The Brits are Here and the Nominees Are

Award season is here and it’s arrived with a bang, crash and a bit of tumble…at least that’s what seems to have happened to the 2020 BRIT awards. The good news is that fresh talent is set to be celebrated at the ceremony, as Lewis Capaldi and Dave have lead the pack of nominees with four nods each.

Between the eight categories of the 2020 BRIT Awards, only a select few have scored distinctions in multiple areas: both Capaldi and Dave are name-checked as contenders for male solo artist, song of the year, album of the year and best new artist. Well, this isn’t too surprising as Capaldi’s ‘Someone You Loved’ soared through charts world over and its accompanying album, ‘Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent’ did brilliantly not only in the British Market but in America too, which is not an easy feat to accomplish!

Now, to address some of the issues with this ceremony. The BRIT awards have a bad habit of ignoring musical genres. Over the past few years, there hasn’t been a single category dedicated to grime and this has resulted in artists and viewers alike, wondering whether the awards had an issue with representing black British music. Thankfully, this has been somewhat resolved, as the last few years’ choices have been more ethnically diverse. But this year, a new problem has cropped up: the lack of women nominees.

At the 2019 Brit awards, the 1975 used their acceptance speech for the best British group award to protest against sexism in the music industry, but clearly…nothing seems to have changed. In fact, it’s almost as if things have gone from bad to worse as this year, one British female artist has been nominated out of 25 available slots in the mixed-gender categories. Nope, you read that right. Just one woman.

The leading female Brit award nominee, Mabel, is also the only UK female in the top 10 for her single ‘Don’t Call Me Up’. And yet, strangely enough, Dua Lipa’s ‘Don’t Start Now’ which became a global hit, hasn’t been given the attention it should have at the ceremony and neither has Charli XCX’s Charli.

Now, here’s a peek at the list of nominees. Oh and keep an eye out for all the female nominees you WON’T be seeing on this list.

Male Solo Artist

Dave

Harry Styles

Lewis Capaldi

Michael Kiwanuka

Stormzy

Female Solo Artist

Charli XCX

FKA Twigs

Freya Ridings

Mabel

Mahalia

Song of the Year

AJ Tracey – “Ladbroke Grove”

Calvin Harris & Rag’n’Bone Man – “Giant”

Dave feat. Burna Boy – “Location”

Ed Sheeran & Justin Bieber – “I Don’t Care”

Lewis Capaldi – “Someone You Loved”

Mabel – “Don’t Call Me Up”

Mark Ronson feat. Miley Cyrus – “Nothing Breaks Like a Heart”

Sam Smith & Normani – “Dancing With A Stranger”

Stormzy – “Vossi Bop”

Tom Walker – “Just You and I”

Mastercard Album of the Year

Dave – “Psychodrama”

Harry Styles – “Fine Line”

Lewis Capaldi – “Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent”

Michael Kiwanuka – “Kiwanuka”

Stormzy – “Heavy Is The Head”

Best New Artist

Aitch

Dave

Lewis Capaldi

Mabel

Sam Fender