2026 Grammys: 8 Races to Watch and Our Final Picks!

The 2026 Grammy Awards, which will be broadcast Sunday on CBS, propose a few different, and not necessarily overlapping, ideas about the state of contemporary pop music. Is it the realm of Bad Bunny, the radical star of reggaeton and Latin trap, who has forged one of the most novel careers in pop over the last decade (and will headline the Super Bowl halftime show on Feb. 8)? Is it still Kendrick Lamar’s house, more than a year after “Not Like Us” turned his quarrels with Drake into a worldwide zeitgeist? Is it the purview of established stars like Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber, or of up-and-comers like Addison Rae and Sabrina Carpenter? On Popcast, The New York Times critic Jon Caramanica and culture reporter Joe Coscarelli break down the major narratives and who they think should win in the Big Four categories — album of the year, record of the year, song of the year and best new artist — along with nominations in rap, country and alternative music. 0:39 Why we're talking about who should win 4:06 Best New Artist 11:45 Best Rap Song 15:34 Best Country Solo Performance 20:58 Song and Record of The Year 31:39 Best Alternative Music Album (Jon and Joe agree, for once!) 33:54 Album of The Year 36:36 Should Bad Bunny Win? 42:23 Snack Time! + Kate's job in jeopardy :( 43:51 The new category: Best Album Cover 46:50 Joe thrives, Jon struggles (with spice) Follow Jon: https://twitter.com/joncaramanica https://www.instagram.com/joncaramanica Follow Joe: https://twitter.com/joecoscarelli https://www.instagram.com/joecoscarelli/ Listen to every Popcast ever https://www.nytimes.com/popcast Every episode of Popcast (Deluxe) on YouTube https://tinyurl.com/PopcastDeluxe Popcast Discord! https://tinyurl.com/PopcastDiscord Popcast Facebook! https://tinyurl.com/PopcastFacebook Popcast t-shirts & stickers http://itsthepopcast.myshopify.com Subscribe: http://bit.ly/U8Ys7n More from The New York Times Video: http://nytimes.com/video