Four Big Grammy Questions to Follow Before the Awards

Nearly 20 years ago, Madonna’s Confessions on a Dancefloor made her the first female recipient of the best dance/electronic album Grammy. Now, the Queen of Pop is arguably the strongest contender to win the same award at the 2027 ceremony for her Billboard 200-topping sequel, Confessions II. Given the recent run of female winners in the category — FKA twigs (Eusexua, 2026) and Charli xcx (brat, 2025) won the last two years, and Beyoncé took it home for Renaissance in 2023 — Madge could certainly find herself back on the Grammy stage, or at least in the company of a few other ladies on the nominee slate. Best new artist hopeful Slayyyter has emerged as one of pop’s biggest breakout stars with her raucous Wor$t Girl in America, and she may ride the success of “Beat Up Chanel$,” “Crank” and “Dance…” to her first best dance/­electronic album nod. Bebe Rexha, who has two prior nods in the dance field, could gain another thanks to her Top Dance Albums chart-topper Dirty Blonde. Robyn may land her fourth nomination in this category for Sexistential, and Zara Larsson, who picked up a best dance pop recording nod for “Midnight Sun” last year, could earn another for that song’s eponymous parent album (provided it doesn’t, alternately, compete in pop vocal album). Elsewhere, hyperpop artist Underscores is currently opening for ­Charli xcx’s Music, Fashion, Film tour, gaining the right kind of buzz to possibly break into the final lineup of nominees. With the genre growing 18.9% year over year in U.S. on-­demand audio streams, according to Luminate’s midyear report, they’ll face a particularly stacked list of potential competitors. Skrillex, who’s tied with The Chemical Brothers as the most-awarded act in this category, is a safe bet to receive a nomination for SOMA, as is English duo Prospa for Free Your Mind, whose title track topped Dance Airplay for two weeks. Fred again.., one of dance’s brightest stars, is also in the running with his Latin Mafia-­assisted 9 Months & 50 Hours, as are Kaskade (Undux), Illenium (Odyssey), Channel Tres (Enigma POV), John Summit (Ctrl Escape), Major Lazer (Gyalgebra) and Madeon (Victory). Tame Impala may also contend. The artist’s album Deadbeat was submitted in this field, Billboard has confirmed, while three of its hits (“My Old Ways,” “Dracula” and “Loser”) were submitted across three different genres (dance/electronic, pop and alternative, respectively) — though ultimately, the Recording Academy’s screening committee will also have its say. —KYLE DENIS