Grammys 2017 Best New Artists: Must-Hear Songs From Not So New Noms
It happens nearly every year: After Grammy Awards nominations are announced in the morning hours, amid frustration over snubs and already-brewing winner predictions, one category evokes head-scratching like no other. We're talking about the Best New Artist, category, which often uses the word "New" liberally.
Before she won Best New Artist in 2016, Meghan Trainor had been enjoying a career as a songwriter since at least 2013, and her June 2014 hit single "All About That Bass" was nominated for Record of the Year and Song of the Year at the 2015 Grammys. When the Beatles won way back in 1965, they had already recorded four albums. Generally, at least two of the nominees in the Best New Artist category are always artists who'd been headlining gigs and developing a sizable fanbase for at least a year or two before they were given this honor — and the 2017 Best New Artist Grammy nominees are no exception.
The Chainsmokers, Chance the Rapper, Kelsea Ballerini, .Anderson Paak and Maren Morris are this year's crop of Best New Artists, and they've all been gaining fans and building their name in the music industry before 2016 (Morris' Hero is her major-label debut, but her fourth album release). Check out must-listen tracks from each nominee so you'll have a favorite when the 59th Annual Grammys air on February 12, 2017.
Kelsea Ballerini
Kelsea Ballerini's "Peter Pan" from the country-pop singer's The First Time:
Watch Kelsea perform "Love Me Like You Mean It" live at PopCrush HQ back in July 2015:
Chance the Rapper
Listen to "Sunday Candy" by frequent Chance collaborators Donnie Trumpet & the Social Experiment (video co-directed by Chance), 2015:
"Everybody's Something" from Acid Rap, Chance's breakthrough second official mixtape released in 2013:
James Blake's "Life Round Here" feat. Chance the Rapper, 2013:
Anderson .Paak
"Come Down," from 2016 sophomore release Malibu:
"DAPPER" from Domo Genesis, featuring Anderson Paak:
On Mac Miller's "Dang!" from 2016:
The Chainsmokers
2014's viral novelty single "#SELFIE," which made fun of the women who attended their club gigs for fun and profit:
"Roses" feat. Rozes, released June 2015:
Maren Morris
"My Church," the breakout hit from Morris' 2016 major label debut Hero:
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