FOR YOUR GRAMMY CONSIDERATION: WHERE DOES ALESSIA FIT?

One of the more controversial issues in this year’s Grammy nominating process is swirling around Def Jam singer/songwriter Alessia Cara. Does she or does she not qualify for a Best New Artist nod under the category’s fluid rules—we feel she does—and if so, should she be voted into or awarded one of the five coveted slots?

Cara was passed over for a Best New Artist Grammy nod last year, despite being a very worthy contender. And although we think she should have been nominated last year, and inside sources have told us that she was voted into the Top Five, there is no reason that we can find to eliminate her from this year’s consideration. In fact, it could be argued that the young artist/songwriter’s successes over the most recent Grammy year established her creative and commercial bona fides more firmly than did the preceding one.

Per the most recent adjustments in Grammy rules, Cara is eligible, having previously released an album but not more than 30 tracks or three albums (the current cutoff), and never having been nominated.

While she released initial smash “Here” and her debut album, Know-It-All, in 2015, the full impact of subsequent hits “Wild Things” and “Scars to Your Beautiful” came considerably thereafter, while her splashy performance on the Moana soundtrack and high-profile features with Zedd and Logic fell within the purview of the current year.

Cara’s SPS during the current Grammy period (beginning 10/1/16 and ending 9/30/17) has been 384k, with “Scars” earning 709k of its RTD 824k sales. (Her RTD SPS is 904k.) And it also could be argued that “Scars” is a more Grammy-worthy song than even “Here” is.

It can certainly be argued that while Cara broke commercially in 2015-16, she emerged as a fully fledged star in 2017 and therefore is more than deserving of consideration for a 2018 BNA nom.