The Grammy Awards are often considered the pinnacle of achievement in American music. To win one is to etch yourself into the history books, and to even be nominated is an honor. There are four “general” categories amongst the 83 total: Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist.

Album of the Year

Nominees:
Beck – Morning Phase
Beyonce – Beyonce
Ed Sheeran – x
Pharrell Williams – G I R L
Sam Smith – In the Lonely Hour
Who Will Win: Beyoncé. The only thing standing in its way is the fact that “Drunk in Love” wasn’t as big a hit as expected. Otherwise, Beyoncé’s self-titled is considered by some to be the best of a rather weak category this year.

Who Should Win: Beck. Morning Phase is far and away one of the best albums of the year, and, in my opinion, the best album of the five. Its return to the more elegiac sound of Sea Change paid dividends in terms of quality, and its production is nothing short of fantastic.

Record of the Year

Nominees:
Iggy Azalea ft. Charli XCX – “Fancy”
Sia – “Chandelier”
Sam Smith – “Stay With Me (Darkchild Version)”
Taylor Swift – “Shake It Off”
Meghan Trainor – “All about that Bass”

Who Will Win: Taylor. She has leveled her production connections with Max Martin to create a song with a catchy hook that has crashed the charts with its optimistic production that will push it over the edge. Not to mention that Taylor is something of a Grammy favorite.

Who Should Win: Sia. The dark, atmospheric production on “Chandelier” resulted in one of the best pop tracks in years.

Song of the Year

Nominees:
Hozier – “Take Me to Church”
Sia – “Chandelier”
Taylor Swift – “Shake It Off”
Meghan Trainor – “All About That Bass”
Sam Smith – “Stay With Me (Darkchild Version)”

Who Will Win: Sam Smith. Taylor Swift will be rewarded in the Record of the Year category, and “Stay with Me” winning this category will be one-half of a double consolation prize for Sam Smith.

Who Should Win: Hozier. “Take Me to Church” has a sort of biting wit that makes the likes of “Shake It Off” and “All about That Bass” pale in comparison.

Best New Artist

Nominees:
Bastille
Brandy Clark
Haim
Iggy Azalea
Sam Smith

Who Will Win: Sam Smith.  He’s the only one in the category nominated for Album of the Year, which has been a good indicator of this category’s victor in the past (See: Macklemore, fun., etc.).

Who Should Win: HAIM. Their brand of Fleetwood Mac-inspired pop-rock has been honed to sound like the California trio has been at this for as long as Fleetwood. This means it sounds absolutely fantastic.