GRANT KRUSZEWSKI
staff writer

The 59th Annual Grammy Awards are scheduled to take place Sunday at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
The Grammys recognize the best artists, songs and writers of the eligibility year.
Because the Grammys are notorious for awarding surprising underdog artists, it can be difficult to guess who the winners may be.
Here are some predictions for a handful of the anticipated categories.

Album Of The Year:
“Views” — Drake

One of the most notable awards of the 59th Grammy awards will likely be received by the “6 God” due to his album, “Views.”
This is one of the closest category races, with Justin Bieber’s “Purpose” coming in at a very close second.
“Views” is the most complete album of the year, including notable songs such as “Hotline Bling,” “One Dance,” “Child’s Play” and “Hype.”
It honestly is borderline disrespectful to not list every song as a “notable song” but there’s only so much space to explain why “Views” will take home this Grammy.
Drake is on a whole different level. He will win multiple Grammy Awards this year.

Record Of The Year:
“7 Years” — Lukas Graham

This category is insanely tight, but “7 Years” by Lukas Graham was the best record of 2016 and I predict it will take the Grammy.
The song’s combination of instrumental value, lyrics and meaningfulness will be the reason why Graham will take home his first Grammy Award.

Song of The Year:
“I Took a Pill in Ibiza” — Mike Posner

Posner’s was by far the most popular song in the summer of 2016 and continued to gain traction throughout the year.
It was the perfect party jam of 2016.

Best New Artist:
Chance The Rapper

Chance is coming off his hottest year musically following the release of his hit album “Coloring Book,” and being featured on multiple Grammy-nominated projects, most notably Kanye West’s “Ultralight Beam” and BJ the Chicago Kid’s “In My Mind” album.
This won’t be the only hardware he takes away from the 59th Grammy Awards.

Best Pop Vocal Album:
“Purpose” — Justin Bieber

“Purpose” is by far and away Bieber’s best work to date. Bieber not only had pop hits like “Love Yourself” and “Sorry” on the album, but he also appealed to the hip-hop section of music by featuring Travis Scott in the hit “No Sense,” featuring Big Sean in “No Pressure” and featuring rap icon Nas in “We Are.”
Bieber does a great job in making those artists feel comfortable on a pop album.
In addition to these hits he also incorporates acts such as Skrillex, Diplo and Halsey. This is truly one of the most diverse albums that has ever been nominated for a pop genre Grammy.

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance:
“Closer” — The Chainsmokers Featuring Halsey

The most popular song is “Closer.” This song is so popular to the point where people legitimately joke about having not heard it.
Besides the popularity it is honestly a great song in every aspect from lyrics and the beat.

Best R&B Performance:
“Needed Me” — Rihanna

“Needed Me” is one of the best R&B songs of 2016 and Rihanna never disappoints in performances.
Rihanna is nominated for a couple of other awards at the 59th Grammys, but this is the only one that she will surely walk away with.

Best R&B Song:
“Come and See Me” — PartyNextDoor Featuring Drake

This was the hardest award to predict because it means the most to me.
The song is an unbelievable representation of how far R&B has come and this has truly been the jam throughout the year.
The one main thing that made me not choose another nominated song “Exchange” is because allegedly, that was “originally” J Cole’s beat. “Come and See Me” was produced by various OVO producers including Aubrey himself.

Best Urban Contemporary Album:
“Malibu” — Anderson Paak

In one of the predicted upsets of the Grammys, Anderson Paak will possibly take Best Urban Contemporary Album.
As one of, if not the best XXL freshmen of the year, Paak has not received much popular love on his album “Malibu.”
“Malibu” is a sort of surfer-themed album with unbelievable vibes. I believe Paak will not go home empty-handed from his first Grammys.

Best R&B Album:
“In My Mind” — BJ The Chicago Kid

BJ The Chicago Kid, the talented R&B artist, finally broke through in 2016 with the release of his hit R&B album “In My Mind.”
The album was fantastic from start to finish and featured multiple prominent artists.
These artists include Grammy nominee Chance the Rapper, past winner Kendrick Lamar and tested talents such as Big K.R.I.T.
The album features some R&B anthems such as “Church” featuring Chance, “The Resume” featuring Big K.R.I.T and “The New Cupid” featuring Kendrick Lamar.

Best Rap Performance:
“No Problem” — Chance The Rapper Featuring Lil Wayne & 2 Chainz

This was one of, if not the best song of his hit debut, Grammy -nominated album, “Coloring Book.”
Chance the Rapper is going to absolutely clean house at the Grammys, which should be a surprise to no one.

Best Rap/Sung Performance:
“Hotline Bling” — Drake

Drake is undoubtedly the hottest rapper and celebrity of 2016 and “Hotline Bling” was the hottest song of the year, reaching over a billion views on YouTube.
The combination of Drake’s vocals and the catchiness of the song will give him his second career Grammy.

Best Rap Song:
“Ultralight Beam” — Chancelor Bennett, Kasseem Dean, Mike Dean, Kirk Franklin, Noah Goldstein, Samuel Griesemer, Terius Nash, Jerome Potter, Kelly Price and Nico

Kanye West will take home his 22nd Grammy for best rap song.
“Ultralight Beam” is a beautifully produced song by West himself (among others).
Not only did West produce it, but he is also on the song vocally with one of 2016’s hottest new artists, Chance the Rapper, who arguably rapped one of the most iconic verses of the year.
This eventually blew him up and prepared us for his eventual Grammy nomination for album of the year for his “Coloring Book.”

Best Rap Album:
“The Life of Pablo” — Kanye West

The Winner of Best Rap Album will go to none other than Kanye West. “The Life of Pablo” was by far one of the best albums of the year.
The album had a star-studded list of features including the likes of Chance the Rapper, Rihanna and Frank Ocean.
It also includes two Grammy-nominated songs, “Ultralight Beam,” which is predicted to win the Grammy for Best Rap Song, and “Famous.”
In addition to these notables, the album also includes hits such as “Highlights,” “Father Stretch My hands, Pt. 1 & 2,” “Waves” and hit singles “No More Parties in LA” and “Facts.”

GRANT KRUSZEWSKI
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