Music’s Biggest Stars Might Not Be Who You Expect
Scrolling through the 2025 Grammy nominations this morning, I encountered the expected candidates: Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter, Charli XCX. At the very least, I recognized the names of almost every artist listed; I laughed seeing Khruangbin, the psychedelic funk trio who’s been vibing out since 2010, nominated for Best New Artist, and smirked at the sight of Jacob Collier, one of those jazz wunderkinds who only boomer Grammy voters seem to listen to. There was one major name I didn’t recognize though: Teddy Swims.
Teddy Swims, a nominee for Best New Artist, is a singer-songwriter from Georgia who makes blue-eyed soul. He looks like Travis Kelce Lil Wayne–ified, at least in the first photo that appears on Google Images — a gruff and bearded Southerner with face tats, chains, and a grill. He also resembles Post Malone, who in his quest to go full Nashville this year, swapped Young Thug and 21 Savage for Morgan Wallen in his collaborator lineup. You know who else looks like Post Malone? Last year’s Best New Artist nominee, Jelly Roll, the Tennessee country-rap sensation with a cross tattooed on his cheek. All of them are rough-hewn white guys embraced by the country establishment — both Teddy Swims and Posty will be performing at the 2024 Country Music Awards — even as they cross genres and claim rap aesthetics. And they’re very, very popular.
The narrative that came out of the 2024 Grammys, back in February, is that women now rule pop music. They still dominate the 2025 nominations, with 11 nods going to Beyoncé and seven to both Billie Eilish and Charli XCX. Mainstream-music discourse has centered on female performers like Charli, Sabrina Carpenter, and Chappell Roan, who make cheeky songs about the joys of being sexually liberated women. But the charts have told a different story. While critics proclaimed this year the “summer of girly pop,” men commanded Billboard “Top 100” — in June, only Sabrina Carpenter and Billie Eilish made it into the “Top 10,” while Post Malone and Morgan Wallen’s “I Had Some Help” occupied the top spot.
This year has been massive for rural, working-class men, or at the very least artists claiming that aesthetic, pretending to be lonely drunkards whose only friend is their pickup truck. Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song” (Tipsy)” just became the longest-running No. 1 single of the decade, tied only with Morgan Wallen’s 2023 smash “Last Night.” (Wallen, whose numerous controversies include saying the N-word on-camera and violating SNL’s COVID protocols, was snubbed by the Recording Academy last year and just received his first Grammy nomination.) Look closely at the Billboard charts and you’ll find dudes you’ve probably never heard of — like Koe Wetzel, a Texan country-rock singer who just uploaded a hunting video to YouTube. Even Beyoncé, the most Grammy-nominated musician of all time, has attempted to channel this anti-Establishment spirit on Cowboy Carter. Country is everywhere, and everyone is trying to seem blue collar. Consider the camo hats that were first Chappell Roan merch, then support symbols for the Harris/Walz political campaign, or Lana Del Rey and Quavo’s country-trap collaboration, “Tough,” in which Lana — now married to a Louisiana alligator-tour guide — croons about guns, leather boots, and “red-dirt attitude.” We’ll check back in next year, but for now, it looks like culture is going South.
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