solo shows at the RAI and it was so special to bring them back. We always have a show for all ages as well which is so amazing. The young kids have the craziest energy! It’s also very special to be able to invite all my family and friends to the show and celebrate together after, that doesn’t happen often.
AM: How do you approach putting your setlists together and what's that process like?
MG: I don’t have a fixed setlist for my shows as I like to feel the energy and responses from the crowd and play whatever song feels like the best fit for that moment. As a starting point I have my intro and last song. Of course there are certain songs that can’t be left out of my set, and I usually have some new music lined up that I would like to test.
AM: Ushuaïa Ibiza just announced that you are back for a residency that will run Jun - Sep! What are you looking forward to for 15 Thursdays this season?
MG: Performing at Ushuaïa feels like coming home. It’s been the same team we have been working with for years and no matter how many shows I’ve done there, it will never not be special. It’s the perfect opportunity for me to test out new music and I’m really looking forward to the shows.
AM: You travel a lot! Just looking at 2024, you rang in the New Year in Bali. You hold residencies in Ushuaïa Ibiza and Omnia and Wet Republic in Vegas. You also have festival dates for Creamfields in Hong Kong and Ultra Miami along with your personal show schedule and special events like Saudi Arabian Grand Prix to name a few!
Where are some of your favorite places to perform?
MG: I am currently in the middle of my South American tour and the love I am getting there is overwhelming. People really know how to party and bring energy which is amazing. I also did an India tour last year which was absolutely crazy. A big part of my most loyal fanbase is over there so that always makes it special. But to be honest, I'm super grateful to be able to play in all these amazing countries. I'm still nervous for the shows because I want every show to be the best and for everyone to have a good time.
AM: What are 3 things that you must have when you're traveling to feel like you have a bit of home with you?
MG: I don’t really have those items to be honest. For me my headphones, laptop and phone are the most important items to have with me on the road.
AM: Do you have any pre-show routines that you do prior to hitting the stage?
MG: I usually like to wind down a little before the show, go through some of the songs I have lined up and then I’m all good to go. I don’t have any superstitious things I do before I get on stage or something.
AM: Do you have any post-show routines that you do after coming off the stage?
MG: I’m usually on a high and like to debrief some things with the team in the dressing room.
AM: When you're on stage, if we could bottle the feelings that you have, what would it be?
MG: I honestly wish I could share it with you because it is the most amazing feeling ever. It’s a burst of adrenaline and happiness mixed together.
AM: You founded STMPD RCRDS back in 2016. Why did you want to launch your label and what should we keep an eye out for as we head into the Spring and the Summer?
MG: I wanted full creative freedom over my music which was the main reason we started STMPD RCRDS. We quickly also started signing other artists and the label grew into this creative hub for all kinds of artists. I’m so proud of the label and all the amazing artists that are releasing on there weekly. We have signed really talented artists like Eleganto, Mesto, DubVision, Julian Jordan but are also releasing S.Salter which is neo-classical music for example.
AM: How do you stay in shape as we're always looking to add to our fitness routines?
MG: This can be a challenge for me, but the last couple of months I have found a routine that really works for me. I try to eat healthy and be in the gym almost every day for a workout. I also really enjoy sports such as padel and wind surfing whenever I have the time.
AM: How do you take time for yourself?
MG: It’s difficult but I do try to take time for myself to do sports or spend time with family and friends. As weird as it may sound, making music is also something I really like to do in my time off. It’s my biggest hobby so making music really doesn’t feel like work to me.
AM: Are there any projects that you can share that we should keep an eye out for that you're working on?
MG: We released Carry You and Breakaway as surprises the past two weeks, but there are two more releases coming up the next two weeks because we are releasing an EP called IDEM. The EP has the same name as the live show because it represents the period leading up to the show where I premiered and played all the songs that will be on the EP. The next release will be Biochemical together with Seth Hills.
AM: What do you want the Martin Garrix legacy to be?
MG: All I want is to make people happy with my music.
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | Louis Van Baar
Read the FEB ISSUE #98 of Athleisure Mag and see MAKING THE WORLD HAPPY WITH MUSIC Martin Garrix in mag.
Read the FEB ISSUE #98 of Athleisure Mag and see 9PLAYLIST | Lionel Messi in mag.
We're always about good vibes and keeping them going. As we think to warmer days ahead, we caught up with lead singer Beto Montenegro of RAWAYANA who has released 4 studio albums, and received a nomination for Best New Artist of at the 18th Latin Grammy Awards in 2017. They're currently taking a break from their World Tour which will continue next month. As we're always on the hunt for great music, we took some time in the midst of the band's busy schedule to find out more about who they are, how they came together, their sound, those they've collaborated with, and their partnership with Old Parr scotch.
ATHLEISURE MAG: When did you fall in love with music?
BETO MONTENEGRO: It's because music makes me happy, it makes me smile. I feel it is the best tool to express my point of view about life.
AM: When did you realize that you wanted to do this professionally?
BM: After I realized that we had a big community waiting and asking for new music from us.
AM: When did you realize that you wanted to come together to create RAWAYANA?
BM: We really just did it for fun. There was no real plan to “create” it.
AM: How would you define the RAWAYANA sound?
BM: I think it’s an eclectic mixture of Caribbean sounds influenced by pop music.
AM: You were nominated as Best New Artist at the 18th Annual Latin Grammy Awards back in 2017, what did it mean to you to have that distinction?
BM: I don’t like to pay attention to awards. I feel that art or music is not a competition, but in a way it felt cool to be recognized by the industry so we had such a good time spending time with a lot of friends in the business.
AM: What have been some of your favorite collaborations that you've had musically?
BM: Danny Ocean, Elena Rose, Natalia Lafourcade, Micro TDH, Mr Eazi… all our collaborations are amazing.
AM: You've released 5 studio albums and most recently '¿Quién trae las Cornetas?' (Who Brings the speakers?) tell me about this and what we can expect from it.
BM: It’s an album about cycles and new journeys. For us the music and RAWAYANA is about a journey, so the music is a very important part in our journey. It’s a very personal album but also the union of like-minded people making music and having fun in the studio.
AM: You just finished a tour here in the US and you already have dates lined up for next year, do you have any routines that you do right before a show to get ready to hit the stage?
BM: I warm up my voice in the shower.
AM: Do you have routines that you do after the show so that you can come down from all that energy?
BM: I really don’t have one. It always changes on nightly basis.
AM: You have a nice breather now with it being the holidays. You created a cocktail in collaboration with Old Parr known as Old Parr Rawy. How did your partnership come about and tell us about this drink?
BM: We’re thrilled with this partnership with Old Parr to bring even more golden moments to our music. The brand is an icon in Latin America, and just like the whisky, our music is a fusion of different sounds, flavors, and rhythms, so we know our fans will be just as excited to raise a glass of Old Parr with us. Also, we wanted to give our fans a taste of home during the Holiday season by creating a cocktail inspired by Venezuela and the fusion of flavors we create as a band—The Old Parr Rawy.
AM: How does this drink tie into the band and your sound?
BM: The Old Parr Rawy is a delicious and easy-to-make cocktail made for everyday golden moments this Holiday season – from enjoying the energy from a concert to toasting with our closest friends. This cocktail is a fusion of different flavors, sounds, and rhythms, like our music.
AM: How will you spend the holiday season?
BM: With my childhood friends and family!
OLD PARR RAWY
INGREDIENTS
· 1.5 oz Old Parr Aged 12 Years
· 1 oz Grapefruit juice
· .5 oz Maple syrup
· .25 Lemon juice
· 3 Dashes of angostura bitters
PREPARATION
Fill a cocktail shaker with Old Parr Aged 12 Years, grapefruit juice, maple syrup, lemon
juice and ice. Shake the mixture thoroughly, then pour into a serving glass. Top with 3
dashes of angostura bitters.
IG @rawayana
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | PG 52 RAWAYANA/Facebook | PG 54 Team Diageo
Read the JAN ISSUE #97 of Athleisure Mag and see LET THE MUSIC PLAY | RAWAYANA’S Beto Montenegro in mag.
We always enjoy a stunning coffeetable book that blends music, culture, and iconic artists together. In Bob Marley and The Wailers: The Ultimate Illustrated History dropped this month to dig into the life and legacy of this man and his band. Even after 40 years of Marley's death, he and his band continue to be the most famous reggae artists of all time!
Throughout the book are stunning images from various points of their career which allows you to see their life as well as the times that they lived in. We see how they went from a Jamaican ska act to international superstars while navigating being in their country that was going through its own awakening at that time.
The book illustrates how they popularized their genre, the influence of the Rastafari movement, Marley's socially conscious lyrics and how he became a symbol of pride and justice.
You'll learn about the history of the band up to Marley's death in 1981 and how his influence continues today. Images of performances, off-stage photography, rare memorabilia and commentary from noted music jounalists. This book also talks about the 2024 Bob Marley biopic, One Love which is in theaters on Valentine's Day.
When North Carolina's richest woman dies in The Heiress, she is also the most notorious woman! Ruby McTavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore, as a child was kidnapped as well as becoming a widower four times over!
She lorded over her tiny town of Tavistock from Ashby House, her family’s estate high in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Upon her death, her adopted son, Camden, wants nothing to do with the house, money or remaining relatives. He lives his own life as an English teacher in Colorado with his wife Jules. When his uncle dies, he is pulled back to his mess life. He begins to question the rumors of his mother's kidnapping when she was a girl as well as what happened to the husbands. A bigger question is why she chose to adopt him as well! Finding out about this information means more to him than a will and understanding the long reaching arms of what family means and how everyone is connected to one another is essential.
In The Heirloomed Kitchen: Made-from-Scratch Recipes to Gather Around for Generations we are privy to a curated cookbook of nostalgic-style photography that shows heirloom cookware, vessels, and utensils and recipes that are passed down from mother to child and grandchild.
With over 100 recipes there are a number of family recipes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Read the JAN ISSUE #97 of Athleisure Mag and see BINGELY BOOKS in mag.
Read the JAN ISSUE #97 of Athleisure Mag and see 9DRIP | Icona Pop in mag.
Read the JAN ISSUE #97 of Athleisure Mag and see 9PLAYLIST | RAWAYANA in mag.
Read the JAN ISSUE #97 of Athleisure Mag and see 9PLAYLIST | No Doubt in mag.
We continue through Awards Season with the 66th GRAMMYs which took place tonight on CBS and streamed on Paramount+ (live and on demand for Paramount+ with SHOWTIME subscribers, or on demand for Paramount+ Essential subscribers the day after the special airs).
Our predictions are in bold, the ones we correctly identified as winners are in bold italics and winners that we didn’t predict are in italics.
Award to the Artist and to the Producer(s), Recording Engineer(s) and/or Mixer(s) and mastering engineer(s), if other than the artist.
Worship
Jon Batiste
Jon Batiste, Jon Bellion, Pete Nappi & Tenroc, producers; Serban Ghenea & Pete Nappi, engineers/mixers; Chris Gehringer, mastering engineer
Not Strong Enough
boygenius
boygenius & Catherine Marks, producers; Owen Lantz, Catherine Marks, Mike Mogis, Bobby Mota, Kaushlesh "Garry" Purohit & Sarah Tudzin, engineers/mixers; Pat Sullivan, mastering engineer
Flowers
Miley Cyrus
Kid Harpoon & Tyler Johnson, producers; Michael Pollack, Brian Rajaratnam & Mark "Spike" Stent, engineers/mixers; Joe LaPorta, mastering engineer
What Was I Made For? [From The Motion Picture "Barbie"]
Billie Eilish
Billie Eilish & FINNEAS, producers; Billie Eilish, Rob Kinelski & FINNEAS, engineers/mixers; Chris Gehringer, mastering engineer
On My Mama
Victoria Monét
Deputy, Dernst Emile II & Jeff Gitelman, producers; Patrizio Pigliapoco & Todd Robinson, engineers/mixers; Colin Leonard, mastering engineer
Vampire
Olivia Rodrigo
Dan Nigro, producer; Serban Ghenea, Michael Harris, Chris Kasych, Daniel Nigro & Dan Viafore, engineers/mixers; Randy Merrill, mastering engineer
Anti-Hero
Taylor Swift
Jack Antonoff & Taylor Swift, producers; Jack Antonoff, Serban Ghenea, Laura Sisk & Lorenzo Wolff, engineers/mixers; Randy Merrill, mastering engineer
Kill Bill
SZA
Rob Bisel & Carter Lang, producers; Rob Bisel, engineer/mixer; Dale Becker, mastering engineer
Award to Artist(s) and to Featured Artist(s), Songwriter(s) of new material, Producer(s), Recording Engineer(s), Mixer(s) and Mastering Engineer(s) credited with 20% or more playing time of the album.
World Music Radio
Jon Batiste
Jon Batiste, Jon Bellion, Nick Cooper, Pete Nappi & Tenroc, producers; Jon Batiste, Pete Nappi, Kaleb Rollins, Laura Sisk & Marc Whitmore, engineers/mixers; Jon Batiste, Jon Bellion, Jason Cornet & Pete Nappi, songwriters; Chris Gehringer, mastering engineer
the record
boygenius
boygenius & Catherine Marks, producers; Owen Lantz, Will Maclellan, Catherine Marks, Mike Mogis, Bobby Mota, Kaushlesh "Garry" Purohit & Sarah Tudzin, engineers/mixers; Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers & Lucy Dacus, songwriters; Pat Sullivan, mastering engineer
Endless Summer Vacation
Miley Cyrus
Kid Harpoon, Tyler Johnson & Mike Will Made-It, producers; Pièce Eatah, Craig Frank, Paul David Hager, Stacy Jones, Brian Rajaratnam & Mark "Spike" Stent, engineers/mixers; Miley Cyrus, Gregory Aldae Hein, Thomas Hull, Tyler Johnson, Michael Len Williams II & Michael Pollack, songwriters; Joe LaPorta, mastering engineer
Did You Know That There's A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd
Lana Del Rey
Jack Antonoff, Zach Dawes, Lana Del Rey & Drew Erickson, producers; Jack Antonoff, Michael Harris, Dean Reid & Laura Sisk, engineers/mixers; Jack Antonoff, Lana Del Rey & Mike Hermosa, songwriters; Ruairi O'Flaherty, mastering engineer
The Age Of Pleasure
Janelle Monáe
Sensei Bueno, Nate "Rocket" Wonder & Nana Kwabena, producers; Mick Guzauski, Nate "Rocket" Wonder, Jayda Love, Janelle Monáe & Yáng Tan, engineers/mixers; Jarrett Goodly, Nathaniel Irvin III, Janelle Monáe Robinson & Nana Kwabena Tuffuor, songwriters; Dave Kutch, mastering engineer
GUTS
Olivia Rodrigo
Daniel Nigro, producer; Serban Ghenea, Sterling Laws, Mitch McCarthy, Daniel Nigro, Dave Schiffman, Mark "Spike" Stent, Sam Stewart & Dan Viafore, engineers/mixers; Daniel Nigro & Olivia Rodrigo, songwriters; Randy Merrill, mastering engineer
Midnights
Taylor Swift
Jack Antonoff & Taylor Swift, producers; Jack Antonoff, Zem Audu, Serban Ghenea, David Hart, Mikey Freedom Hart, Sean Hutchinson, Ken Lewis, Michael Riddleberger, Laura Sisk & Evan Smith, engineers/mixers; Jack Antonoff & Taylor Swift, songwriters; Randy Merrill, mastering engineer
SOS
SZA
Rob Bisel, ThankGod4Cody & Carter Lang, producers; Rob Bisel, engineer/mixer; Rob Bisel, Cody Fayne, Carter Lang & Solána Rowe, songwriters; Dale Becker, mastering engineer
A Songwriter(s) Award. A song is eligible if it was first released or if it first achieved prominence during the Eligibility Year. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.
A&W
Jack Antonoff, Lana Del Rey & Sam Dew, songwriters (Lana Del Rey)
Anti-Hero
Jack Antonoff & Taylor Swift, songwriters (Taylor Swift)
Butterfly
Jon Batiste & Dan Wilson, songwriters (Jon Batiste)
Dance The Night (From Barbie The Album)
Caroline Ailin, Dua Lipa, Mark Ronson & Andrew Wyatt, songwriters (Dua Lipa)
Flowers
Miley Cyrus, Gregory Aldae Hein & Michael Pollack, songwriters (Miley Cyrus)
Kill Bill
Rob Bisel, Carter Lang & Solána Rowe, songwriters (SZA)
Vampire
Daniel Nigro & Olivia Rodrigo, songwriters (Olivia Rodrigo)
What Was I Made For? [From The Motion Picture "Barbie"]
Billie Eilish O'Connell & Finneas O'Connell, songwriters (Billie Eilish)
This category recognizes an artist whose eligibility-year release(s) achieved a breakthrough into the public consciousness and notably impacted the musical landscape.
Gracie Abrams
Fred again..
Ice Spice
Jelly Roll
Coco Jones
Noah Kahan
Victoria Monét
The War And Treaty
A Producer's Award. (Artists names appear in parentheses.)
Jack Antonoff
• Being Funny In A Foreign Language (The 1975) (A)
• Did You Know That There's A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd (Lana Del Rey) (A)
• Midnights (Taylor Swift) (A)
Dernst "D'Mile" Emile II
• JAGUAR II (Victoria Monét) (A)
Hit-Boy
• Bus Stop (Don Toliver Featuring Brent Faiyaz) (T)
• Just Face It (Dreamville With Blxst) (T)
• Kings Disease III (Nas) (A)
• Magic 3 (Nas) (A)
• Magic 2 (Nas) (A)
• Slipping Into Darkness (Hit-Boy & The Alchemist) (S)
• Surf Or Drown Vol. 1 (Hit-Boy) (A)
• Surf Or Drown Vol. 2 (Hit-Boy) (A)
• Victims & Villains (Musiq Soulchild & Hit-Boy) (A)
• Metro Boomin
• Am I Dreaming (Metro Boomin Featuring Roisee & A$AP Rocky) (S)
• Calling (Metro Boomin Featuring NAV, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie & Swae Lee) (S)
• Creepin' (Metro Boomin Featuring 21 Savage & The Weeknd) (S)
• More M's (Drake & 21 Savage) (S)
• Oh U Went (Young Thug Featuring Drake) (S)
• Superhero (Heroes & Villains) (Metro Boomin, Future & Chris Brown) (S)
• Til Further Notice (Travis Scott Featuring James Blake & 21 Savage) (S)
• Trance (Metro Boomin Featuring Travis Scott & Young Thug) (S)
• War Bout It (Lil Durk Featuring 21 Savage) (S)
• Daniel Nigro
• Casual (Chappell Roan) (S)
• Divide (Dermot Kennedy) (S)
• Guts (Olivia Rodrigo) (A)
• Hot To Go! (Chappell Roan) (S)
• Kaleidoscope (Chappell Roan) (S)
• Red Wine Supernova (Chappell Roan) (S)
• Welcome To My Island (Caroline Polachek) (S)
A Songwriter's Award. (Artists names appear in parentheses.)
Edgar Barrera
• Cuestion De Tiempo (Don Omar) (T)
• Falsa Alarma (En Vivo) (Grupo Firme) (T)
• Gucci Los Paños (Karol G) (T)
• La Despedida (Christian Nodal) (T)
• Mi Ex Tenía Razón (Karol G) (T)
• Que Vuelvas (Various Artists) (T)
• Un Cumbión Dolido (Christian Nodal) (T)
• un x100to (Grupo Frontera & Bad Bunny) (T)
• Yo Pr1mero (Rels B) (S)
Jessie Jo Dillon
• Buried (Brandy Clark) (T)
• Girl In The Mirror (Megan Moroney) (T)
• Halfway To Hell (Jelly Roll) (T)
• I Just Killed A Man (Catie Offerman) (S)
• Memory Lane (Old Dominion) (S)
• Neon Cowgirl (Dan + Shay) (T)
• screen (HARDY) (T)
• The Town In Your Heart (Lori McKenna) (T)
• Up Above The Clouds (Cecilia's Song) (Brandy Clark) (T)
Shane McAnally
• Come Back To Me (Brandy Clark) (S)
• Good With Me (Walker Hayes) (S)
• He's Never Gunna Change (Lauren Daigle) (S)
• I Should Have Married You (Old Dominion) (S)
• Independently Owned (Alex Newell & Original Broadway Cast of Shucked) (S)
• Never Grow Up (Niall Horan) (S)
• Start Nowhere (Sam Hunt) (S)
• Walmart (Sam Hunt) (S)
• We Don't Fight Anymore (Carly Pearce & Chris Stapleton) (S)
Theron Thomas
• All My Life (Lil Durk Featuring J. Cole) (S)
• Been Thinking (Tyla) (S)
• Cheatback (Chlöe & Future) (T)
• How We Roll (Ciara & Chris Brown) (S)
• Make Up Your Mind (Cordae) (S)
• Pretty Girls Walk (Big Boss Vette) (S)
• Seven (Jung Kook & Latto) (S)
• Told Ya (Chlöe & Missy Elliot) (T)
• You And I (Sekou) (T)
Justin Tranter
• Gemini Moon (Reneé Rapp) (T)
• Honey! (Are U Coming?) (Måneskin) (S)
• I Want More (Marisa Davila & Cast Of Grease: Rise Of The Pink Ladies) (S)
• Jersey (Baby Tate) (S)
• A Little Bit Happy (TALK) (S)
• Pretty Girls (Reneé Rapp) (S)
• River (Miley Cyrus) (S)
For new vocal or instrumental pop recordings. Singles or Tracks only.
Flowers
Miley Cyrus
Paint The Town Red
Doja Cat
What Was I Made For? [From The Motion Picture "Barbie"]
Billie Eilish
Vampire
Olivia Rodrigo
Anti-Hero
Taylor Swift
For new vocal or instrumental duo/group or collaborative pop recordings. Singles or Tracks only.
Thousand Miles
Miley Cyrus Featuring Brandi Carlile
Candy Necklace
Lana Del Rey Featuring Jon Batiste
Never Felt So Alone
Labrinth Featuring Billie Eilish
Karma
Taylor Swift Featuring Ice Spice
Ghost In The Machine
SZA Featuring Phoebe Bridgers
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new pop vocal recordings.
Chemistry
Kelly Clarkson
Endless Summer Vacation
Miley Cyrus
GUTS
Olivia Rodrigo
- (Subtract)
Ed Sheeran
Midnights
Taylor Swift
For solo, duo, group or collaborative performances. Vocal or Instrumental. Singles or tracks only.
Blackbox Life Recorder 21F
Aphex Twin
Richard D James, producer; Richard D James, mixer
Loading
James Blake
James Blake & Dom Maker, producers; James Blake, mixer
Higher Than Ever Before
Disclosure
Cirkut, Guy Lawrence & Howard Lawrence, producers; Guy Lawrence, mixer
Strong
Romy & Fred again..
Fred again.., Stuart Price & Romy, producers; Fred again.. & Stuart Price, mixers
Rumble
Skrillex, Fred again.. & Flowdan
Fred again.. & Skrillex, producers; Skrillex, mixer
For solo, duo, group or collaborative performances. Vocal or Instrumental. Singles or tracks only.
Baby Don't Hurt Me
David Guetta, Anne-Marie & Coi Leray
Johnny Goldstein, Toby Green, David Guetta & Mike Hawkins, producers; Serban Ghenea, mixer
Miracle
Calvin Harris Featuring Ellie Goulding
Burns & Calvin Harris, producers; Calvin Harris, mixer
Padam Padam
Kylie Minogue
Lostboy, producer; Guy Massey, mixer
One In A Million
Bebe Rexha & David Guetta
Burns & David Guetta, producers; Serban Ghenea, mixer
Rush
Troye Sivan
Styalz Fuego, Novodor & Zhone, producers; Alex Ghenea, mixer
For vocal or instrumental albums. Albums only.
Playing Robots Into Heaven
James Blake
For That Beautiful Feeling
The Chemical Brothers
Actual Life 3 (January 1 - September 9 2022)
Fred again..
Kx5
Kx5
Quest For Fire
Skrillex
For new vocal or instrumental solo, duo/group or collaborative rock recordings.
Sculptures Of Anything Goes
Arctic Monkeys
More Than A Love Song
Black Pumas
Not Strong Enough
Boygenius
Rescued
Foo Fighters
Lux Æterna
Metallica
For new vocal or instrumental solo, duo/group or collaborative metal recordings.
Bad Man
Disturbed
Phantom Of The Opera
Ghost
72 Seasons
Metallica
Hive Mind
Slipknot
Jaded
Spiritbox
A Songwriter(s) Award. Includes Rock, Hard Rock and Metal songs. A song is eligible if it was first released or if it first achieved prominence during the Eligibility Year. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.
Angry
Mick Jagger, Keith Richards & Andrew Watt, songwriters (The Rolling Stones)
Ballad Of A Homeschooled Girl
Daniel Nigro & Olivia Rodrigo, songwriters (Olivia Rodrigo)
Emotion Sickness
Dean Fertita, Joshua Homme, Michael Shuman, Jon Theodore & Troy Van Leeuwen, songwriters (Queens Of The Stone Age)
Not Strong Enough
Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers & Lucy Dacus, songwriters (boygenius)
Rescued
Dave Grohl, Rami Jaffee, Nate Mendel, Chris Shiflett & Pat Smear, songwriters (Foo Fighters)
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new rock, hard rock or metal recordings.
But Here We Are
Foo Fighters
Starcatcher
Greta Van Fleet
72 Seasons
Metallica
This Is Why
Paramore
In Times New Roman...
Queens Of The Stone Age
For new vocal or instrumental solo, duo/group or collaborative Alternative music recordings.
Belinda Says
Alvvays
Body Paint
Arctic Monkeys
Cool About It
boygenius
A&W
Lana Del Rey
This Is Why
Paramore
Vocal or Instrumental.
The Car
Arctic Monkeys
The Record
boygenius
Did You Know That There's A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd
Lana Del Rey
Cracker Island
Gorillaz
I Inside The Old Year Dying
PJ Harvey
For new vocal or instrumental R&B recordings.
Summer Too Hot
Chris Brown
Back To Love
Robert Glasper Featuring SiR & Alex Isley
ICU
Coco Jones
How Does It Make You Feel
Victoria Monét
Kill Bill
SZA
For new vocal or instrumental traditional R&B recordings.
Simple
Babyface Featuring Coco Jones
Lucky
Kenyon Dixon
Hollywood
Victoria Monét Featuring Earth, Wind & Fire & Hazel Monét
Good Morning
PJ Morton Featuring Susan Carol
Love Language
SZA
A Songwriter(s) Award. A song is eligible if it was first released or if it first achieved prominence during the Eligibility Year. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.
Angel
Halle Bailey, Theron Feemster & Coleridge Tillman, songwriters (Halle)
Back To Love
Darryl Andrew Farris, Robert Glasper & Alexandra Isley, songwriters (Robert Glasper Featuring SiR & Alex Isley)
ICU
Darhyl Camper Jr., Courtney Jones, Raymond Komba & Roy Keisha Rockette, songwriters (Coco Jones)
On My Mama
Dernst Emile II, Jeff Gitelman, Victoria Monét, Kyla Moscovich, Jamil Pierre & Charles Williams, songwriters (Victoria Monét)
Snooze
Kenny B. Edmonds, Blair Ferguson, Khris Riddick-Tynes, Solána Rowe & Leon Thomas, songwriters (SZA)
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of newly recorded progressive vocal tracks derivative of R&B.
Since I Have A Lover
6LACK
The Love Album: Off The Grid
Diddy
Nova
Terrace Martin And James Fauntleroy
The Age Of Pleasure
Janelle Monáe
SOS
SZA
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new R&B recordings.
Girls Night Out
Babyface
What I Didn't Tell You (Deluxe)
Coco Jones
Special Occasion
Emily King
JAGUAR II
Victoria Monét
CLEAR 2: SOFT LIFE EP
Summer Walker
For a Rap performance. Singles or Tracks only.
The Hillbillies
Baby Keem Featuring Kendrick Lamar
Love Letter
Black Thought
Rich Flex
Drake & 21 Savage
SCIENTISTS & ENGINEERS
Killer Mike Featuring André 3000, Future And Eryn Allen Kane
Players
Coi Leray
For a solo or collaborative performance containing both elements of R&B melodies and Rap.
Sittin' On Top Of The World
Burna Boy Featuring 21 Savage
Attention
Doja Cat
Spin Bout U
Drake & 21 Savage
All My Life
Lil Durk Featuring J. Cole
Low
SZA
A Songwriter(s) Award. A song is eligible if it was first released or if it first achieved prominence during the Eligibility Year. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.
Attention
Rogét Chahayed, Amala Zandile Dlamini & Ari Starace, songwriters (Doja Cat)
Barbie World [From Barbie The Album]
Isis Naija Gaston, Ephrem Louis Lopez Jr. & Onika Maraj, songwriters (Nicki Minaj & Ice Spice Featuring Aqua)
Just Wanna Rock
Mohamad Camara, Symere Woods & Javier Mercado, songwriters (Lil Uzi Vert)
Rich Flex
Brytavious Chambers, Isaac "Zac" De Boni, Aubrey Graham, J. Gwin, Anderson Hernandez, Michael "Finatik" Mule & Shéyaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, songwriters (Drake & 21 Savage)
SCIENTISTS & ENGINEERS
Andre Benjamin, Paul Beauregard, James Blake, Michael Render, Tim Moore & Dion Wilson, songwriters (Killer Mike Featuring André 3000, Future And Eryn Allen Kane)
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new rap recordings.
Her Loss
Drake & 21 Savage
MICHAEL
Killer Mike
HEROES & VILLIANS
Metro Boomin
King's Disease III
Nas
UTOPIA
Travis Scott
For albums containing greater than 50% playing time of new spoken word poetry recordings.
A-You're Not Wrong B-They're Not Either: The Fukc-It Pill Revisited
Queen Sheba
For Your Consideration'24 -The Album
Prentice Powell and Shawn William
Grocery Shopping With My Mother
Kevin Powell
The Light Inside
J. Ivy
When The Poems Do What They Do
Aja Monet
For new vocal or instrumental solo, duo/group or collaborative jazz recordings.
Movement 18' (Heroes)
Jon Batiste
Basquiat
Lakecia Benjamin
Vulnerable (Live)
Adam Blackstone Featuring The Baylor Project & Russell Ferranté
But Not For Me
Fred Hersch & Esperanza Spalding
Tight
Samara Joy
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new vocal jazz recordings.
For Ella 2
Patti Austin Featuring Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band
Alive At The Village Vanguard
Fred Hersch & Esperanza Spalding
Lean In
Gretchen Parlato & Lionel Loueke
Mélusine
Cécile McLorin Salvant
How Love Begins
Nicole Zuraitis
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new instrumental jazz recordings.
The Source
Kenny Barron
Phoenix
Lakecia Benjamin
Legacy: The Instrumental Jawn
Adam Blackstone
The Winds Of Change
Billy Childs
Dream Box
Pat Metheny
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new ensemble jazz recordings.
The Chick Corea Symphony Tribute - Ritmo
ADDA Simfònica, Josep Vicent, Emilio Solla
Dynamic Maximum Tension
Darcy James Argue's Secret Society
Basie Swings The Blues
The Count Basie Orchestra Directed By Scotty Barnhart
Olympians
Vince Mendoza & Metropole Orkest
The Charles Mingus Centennial Sessions
Mingus Big Band
For vocal or instrumental albums containing greater than 75% playing time of newly recorded material. The intent of this category is to recognize recordings that represent the blending of jazz with Latin, Iberian-American, Brazilian, and Argentinian tango music.
Quietude
Eliane Elias
My Heart Speaks
Ivan Lins With The Tblisi Symphony Orchestra
Vox Humana
Bobby Sanabria Multiverse Big Band
Cometa
Luciana Souza & Trio Corrente
El Arte Del Bolero Vol. 2
Miguel Zenón & Luis Perdomo
For vocal or instrumental albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new Alternative jazz recordings.
Love In Exile
Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer, Shahzad Ismaily
Quality Over Opinion
Louis Cole
SuperBlue: The Iridescent Spree
Kurt Elling, Charlie Hunter, SuperBlue
Live At The Piano
Cory Henry
The Omnichord Real Book
Meshell Ndegeocello
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new traditional pop recordings.
To Steve With Love: Liz Callaway Celebrates Sondheim
Liz Callaway
Pieces Of Treasure
Rickie Lee Jones
Bewitched
Laufey
Holidays Around The World
Pentatonix
Only The Strong Survive
Bruce Springsteen
Sondheim Unplugged (The NYC Sessions), Vol. 3
(Various Artists)
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new contemporary instrumental recordings.
As We Speak
Béla Fleck, Zakir Hussain, Edgar Meyer, Featuring Rakesh Chaurasia
On Becoming
House Of Waters
Jazz Hands
Bob James
The Layers
Julian Lage
All One
Ben Wendel
For albums containing greater than 51% playing time of new recordings. Award to the principal vocalist(s), and the album producer(s) of 50% or more playing time of the album. The lyricist(s) and composer(s) of 50 % or more of a score of a new recording are eligible for an Award if any previous recording of said score has not been nominated in this category.
Kimberly Akimbo
John Clancy, David Stone & Jeanine Tesori, producers; Jeanine Tesori, composer; David Lindsay-Abaire, lyricist (Original Broadway Cast)
Parade
Micaela Diamond, Alex Joseph Grayson, Jake Pedersen & Ben Platt, principal vocalists; Jason Robert Brown & Jeffrey Lesser, producers; Jason Robert Brown, composer & lyricist (2023 Broadway Cast)
Shucked
Brandy Clark, Jason Howland, Shane McAnally & Billy Jay Stein, producers; Brandy Clark & Shane McAnally, composers/lyricists (Original Broadway Cast)
Some Like It Hot
Christian Borle, J. Harrison Ghee, Adrianna Hicks & NaTasha Yvette Williams, principal vocalists; Mary-Mitchell Campbell, Bryan Carter, Scott M. Riesett, Charlie Rosen & Marc Shaiman, producers; Scott Wittman, lyricist; Marc Shaiman, composer & lyricist (Original Broadway Cast)
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street
Annaleigh Ashford & Josh Groban, principal vocalists; Thomas Kail & Alex Lacamoire, producers (Stephen Sondheim, composer & lyricist) (2023 Broadway Cast)
For new vocal or instrumental solo country recordings.
In Your Love
Tyler Childers
Buried
Brandy Clark
Fast Car
Luke Combs
The Last Thing On My Mind
Dolly Parton
White Horse
Chris Stapleton
For new vocal or instrumental duo/group or collaborative country recordings.
High Note
Dierks Bentley Featuring Billy Strings
Nobody's Nobody
Brothers Osborne
I Remember Everything
Zach Bryan Featuring Kacey Musgraves
Kissing Your Picture (Is So Cold)
Vince Gill & Paul Franklin
Save Me
Jelly Roll With Lainey Wilson
We Don't Fight Anymore
Carly Pearce Featuring Chris Stapleton
A Songwriter(s) Award. A song is eligible if it was first released or if it first achieved prominence during the Eligibility Year. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.
Buried
Brandy Clark & Jessie Jo Dillon, songwriters (Brandy Clark)
I Remember Everything
Zach Bryan & Kacey Musgraves, songwriters (Zach Bryan Featuring Kacey Musgraves)
In Your Love
Tyler Childers & Geno Seale, songwriters (Tyler Childers)
Last Night
John Byron, Ashley Gorley, Jacob Kasher Hindlin & Ryan Vojtesak, songwriters (Morgan Wallen)
White Horse
Chris Stapleton & Dan Wilson, songwriters (Chris Stapleton)
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new country recordings.
Rolling Up The Welcome Mat
Kelsea Ballerini
Brothers Osborne
Brothers Osborne
Zach Bryan
Zach Bryan
Rustin' In The Rain
Tyler Childers
Bell Bottom Country
Lainey Wilson
For new vocal or instrumental American Roots recordings. This is for performances in the style of any of the subgenres encompassed in the American Roots Music field including bluegrass, blues, folk or regional roots. Award to the artist(s).
Butterfly
Jon Batiste
Heaven Help Us All
The Blind Boys Of Alabama
Inventing The Wheel
Madison Cunningham
You Louisiana Man
Rhiannon Giddens
Eve Was Black
Allison Russell
For new vocal or instrumental Americana performance. Award to the artist(s).
Friendship
The Blind Boys Of Alabama
Help Me Make It Through The Night
Tyler Childers
Dear Insecurity
Brandy Clark Featuring Brandi Carlile
King Of Oklahoma
Jason Isbell And The 400 Unit
The Returner
Allison Russell
A Songwriter(s) Award. Includes Americana, bluegrass, traditional blues, contemporary blues, folk or regional roots songs. A song is eligible if it was first released or if it first achieved prominence during the Eligibility Year. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.
Blank Page
Michael Trotter Jr. & Tanya Trotter, songwriters (The War And Treaty)
California Sober
Aaron Allen, William Apostol & Jon Weisberger, songwriters (Billy Strings Featuring Willie Nelson)
Cast Iron Skillet
Jason Isbell, songwriter (Jason Isbell And The 400 Unit)
Dear Insecurity
Brandy Clark & Michael Pollack, songwriters (Brandy Clark Featuring Brandi Carlile)
The Returner
Drew Lindsay, JT Nero & Allison Russell, songwriters (Allison Russell)
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new vocal or instrumental Americana recordings.
Brandy Clark
Brandy Clark
The Chicago Sessions
Rodney Crowell
You're The One
Rhiannon Giddens
Weathervanes
Jason Isbell And The 400 Unit
The Returner
Allison Russell
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new vocal or instrumental bluegrass recordings.
Radio John: Songs of John Hartford
Sam Bush
Lovin' Of The Game
Michael Cleveland
Mighty Poplar
Mighty Poplar
Bluegrass
Willie Nelson
Me/And/Dad
Billy Strings
City Of Gold
Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new vocal or instrumental traditional blues recordings.
Ridin'
Eric Bibb
The Soul Side Of Sipp
Mr. Sipp
Life Don't Miss Nobody
Tracy Nelson
Teardrops For Magic Slim Live At Rosa's Lounge
John Primer
All My Love For You
Bobby Rush
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new vocal or instrumental contemporary blues recordings.
Death Wish Blues
Samantha Fish And Jesse Dayton
Healing Time
Ruthie Foster
Live In London
Christone "Kingfish" Ingram
Blood Harmony
Larkin Poe
LaVette!
Bettye LaVette
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new vocal or instrumental folk recordings.
Traveling Wildfire
Dom Flemons
I Only See The Moon
The Milk Carton Kids
Joni Mitchell At Newport [Live]
Joni Mitchell
Celebrants
Nickel Creek
Jubilee
Old Crow Medicine Show
Seven Psalms
Paul Simon
Folkocracy
Rufus Wainwright
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new vocal or instrumental regional roots music recordings.
New Beginnings
Buckwheat Zydeco Jr. & The Legendary Ils Sont Partis Band
Live At The 2023 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
Dwayne Dopsie & The Zydeco Hellraisers
Live: Orpheum Theater Nola
Lost Bayou Ramblers & Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra
Made In New Orleans
New Breed Brass Band
Too Much To Hold
New Orleans Nightcrawlers
Live At The Maple Leaf
The Rumble Featuring Chief Joseph Boudreaux Jr.
This award is given to the artist(s) and songwriter(s) (for new compositions) for the best traditional Christian, roots gospel or contemporary gospel single or track.
God Is Good
Stanley Brown Featuring Hezekiah Walker, Kierra Sheard & Karen Clark Sheard; Stanley Brown, Karen V Clark Sheard, Kaylah Jiavanni Harvey, Rodney Jerkins, Elyse Victoria Johnson, J Drew Sheard II, Kierra Valencia Sheard & Hezekiah Walker, songwriters
Feel Alright (Blessed)
Erica Campbell; Erica Campbell, Warryn Campbell, William Weatherspoon, Juan Winans & Marvin L. Winans, songwriters
Lord Do It For Me (Live)
Zacardi Cortez; Marcus Calyen, Zacardi Cortez & Kerry Douglas, songwriters
God Is
Melvin Crispell III
All Things
Kirk Franklin; Kirk Franklin, songwriter
This award is given to the artist(s) and songwriter(s) (for new compositions) for the best contemporary Christian music single or track, (including pop, rap/hip-hop, Latin, or rock.)
Believe
Blessing Offor; Hank Bentley & Blessing Offor, songwriters
Firm Foundation (He Won't) [Live]
Cody Carnes
Thank God I Do
Lauren Daigle; Lauren Daigle & Jason Ingram, songwriters
Love Me Like I Am
for KING & COUNTRY Featuring Jordin Sparks
Your Power
Lecrae & Tasha Cobbs Leonard
God Problems
Maverick City Music, Chandler Moore & Naomi Raine; Daniel Bashta, Chris Davenport, Ryan Ellis & Naomi Raine, songwriters
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of newly recorded, vocal, traditional or contemporary/R&B gospel music recordings.
I Love You
Erica Campbell
Hymns (Live)
Tasha Cobbs Leonard
The Maverick Way
Maverick City Music
My Truth
Jonathan McReynolds
All Things New: Live In Orlando
Tye Tribbett
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of newly recorded, vocal, contemporary Christian music, including pop, rap/hip hop, Latin, or rock recordings.
My Tribe
Blessing Offor
Emanuel
Da' T.R.U.T.H.
Lauren Daigle
Lauren Daigle
Church Clothes 4
Lecrae
I Believe
Phil Wickham
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of newly recorded, vocal, traditional/roots gospel music, including country, Southern gospel, bluegrass, and Americana recordings.
Tribute To The King
The Blackwood Brothers Quartet
Echoes Of The South
Blind Boys Of Alabama
Songs That Pulled Me Through The Tough Times
Becky Isaacs Bowman
Meet Me At The Cross
Brian Free & Assurance
Shine: The Darker The Night The Brighter The Light
Gaither Vocal Band
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new Latin pop recordings.
La Cuarta Hoja
Pablo Alborán
Beautiful Humans, Vol. 1
AleMor
A Ciegas
Paula Arenas
La Neta
Pedro Capó
Don Juan
Maluma
X Mí (Vol. 1)
Gaby Moreno
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new Música Urbana recordings.
SATURNO
Rauw Alejandro
MAÑANA SERÁ BONITO
Karol G
DATA
Tainy
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new Latin rock or alternative recordings.
MARTÍNEZ
Cabra
Leche De Tigre
Diamante Eléctrico
Vida Cotidiana
Juanes
De Todas Las Flores
Natalia Lafourcade
EADDA9223
Fito Paez
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new regional Mexican (banda, norteño, corridos, gruperos, mariachi, ranchera and Tejano) recordings.
Bordado A Mano
Ana Bárbara
La Sánchez
Lila Downs
Motherflower
Flor De Toloache
Amor Como En Las Películas De Antes
Lupita Infante
GÉNESIS
Peso Pluma
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new tropical Latin recordings.
Siembra: 45º Aniversario (En Vivo en el Coliseo de Puerto Rico, 14 de Mayo 2022)
Rubén Blades Con Roberto Delgado & Orquesta
Voy A Ti
Luis Figueroa
Niche Sinfónico
Grupo Niche Y Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Colombia
VIDA
Omara Portuondo
MIMY & TONY
Tony Succar, Mimy Succar
Escalona Nunca Se Había Grabado Así
Carlos Vives
For new vocal or instrumental Global music recordings.
Shadow Forces
Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer & Shahzad Ismaily
Alone
Burna Boy
FEEL
Davido
Milagro Y Disastre
Silvana Estrada
Abundance In Millets
Falu & Gaurav Shah (Featuring PM Narendra Modi)
Pashto
Béla Fleck, Edgar Meyer & Zakir Hussain Featuring Rakesh Chaurasia
Todo Colores
Ibrahim Maalouf Featuring Cimafunk & Tank And The Bangas
Amapiano
ASAKE & Olamide
City Boys
Burna Boy
UNAVAILABLE
Davido Featuring Musa Keys
Rush
Ayra Starr
Water
Tyla
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new vocal or instrumental Global Music recordings.
Epifanías
Susana Baca
History
Bokanté
I Told Them...
Burna Boy
Timeless
Davido
This Moment
Shakti
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new reggae recordings.
Born For Greatness
Buju Banton
Simma
Beenie Man
Cali Roots Riddim 2023
Collie Buddz
No Destroyer
Burning Spear
Colors Of Royal
Julian Marley & Antaeus
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new vocal or instrumental new age recordings.
Aquamarine
Kirsten Agresta-Copely
Moments Of Beauty
Omar Akram
Some Kind Of Peace (Piano Reworks)
Ólafur Arnalds
Ocean Dreaming Ocean
David Darling & Hans Christian
So She Howls
Carla Patullo Featuring Tonality And The Scorchio Quartet
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new musical or spoken word recordings that are created and intended specifically for children.
Ahhhhh!
Andrew & Polly
Ancestars
Pierce Freelon & Nnenna Freelon
Hip Hope For Kids!
DJ Willy Wow!
Taste The Sky
Uncle Jumbo
We Grow Together Preschool Songs
123 Andrés
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new recordings.
I Wish You Would
Trevor Noah
I'm An Entertainer
Wanda Sykes
Selective Outrage
Chris Rock
Someone You Love
Sarah Silverman
What's In A Name?
Dave Chappelle
Big Tree
Meryl Streep
Boldly Go: Reflections On A Life Of Awe And Wonder
William Shatner
The Creative Act: A Way Of Being
Rick Rubin
It's Ok To Be Angry About Capitalism
Senator Bernie Sanders
The Light We Carry: Overcoming In Uncertain Times
Michelle Obama
Award to the principal artist(s) and/or 'in studio' producer(s) of a majority of the tracks on the album. In the absence of both, award to the one or two individuals proactively responsible for the concept and musical direction of the album and for the selection of artists, songs and producers, as applicable. Award also goes to appropriately credited music supervisor(s).
AURORA
(Daisy Jones & The Six)
Barbie The Album
(Various Artists)
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever - Music From And Inspired By
(Various Artists)
Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3: Awesome Mix, Vol. 3
(Various Artists)
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story
Weird Al Yankovic
Award to Composer(s) for an original score created specifically for, or as a companion to, a current legitimate motion picture, television show or series, or other visual media.
Barbie
Mark Ronson & Andrew Wyatt, composers
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Ludwig Göransson, composer
The Fabelmans
John Williams, composer
Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny
John Williams, composer
Oppenheimer
Ludwig Göransson, composer
Award to Composer(s) for an original score created specifically for, or as a companion to, video games and other interactive media.
Call Of Duty®: Modern Warfare II
Sarah Schachner, composer
God Of War Ragnarök
Bear McCreary, composer
Hogwarts Legacy
Peter Murray, J Scott Rakozy & Chuck E. Myers "Sea", composers
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
Stephen Barton & Gordy Haab, composers
Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical
Jess Serro, Tripod & Austin Wintory, composers
A Songwriter(s) award. For a song (melody & lyrics) written specifically for a motion picture, television, video games or other visual media, and released for the first time during the Eligibility Year. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.)
Barbie World [From "Barbie The Album"]
Naija Gaston, Ephrem Louis Lopez Jr. & Onika Maraj, songwriters (Nicki Minaj & Ice Spice Featuring Aqua)
Dance The Night [From "Barbie The Album"]
Caroline Ailin, Dua Lipa, Mark Ronson & Andrew Wyatt, songwriters (Dua Lipa)
I'm Just Ken [From "Barbie The Album"]
Mark Ronson & Andrew Wyatt, songwriters (Ryan Gosling)
Lift Me Up [From "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever - Music From And Inspired By"]
Ryan Coogler, Ludwig Göransson, Robyn Fenty & Temilade Openiyi, songwriters (Rihanna)
What Was I Made For? [From "Barbie The Album"]
Billie Eilish O'Connell & Finneas O'Connell, songwriters (Billie Eilish)
Award to the artist, video director, and video producer.
I'm Only Sleeping
(The Beatles)
Em Cooper, video director; Jonathan Clyde, Sophie Hilton, Sue Loughlin & Laura Thomas, video producers
In Your Love
Tyler Childers
Bryan Schlam, video director; Kacie Barton, Silas House, Nicholas Robespierre, Ian Thornton & Whitney Wolanin, video producers
What Was I Made For
Billie Eilish
Billie Eilish, video director; Michelle An, Chelsea Dodson & David Moore, video producers
Count Me Out
Kendrick Lamar
Dave Free & Kendrick Lamar, video directors; Jason Baum & Jamie Rabineau, video producers
Rush
Troye Sivan
Gordon Von Steiner, video director; Kelly McGee, video producer
For concert/performance films or music documentaries. Award to the artist, video director, and video producer.
Moonage Daydream
(David Bowie)
Brett Morgen, video director; Brett Morgen, video producer
How I'm Feeling Now
Lewis Capaldi
Joe Pearlman, video director; Sam Bridger, Isabel Davis & Alice Rhodes, video producers
Live From Paris, The Big Steppers Tour
Kendrick Lamar
Mike Carson, Dave Free & Mark Ritchie, video directors; Cornell Brown, Debra Davis, Jared Heinke & Jamie Rabineau, video producers
I Am Everything
(Little Richard)
Lisa Cortés, video director; Caryn Capotosto, Lisa Cortés, Robert Friedman & Liz Yale Marsh, video producers
Dear Mama
(Tupac Shakur)
Allen Hughes, video director; Joshua Garcia, Loren Gomez, James Jenkins & Stef Smith, video producers
The Art Of Forgetting
Caroline Rose, art director (Caroline Rose)
Cadenza 21'
Hsing-Hui Cheng, art director (Ensemble Cadenza 21')
Electrophonic Chronic
Perry Shall, art director (The Arcs)
Gravity Falls
Iam8bit, art director (Brad Breeck)
Migration
Yu Wei, art director (Leaf Yeh)
Stumpwork
Luke Brooks & James Theseus Buck, art directors (Dry Cleaning)
The Collected Works Of Neutral Milk Hotel
Jeff Mangum, Daniel Murphy & Mark Ohe, art directors (Neutral Milk Hotel)
For The Birds: The Birdsong Project
Jeri Heiden & John Heiden, art directors (Various Artists)
Gieo
Duy Dao, art director (Ngot)
Inside: Deluxe Box Set
Bo Burnham & Daniel Calderwood, art directors (Bo Burnham)
Words & Music, May 1965 - Deluxe Edition
Masaki Koike, art director (Lou Reed)
Evenings At The Village Gate: John Coltrane With Eric Dolphy (Live)
Ashley Kahn, album notes writer (John Coltrane & Eric Dolphy)
I Can Almost See Houston: The Complete Howdy Glenn
Scott B. Bomar, album notes writer (Howdy Glenn)
Mogadishu's Finest: The Al Uruba Sessions
Vik Sohonie, album notes writer (Iftin Band)
Playing For The Man At The Door: Field Recordings From The Collection Of Mack McCormick, 1958–1971
Jeff Place & John Troutman, album notes writers (Various Artists)
Written In Their Soul: The Stax Songwriter Demos
Robert Gordon & Deanie Parker, album notes writers (Various Artists)
Fragments – Time Out Of Mind Sessions (1996-1997): The Bootleg Series, Vol. 17
Steve Berkowitz & Jeff Rosen, compilation producers; Steve Addabbo, Greg Calbi, Steve Fallone, Chris Shaw & Mark Wilder, mastering engineers (Bob Dylan)
The Moaninest Moan Of Them All: The Jazz Saxophone of Loren McMurray, 1920-1922 Colin Hancock, Meagan Hennessey & Richard Martin, compilation producers; Richard Martin, mastering engineer; Richard Martin, restoration engineer (Various Artists)
Playing For The Man At The Door: Field Recordings From The Collection Of Mack McCormick, 1958–1971
Jeff Place & John Troutman, compilation producers; Randy LeRoy & Charlie Pilzer, mastering engineers; Mike Petillo & Charlie Pilzer, restoration engineers (Various Artists)
Words & Music, May 1965 - Deluxe Edition
Laurie Anderson, Don Fleming, Jason Stern, Matt Sulllivan & Hal Willner, compilation producers; John Baldwin, mastering engineer; John Baldwin, restoration engineer (Lou Reed)
Written In Their Soul: The Stax Songwriter Demos
Robert Gordon, Deanie Parker, Cheryl Pawelski, Michele Smith & Mason Williams, compilation producers; Michael Graves, mastering engineer; Michael Graves, restoration engineer (Various Artists)
An Engineer's Award. (Artists names appear in parentheses.)
Desire, I Want To Turn Into You
Macks Faulkron, Daniel Harle, Caroline Polachek & Geoff Swan, engineers; Mike Bozzi & Chris Gehringer, mastering engineers (Caroline Polachek)
History
Nic Hard, engineer; Dave McNair, mastering engineer (Bokanté)
JAGUAR II
John Kercy, Kyle Mann, Victoria Monét, Patrizio "Teezio" Pigliapoco, Neal H Pogue & Todd Robinson, engineers; Colin Leonard, mastering engineer (Victoria Monét)
Multitudes
Michael Harris, Robbie Lackritz, Joseph Lorge & Blake Mills, engineers (Feist)
The Record
Owen Lantz, Will Maclellan, Catherine Marks, Mike Mogis, Bobby Mota, Kaushlesh "Garry" Purohit & Sarah Tudzin, engineers; Pat Sullivan, mastering engineer (boygenius)
An Engineer's Award. (Artist names appear in parentheses.)
The Blue Hour
Patrick Dillett, Mitchell Graham, Jesse Lewis, Kyle Pyke, Andrew Scheps & John Weston, engineers; Helge Sten, mastering engineer (Shara Nova & A Far Cry)
Contemporary American Composers
David Frost & Charlie Post, engineers; Silas Brown, mastering engineer (Riccardo Muti & Chicago Symphony Orchestra)
Fandango
Alexander Lipay & Dmitriy Lipay, engineers; Alexander Lipay & Dmitriy Lipay, mastering engineers (Gustavo Dudamel, Anne Akiko Meyers, Gustavo Castillo & Los Angeles Philharmonic)
Sanlikol: A Gentleman Of Istanbul - Symphony For Strings, Percussion, Piano, Oud, Ney & Tenor
Christopher Moretti & John Weston, engineers; Shauna Barravecchio & Jesse Lewis, mastering engineers (Mehmet Ali Sanlikol, George Lernis & A Far Cry)
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 & Schulhoff: Five Pieces
Mark Donahue, engineer; Mark Donahue, mastering engineer (Manfred Honeck & Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra)
Field 10: Production, Engineering, Composition & Arrangement
A Producer's Award. (Artist names appear in parentheses.)
David Frost
The American Project (Yuja Wang, Teddy Abrams, Louisville Orchestra) (A)
Arc II - Ravel, Brahms, Shostakovich (Orion Weiss) (A)
Blanchard: Champion (Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Latonia Moore, Ryan Speedo Green, Eric Owens, Stephanie Blythe, Metropolitan Opera Chorus & Orchestra) (A)
Contemporary American Composers (Riccardo Muti & Chicago Symphony Orchestra) (A)
The Guitar Player (Mattias Schulstad) (A)
Mysterium (Anne Akiko Meyers, Grant Gershon & Los Angeles Master Chorale) (A)
Verdi: Rigoletto (Daniele Rustioni, Piotr Beczala, Quinn Kelsey, Rosa Feola, Varduhi Abrahamyan, Andrea Mastroni, The Metropolitan Opera Chorus & Orchestra) (A)
Morten Lindberg
An Old Hall Ladymass (Catalina Vicens & Trio Mediæval) (A)
Thoresen: Lyden Av Arktis - La Terra Meravigliosa (Christian Kluxen & Arktisk Filharmoni) (A)
The Trondheim Concertos (Sigurd Imsen & Baroque Ensemble Of The Trondheim Symphony Orchestra) (A)
Yggdrasil (Tove Ramlo-Ystad & Cantus) (A)
Dmitriy Lipay
Adès: Dante (Gustavo Dudamel & Los Angeles Philharmonic) (A) Fandango (Gustavo Dudamel, Anne Akiko Meyers & Los Angeles Philharmonic) (A)
Price: Symphony No. 4; Dawson: Negro Folk Symphony (Yannick Nézet-Séguin & Philadelphia Orchestra) (A)
Rachmaninoff: The Piano Concertos & Paganini Rhapsody (Yuja Wang, Gustavo Dudamel & Los Angeles Philharmonic) (A)
Walker: Lyric For Strings; Folksongs For Orchestra; Lilacs For Voice & Orchestra; Dawson: Negro Folk Symphony (Asher Fisch & Seattle Symphony) (A)
Elaine Martone
Ascenso (Santiago Cañón-Valencia) (A)
Berg: Three Pieces From Lyric Suite; Strauss: Suite From Der Rosenkavalier (Franz Welser-Möst & The Cleveland Orchestra) (A)
Between Breaths (Third Coast Percussion) (A)
Difficult Grace (Seth Parker Woods) (A)
Man Up / Man Down (Constellation Men's Ensemble) (A)
Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5 (Franz Welser-Möst & The Cleveland Orchestra) (A)
Rachmaninoff & Gershwin: Transcriptions By Earl Wild (John Wilson) (A)
Sirventés - Music From The Iranian Female Composers Association (Brian Thornton, Katherine Bormann, Alicia Koelz, Eleisha Nelson, Amahl Arulanadam & Nathan Petipas) (A)
Walker: Antifonys; Lilacs; Sinfonias Nos. 4 & 5 (Franz Welser-Möst & The Cleveland Orchestra) (A)
Brian Pidgeon
Fuchs: Orchestral Works, Vol. 1 (John Wilson & Sinfonia Of London) (A)
Music For Strings (John Wilson & Sinfonia Of London) (A)
Nielsen: Violin Concerto; Symphony No. 4 (James Ehnes, Edward Gardner & Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra) (A)
Pierre Sancan - A Musical Tribute (Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Yan Pascal Tortelier & BBC Philharmonic) (A)
Poulenc: Orchestral Works (Bramwell Tovey & BBC Concert Orchestra) (A)
Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 3; Voclaise; The Isle Of The Dead (John Wilson & Sinfonia Of London) (A)
Schubert: Symphonies, Vol. 3 (Edward Gardner & City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra) (A)
Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 12 & 15 (John Storgårds & BBC Philharmonic) (A)
Tchaikovsky: Orchestral Works (Alpesh Chauhan & BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra) (A)
(A Remixer's Award. (Artists names appear in parentheses for identification.) Singles or Tracks only.)
Alien Love Call
BADBADNOTGOOD, remixers (Turnstile & BADBADNOTGOOD Featuring Blood Orange)
New Gold (Dom Dolla Remix)
Dom Dolla, remixer (Gorillaz Featuring Tame Impala & Bootie Brown)
Reviver (Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs Remix)
Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, remixer (Lane 8)
Wagging Tongue (Wet Leg Remix)
Wet Leg, remixers (Depeche Mode)
Workin' Hard (Terry Hunter Remix)
Terry Hunter, remixer (Mariah Carey)
For vocal or instrumental albums in any genre. Must be commercially released for physical sale or on an eligible streaming or download service and must provide a new immersive mix of four or more channels. Award to the immersive mix engineer, immersive producer (if any) and immersive mastering engineer (if any).
Act 3 (Immersive Edition)
Ryan Ulyate, immersive mix engineer; Michael Romanowski, immersive mastering engineer; Ryan Ulyate, immersive producer (Ryan Ulyate)
Blue Clear Sky
Chuck Ainlay, immersive mix engineer; Michael Romanowski, immersive mastering engineer; Chuck Ainlay, immersive producer (George Strait)
The Diary Of Alicia Keys
George Massenburg & Eric Schilling, immersive mix engineers; Michael Romanowski, immersive mastering engineer; Alicia Keys & Ann Mincieli, immersive producers (Alicia Keys)
God Of War Ragnarök (Original Soundtrack)
Eric Schilling, immersive mix engineer; Michael Romanowski, immersive mastering engineer; Kellogg Boynton, Peter Scaturro & Herbert Waltl, immersive producers (Bear McCreary)
Silence Between Songs
Aaron Short, immersive mastering engineer (Madison Beer)
A Composer's Award for an original composition (not an adaptation) first released during the Eligibility Year. Singles or Tracks only.
Amerikkan Skin
Lakecia Benjamin, composer (Lakecia Benjamin Featuring Angela Davis)
Can You Hear The Music
Ludwig Göransson, composer (Ludwig Göransson)
Cutey And The Dragon
Gordon Goodwin & Raymond Scott, composers (Quartet San Francisco Featuring Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band)
Helena's Theme
John Williams, composer (John Williams)
Motion
Edgar Meyer, composer (Béla Fleck, Edgar Meyer & Zakir Hussain Featuring Rakesh Chaurasia)
An Arranger's Award. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.
Angels We Have Heard On High
Nkosilathi Emmanuel Sibanda, arranger (Just 6)
Can You Hear The Music
Ludwig Göransson, arranger (Ludwig Göransson)
Folsom Prison Blues
John Carter Cash, Tommy Emmanuel, Markus Illko, Janet Robin & Roberto Luis Rodriguez, arrangers (The String Revolution Featuring Tommy Emmanuel)
I Remember Mingus
Hilario Duran, arranger (Hilario Duran And His Latin Jazz Big Band Featuring Paquito D'Rivera)
Paint It Black
Esin Aydingoz, Chris Bacon & Alana Da Fonseca, arrangers (Wednesday Addams)
An Arranger's Award. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.
April In Paris
Gordon Goodwin, arranger (Patti Austin Featuring Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band)
Com Que Voz (Live)
John Beasley & Maria Mendes, arrangers (Maria Mendes Featuring John Beasley & Metropole Orkest)
Fenestra
Godwin Louis, arranger (Cécile McLorin Salvant)
In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning
Erin Bentlage, Jacob Collier, Sara Gazarek, Johnaye Kendrick & Amanda Taylor, arrangers (säje Featuring Jacob Collier)
Lush Life
Kendric McCallister, arranger (Samara Joy)
Award to the Conductor and to the Orchestra.
Adès: Dante
Gustavo Dudamel, conductor (Los Angeles Philharmonic)
Bartók: Concerto For Orchestra; Four Pieces
Karina Canellakis, conductor (Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra)
Price: Symphony No. 4; Dawson: Negro Folk Symphony
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor (The Philadelphia Orchestra)
Scriabin: Symphony No. 2; The Poem Of Ecstasy
JoAnn Falletta, conductor (Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra)
Stravinsky: The Rite Of Spring
Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor (San Francisco Symphony)
Award to the Conductor, Album Producer(s) and Principal Soloists, and to the Composer and Librettist (if applicable) of a world premiere Opera recording only.
Blanchard: Champion
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor; Ryan Speedo Green, Latonia Moore & Eric Owens; David Frost, producer (The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; The Metropolitan Opera Chorus)
Corigliano: The Lord Of Cries
Gil Rose, conductor; Anthony Roth Costanzo, Kathryn Henry, Jarrett Ott & David Portillo; Gil Rose, producer (Boston Modern Orchestra Project & Odyssey Opera Chorus)
Little: Black Lodge
Timur; Andrew McKenna Lee & David T. Little, producers (The Dime Museum; Isaura String Quartet)
Award to the Conductor, and to the Choral Director and/or Chorus Master where applicable and to the Choral Organization/Ensemble.
Carols After A Plague
Donald Nally, conductor (The Crossing)
The House Of Belonging
Craig Hella Johnson, conductor (Miró Quartet; Conspirare)
Ligeti: Lux Aeterna
Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor (San Francisco Symphony Chorus)
Rachmaninoff: All-Night Vigil
Steven Fox, conductor (The Clarion Choir)
Saariaho: Reconnaissance
Nils Schweckendiek, conductor (Uusinta Ensemble; Helsinki Chamber Choir)
For new recordings of works with chamber or small ensemble (twenty-four or fewer members, not including the conductor). One Award to the ensemble and one Award to the conductor, if applicable.
American Stories
Anthony McGill & Pacifica Quartet
Beethoven For Three: Symphony No. 6, 'Pastorale' And Op. 1, No. 3
Yo-Yo Ma, Emanuel Ax & Leonidas Kavakos
Between Breaths
Third Coast Percussion
Rough Magic
Roomful Of Teeth
Uncovered, Vol. 3: Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, William Grant Still & George Walker
Catalyst Quartet
Award to the Instrumental Soloist(s) and to the Conductor when applicable.
Adams, John Luther: Darkness And Scattered Light
Robert Black
Akiho: Cylinders
Andy Akiho
The American Project
Yuja Wang; Teddy Abrams, conductor (Louisville Orchestra)
Difficult Grace
Seth Parker Woods
Of Love
Curtis Stewart
Award to: Vocalist(s), Collaborative Artist(s) (Ex: pianists, conductors, chamber groups) Producer(s), Recording Engineers/Mixers with greater than 50% playing time of new material.
Because
Reginald Mobley, soloist; Baptiste Trotignon, pianist
Broken Branches
Karim Sulayman, soloist; Sean Shibe, accompanist
40@40
Laura Strickling, soloist; Daniel Schlosberg, pianist
Rising
Lawrence Brownlee, soloist; Kevin J. Miller, pianist
Walking In The Dark
Julia Bullock, soloist; Christian Reif, conductor (Philharmonia Orchestra)
Award to the Artist(s) and to the Album Producer(s) and Engineer(s) of over 50% playing time of the album, and to the Composer and Librettist (if applicable) with over 50% playing time of a world premiere recording only.
Fandango
Anne Akiko Meyers; Gustavo Dudamel, conductor; Dmitriy Lipay, producer
Julius Eastman, Vol. 3: If You're So Smart, Why Aren't You Rich?
Christopher Rountree, conductor; Lewis Pesacov, producer
Mazzoli: Dark With Excessive Bright
Peter Herresthal; Tim Weiss, conductor; Hans Kipfer, producer
Passion For Bach And Coltrane
Alex Brown, Harlem Quartet, Imani Winds, Edward Perez, Neal Smith & A.B. Spellman; Silas Brown & Mark Dover, producers
Sardinia
Chick Corea; Chick Corea & Bernie Kirsh, producers
Sculptures
Andy Akiho; Andy Akiho & Sean Dixon, producers
Zodiac Suite
Aaron Diehl Trio & The Knights; Eric Jacobsen, conductor; Aaron Diehl & Eric Jacobsen, producers
A Composer's Award. (For a contemporary classical composition composed within the last 25 years, and released for the first time during the Eligibility Year.) Award to the librettist, if applicable.
Adès: Dante
Thomas Adès, composer (Gustavo Dudamel & Los Angeles Philharmonic)
Akiho: In That Space, At That Time
Andy Akiho, composer (Andy Akiho, Ankush Kumar Bahl & Omaha Symphony)
Brittelle: Psychedelics
William Brittelle, composer (Roomful Of Teeth)
Mazzoli: Dark With Excessive Bright
Missy Mazzoli, composer (Peter Herresthal, James Gaffigan & Bergen Philharmonic)
Montgomery: Rounds
Jessie Montgomery, composer (Awadagin Pratt, A Far Cry & Roomful Of Teeth)
Read the DEC ISSUE #96 of Athleisure Mag and see 63MIX ROUTIN3S | Icona Pop in mag.
Read the DEC ISSUE #96 of Athleisure Mag and see 9PLAYLIST | Icona Pop in mag.
We're heading towards the end of the year which always makes us think of our favorite songs! This month, we caught up with Toby Gad a Grammy-winning, multi-platinum songwriter/producer who has written some of our favorite songs from Beyoncé's If I Were a Boy, Fergie's Big Girls Don't Cry and Demi Lovato's Skyscraper to name a few! We wanted to know more about how he got into the industry, his passion for songwriting, collaborating with fellow entertainers and his legacy project, Piano Diaries!
ATHLEISURE MAG: When did you first fall in love with music?
TOBY GAD: First it’s so great to be able to talk with you and thank you for having me! I started with music when I was maybe 5/6/7 years old? My parents had a jazz band and probably when I was already in my mother’s womb, I heard all of these jazz songs that they did. They had a very limited repertoire so I always felt that one day I wanted to be able to write different songs because by age 3 I knew all 30 of the songs that they played!
AM: I love that!
How do you feel that your parents influenced you as jazz artists. My great-uncle was the late tenor saxophonist, Joe Henderson -
TG: Yes! Amazing amazing saxophonist!
AM: I love jazz, I love a lot of the elements of it. How did it influence your music?
TG: My mother always listened to Keith Jarrett, the piano player.
AM: Love Keith Jarrett!
TG: The Köln Concert by Keith Jarrett is probably the one record that I have listened to most in my entire life. It’s accompanied me my entire life and it always makes me feel like home. It’s such a great record and just how Keith Jarrett just improvises. He used to start concerts by just playing one note and then taking it from there without making any plans. He’s just very intuitive and just playing in the moment and I just thought that that was so special. I try – I mean, I’m not that good on the piano. I try to do it myself too sometimes and I lose myself in the piano playing. It’s just such a beautiful feeling when you just watch your hands take you places and explore.
AM: We saw Keith Jarrett a few years ago at Carnegie Hall here in NY and you’re right!
TG: I was there too! I saw him also in Carnegie!
AM: Yes! It was such an amazing show and I felt that I barely breathed during that concert, it was transformative! It was so beautiful and I’m so glad that I had a chance to see him because I had never seen him in person but have heard his records. Such a genius!
When did you realize that you wanted to work in the music industry?
TG: My brother and me, we always had ambitions. At first we emulated our parents and they rehearsed in the living room and when they were done, we would take over the instruments and pretend that we were musicians too. Then I think at the age of 6 or 7, we started to have our own set of a few Rock & Roll songs and we would play them in the intermissions of our parent’s jazz band. When our parents went back onstage, we went through the audience and collected money. That was our first experience of, “wow, we can actually make money with this.”
AM: Exactly!
You’re a music producer, you’re also a songwriter, what’s your creative process like and where do you start in terms of creating a song?
TG: It's very much lyric driven. It's always collaborative. I usually start with a conversation with the artist and see where they are at that time in their life. Are they heartbroken, are they in and out of love, angry, happy? What’s the mood of the day? And out of that conversation, sometimes, quite often something sticks – some line.
Like with BC Jean, when she said, because she was angry at someone, she said, “if I were a boy, I would kick his ass” and I was like, “what did you just say?” She said, If I Were a Boy (editor’s note: originally performed by BC Jean and later that year performed by Beyoncé) and I said let’s get back to the studio now and write this song. That’s often how it happens.
AM: Wow!
What do you love about being a songwriter?
TG: Well, it’s the feeling of coming full circle. Like you do something that starts so small with an artist and you record it and then if you’re lucky, it travels around the world. Then you hear it on the radio wherever you go. That is an incredible feeling when people know you by your song. It’s amazing and I love that.
AM: How do you get inspired and where does that part kick off for you?
TG: It’s always the artists that inspire me. If I know that I am going to work with someone, like recently I worked with James Arthur and Tom Walker and those are voices that I love. I love listening to their voices and working with them, I really looked forward to it and it inspired me to really work hard and to create some good music for them.
AM: You’ve had so many accomplishments from 3 Grammy Awards, Grammy nominations, and so many people that you have worked with. What do you look for when it comes to collaborating with an artist? Are there certain things that a person or group has to have in order to go forward?
TG: It's always important to me that the artists are kind of their own boss, they have something to say, they are driven to collaborate and to write their own lyric with someone like me. It’s very important that the artists are part of the creative process and that the music that they record somehow feels a bit autobiographical. Then of course, the voice. I love great voices. I worked with Celeste recently and there are just some singers who I could hear it day and night.
AM: I mean, when I was prepping for the interview, realizing the work that you have been on from Big Girls Don’t Cry, If I Were a Boy, I Do – these are songs that I really love! What have been some of your favorite projects that you have been part of?
TG: I think that Love Song to the Earth has been a song that we did for the Paris Climate Accord and that was a song that just meant a lot to me. At my heart, I’m an environmentalist as well. I care for the planet a lot and that was a little contribution that we could do and I wrote the song with Natasha Bedingfield, John Shanks, and Sean Paul. We got more and more artists on it and by the end, we got Paul McCartney on it as well. Jon Bon Jovi as well as a number of other big name artists wanted to be on this song too. So that was a great experience!
AM: Well, you have worked with a number of artists, but you have also crossed over into a number of genres in music. Does the process change for you when you’re working on an EDM song versus a pop song?
TG: I think that for me the core is that you can always play it on the piano. A lot of good EDM songs start with a good vocal and from there you can explore all different directions. Now, with Piano Diaries, it’s stripping these songs back down to the bones and it’s just for the vocal performance and the really marvelous piano and maybe a little string accompaniment and then the remixes which go all kinds of places and I just have fun with them. But I think that all of these songs at their core, if you can just play them at the piano, that’s great!
AM: What led you to want to create Piano Diaries and to embark on this legacy project?
TG: Well most of my career has been next song, next artist, next session and trying to get a hit, hit, hit! This is the first time in my life that I feel like I can take a breath, look back, and reflect a little bit. I’m happy to rediscover these songs, but I feel that I wanted to record them in a way – how I hear them today and with artists of today, but then I also want to hear the bones of it. For people to be able to hear how it could sound stripped down and just let the lyric carry it. Then of course, to have fun with these new originals and then make crazy remixes.
AM: I love that! I mean, what is it like to work on something that obviously we already know what it’s like, but now having to reimagine it? Is that stressful or is it almost like a sense of freedom?
TG: There’s a real challenge for the original version with piano vocal to create something that feels new.
AM: Yeah.
TG: And to make sure that the singers perform it in a way that feels very original. Like for instance, the next single, Skyscraper, will be with an artist, Camylio a Universal Republic artist with a very strong voice and he sounds so different from the Demi Lovato version, but he kills it.
The current single, Big Girls Don’t Cry, Victoria Justice has such a beautiful soft voice on it that sounds so different from how Fergie sang it when we did that song back then.
AM: I can imagine that that is such an interesting process.
What was it like working with Victoria Justice on that?
TG: Victoria and I, we go way back! Back when she had this very popular television show, Victorious, we had a song, All I Want is Everything that we wrote and she was 17 years old. Ever since, every few years, we would get together and write more songs. We did a song, Girl Up, to empower young females around the world for the United Nations. Love Song to the Earth, she was part of that. So over the years, we kept in touch and she’s such a precious soul and I love her. We actually, it wasn’t just the song, we spent days together just having fun climbing mountains, going surfing, and going through Downtown LA and we filmed a lot of that and put it on social media so we have 30 or 40 little clips on TikTok and Instagram of us talking, asking each other questions, and doing fun things together.
AM: You have your own record label, Kite Records, can you tell me about that?
TG: Well, about 10 years ago, I started Kite Records and we had several records out. But back in the day it meant that you had an imprint and that the record company takes over. But now, it’s such a new perspective that you can do so much on social media and on your own. I couldn’t wait to restart the label and to hire a few new amazing people. Now in the first 2 days we have almost 70,000 streams which I think is incredible that we can achieve that on our own! I’m so happy about this!
AM: That’s amazing!
Obviously you’re focused on Piano Diaries, but are there other projects that are coming up that you would like to share with our readers to know about?
TG: There is a Christmas single, LITTLE HOUSE IN THE SNOW, that came out on Nov 24th with Marisha Wallace, she is a musical star and I am working with her on an Etta James musical that is still going to be a year or two in the making. We decided to do a Christmas song. We’re promoting it in London, there will be shows in the Royal Festival Hall on Dec 15th and 17th and we’re performing with an orchestra. We get to do this song and there are a few TV and radio performances alongside that and that’s also on our label. So I’m very excited about this! Marisha is such a great singer!
AM: That’s fantastic and I can’t wait to hear more about the Etta James musical as I’m such a fan of her music.
When you’re not producing, writing, or doing other projects, how do you take time for yourself?
TG: That’s a learning process and I think that I am getting better with it after all of these years. I love surfing! Right now you can see where we are.
AM: Um that’s an amazing view! We just had Laird Hamilton and Gabby Reece as our OCT ISSUE #94 cover!
TG: I saw that! Incredible! I’m such a fan of Laird Hamilton and I think that it’s remarkable that early on, he decided that he never wanted to compete, he just wants to have his own experience with the gigantic waves out there with the natural forces. I have a lot of respect for this man!
AM: Do you go to Nazaré and surf big waves?
TG: Ha! I think that the biggest wave that I surfed was maybe 6 – 8 ft! To me that is very big!
AM: We also had Kai Lenny for our MAY ISSUE #89 this year as well on our cover who is also known for surfing those really epic waves! Watching him on HBO's 100 Foot Wave was insane! There’s no way I could do that, but watching him do it is so impressive!
TG: Kai Lenny is such a trailblazer with all of the other things like Foiling, Wing Folling and what he does at Nazaré is unbelievable! He does back flips on those 100 foot waves!
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | Toby Gad
Read the NOV ISSUE #95 of Athleisure Mag and see MELODIES OF LIFE | Toby Gad in mag.
This month, we celebrated CASIO's G-SHOCK's 40th Anniversary which included a press conference to hear about its history as well as the future of this brand. We were able to hear about the brands' four decades of pushing the boundaries of watch design as well as technology. The Father of G-SHOCK and creator, Kikuo Ibe shared his story and the origins of the brand. He also shared the Dream Project #2 a new luxury, AI-designed timepiece, that will be auctioned off at PHILLIPS on Dec 9th and 10th that has a bold design that pays homage to the brand's heritage. This model includes the latest advancements in watchmaking technology.
The G-D001 is an 18K yellow gold for the case, bezel, and band. Hand polishing is applied throughout the piece to give the components the optimal lustre for this limited edition of one timepiece worldwide. This watch incorporates cutting edge AI technologies into its design process.
Prior to and after this press conference, a number of the brand's watches were showcased to see how the brand started, evolved and special collaborations that they have participated with as well.
The night concluded with a few words from international superstar, J Balvin on how he aligned with the brand growing up in Columbia and what it meant to him. Later in the evening, he also performed a private concert that took the night to the next level as he performed some of his major hits.
IG @gshock_us
PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | PG 114 - 115 + 118 - 127 Shutterstock/Andrew Walker + Adela Loconte | PG 116 Paul Farkas |
Read the NOV ISSUE #95 of Athleisure Mag and see RHYTHM + TIME 40TH ANNIVERSARY : Casio’s G-Shock + J Balvin in mag.
Season 3 of STARZ's POWER BOOK III: Raising Kanan is back on Dec 1st at midnight on the STARZ app (all STARZ streaming and on-demand platforms) as well as on STARZ at 9pm ET every Friday night! We caught up with MeKai Curtis (Arrested Development, Girl Meets World, Milo Murphy's Law), Joey BadA$$ (Wu-Tang: An American Saga, Mr. Robot, Grown-ish), and London Brown (The Hustle, Ballers, American Soul) who are all back for the latest season. We wanted to find out about what we can expect for this season (season 4 is not only renewed but is already in production) as well as what we should be excited for!
MeKai plays Kanan Stark in the 90's in the origin story of the character played by Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson in POWER, the flagship series. We know he's the devoted son of Raquel "Raq" Thomas (Patina Miller) and as he searches for answers that he will ultimately evolve. We wanted to know how he approaches Kanan, what drew him to this series and what he is excited for.
ATHLEISURE MAG: It’s so exciting to be able to connect with you. How do you approach playing Kanan?
MEKAI CURTIS: You know, I approach it like any other character that I would approach and like how anybody would approach life. I take it line by line, scene by scene, day by day, reaction by reaction – I kind of just try to make it as organic as I can. That’s all acting it. It’s reacting.
AM: Where did we leave Kanan last season and where are we picking up with him again?
MC: I think that you’ll kind of find Kanan in the same spot that you left him at the end of season 2. He’s just trying to get a lot of answers to a lot of questions that he has and some of the answers that he’s getting aren’t necessarily adding up. So he dives deeper into finding those answers and then he builds his truth and his new world around that information! So you know, you’re just again finding an inquisitive young man trying to figure out what he is doing in life and who he is.
AM: What made you want to play this character as well as to join this amazing cast?
MC: Ah man, I mean, wanting to play this character, it stemmed from partially being a fan of the original franchise and then just wanting to push myself as an artist and to take on something new, to stretch my chops and to do something that I knew that I could. But even signing on, I had no idea in certain ways on what I was stepping into. I’m beyond grateful for it. I’m beyond ready for it. But even the magnitude of where we are and what we’re creating, it wasn’t so heavily on me at the time. It was just again about doing good work and getting to be part of the POWER franchise!
AM: What should fans be excited about as we come into the season as I can’t believe that it launches this Fri on Dec 1st!
MC: Ah wow! It is crazy! Oh wow, it is coming up on Fri!
AM: I know, right?
MC: Yo, time is moving – I mean time is just timing! It’s just happening. Everything is happening so fast! I mean, you just threw me for a loop with that one!
I mean it’s about just being able to watch the season! It’s about continuing the journey and continuing the ride with us. It’s about continuing to unfold and discover this world and these characters and what made the person – the original people that the fans of the original franchise are really able to get to understand. It’s about knowing the person that they saw from the original and new people that we have garnered and have started to bring onto the ship. They’re getting to enjoy just a really good story. It’s a coming of age story, a story of love, a story of forgiveness, a story of ups and downs and bonding. It’s about just trying to pave your way and making it do what it do every day that you’re allowed to!
We've been a fan of rapper and actor, Joey BadA$$ and the energy that he brings into playing playing notorious drug lord, Kadeem “Unique” Mathis, a character that continues to unveil his complexities from season to season. In addition to finding out how he brings this character to life, we also wanted to know what he loves about playing him as well as what drew him to the POWER universe.
ATHLEISURE MAG: How do you approach playing Unique?
JOEY BADA$$: Well you know, once I get suited and booted, it’s definitely like I get 5 points for that! You know what I mean? Just being in the attire! Also, it’s just more of the mental preparation than anything. You know, I’m thinking about what must be going on in the character’s mind, what are the current challenges that he’s facing and how can I bring that to life on the screen? How can I show that with my actions or my mannerisms or even my facial expressions.
AM: Where did we leave Unique last season and where are we picking up with him again this season?
JB: So you know, last season we saw the villain become the hero and I thought that that was very interesting. You know, I think that with this new season, historically, he was the guy that you hated that you loved or the guy that you loved that you hated. But now, I feel like people are going to see him in a new light this season because he’s in much more of a vulnerable space navigating this chemistry between him and Raq. So, you know his brother being back home and Ronnie’s (Grantham Coleman) not happy with what Unique has done. So there’s this work-life balance that Unique is facing and you know, I think that people are really going to see more of the human aspect of Unique more than anything this season so I’m excited about that!
AM: What made you want to play this character and be part of this phenomenal cast?
JB: Well I’ve been a fan of the original POWER series you know for a long time. When I saw that they were doing a spin-off, I just thought, look I just need a role. It don’t really matter which one it is, but once the role of Unique came and I auditioned for this character and it landed on my desk, I’m like, this is it – this is me. You know, by every means, this is me. I felt like I was born to play this character, you know what I’m saying? It’s been exciting to say the least and I’m super grateful to be part of this universe and to be part of the family.
AM: It’s always fun to see when you’re on screen! Are there any other upcoming projects that we should keep our eye out for that you can tell us about?
JB: Well, as we know, Raising Kanan Season 3 is coming. I’m working on a new album right now to put out at the top of next year. So I’m looking forward to that! Yeah and you know, more film stuff. I’m actually starting up a production company right now so I’m actually looking to get my hand involved in the executive level in this film industry so I am genuinely excited about that! I’ll be producing some of my own projects. I’m just looking forward to elevation and growth!
IG @joeybadass
Before the series premiere of this show, we caught up with London Brown who plays Marvin Thomas, who is Raq's older brother and Kanan's uncle. In that interview, he introduced us to POWER BOOK III, and it's great to now touchbase with him ahead of the 3rd season, to know more about his thoughts on the intracacies of Marvin, how he continues to approach him when playing him, why he enjoys bringing him to life and of course, what we need to know to be prepared for the upcoming season.
ATHLEISURE MAG: How do you approach playing Marvin?
LONDON BROWN: With a lot of concentration and focus in the sense that I just try to make sure that I try to create a lot of layers for Marvin so that he really becomes 3 dimensional and that he’s just not just some caricature, but more so a real person with real feelings. That way, the audience can go on a journey with me.
AM: Where did we leave Marvin last season, and where are we picking up with him again?
LB: We leave Marvin last season injured and in the middle of trying to repair relationships and we pick it up with him right there in the sense of he’s learned some lessons and now he is trying to apply those lessons to really become a better person. Not only for himself, but for those that he loves.
AM: We had the pleasure to catch up before the first season aired and so to talk with you again has been great. What do you enjoy about playing him across these seasons?
LB: The thing that I enjoy is experimenting with the arc of Marvin. That’s what I like! I don’t like for any character to stay in one thing and you can’t put Marvin in any kind of particular space because he’s doing different things. People can even experience that from the first season. This is true even from season to season. Even within a scene, you'll see Marvin go from one extreme to the next. So that’s been fun, just to get into the layers of playing Marvin.
AM: What should we expect from this season as we’re excited that this show is back!
LB: I think that people should expect plot twists and more specifically with Marvin. Just when people thought that they understood Marvin, they’re going to see a completely different side of Marvin that people can appreciate and whatever ideas that they thought that they had of Marvin in Season 1 like, “oh man, he did – oh wait – he is – he’s like this and like that!” But Marvin is still Marvin. So Marvin don’t start no issues, but if you cross him, he’ll finish them. So the undertone of Marvin is still there, but there are a lot of new notes to Marvin that we explored.
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | STARZ/POWER BOOK III: Raising Kanan
Read the NOV ISSUE #95 of Athleisure Mag and see POWER BOOK III: Raising Kanan - Realities of Life | MeKai Curtis, Joey BadA$$, London Brown in mag.
Read the NOV ISSUE #95 of Athleisure Mag and see 9PLAYLIST | Toby Gad in mag.
