Read the NOV ISSUE #107 of Athleisure Mag and see 9PLAYLIST | Saraya in mag.
We love when worlds collide and this month's cover does just that. Tai Woffinden is a 5x Speedway World Champion and an open format DJ/Producer. We wanted to know more about Speedway racing and how he got into the sport, how he stays in shape for it, his passion for music, and why he became a DJ.
Since signing onto Armada Music, he released Body, a collaboration with Grammy nominated Gabry Ponte and vocalist Yasmin Jane. This was followed up by Feeling Super Naughty with CERES which just dropped recently. With all of this movement, we took some time find out more and to see what we should keep an eye out for.
ATHLEISURE MAG: We're excited to be able to talk with you as your background as an athlete as well as a DJ and a producer is such a great mix! When did you fall in love with being a Speedway Rider?
TAI WOFFINDEN: I first got into Speedway way way back in 2002. I went to my Dad’s mate’s house to ride on their private track and there was a speedway bike tucked away in the corner. I said to my dad at 12 years old, “I wanna try that” so we sold my MX gear and went all in from that day on.
AM: You are a 3X World Champion in this sport. What do you love about racing?
TW: It’s hard to explain but there is a feeling when you’re railing the fence on a nice little dirt line as fast as the bike will go and you’re on the complete limit of what you’re able to do on these bikes and you either make it around the corner or bury it into the wall. There is no better feeling in the world (not that I have found yet anyway) and I chase that feeling every time I race.
AM: Can you tell us about Speedway racing from what the bike is like and what races are like?
TW: They’re a one-of-a-kind motorcycle, built to only go left, 500cc, methanol-burning bulls with no breaks!
The races are super short and fast averaging about 1min per heat (4 laps). In a Grand Prix, we do 5 heats and the top eight go to the semi-finals and the 1st and 2nd place from each semi qualify for the final. It’s a wild sport! In Poland it’s huge in Warsaw we race in front of 55,000 inside the national stadium.
AM: To optimize yourself as a racer, what kinds of workouts do you do to stay in shape and meet the goals you need to be a champion rider?
TW: I won’t bore you with this too much but 5 days a week strength work, 6 days a week running or cycling, and a good nutritional plan to get through the workload and recovery.
AM: Your season is over this year. Are there any races that you are preparing for in 2025?
TW: Yes, it’s all done now so full focus on 2025 prep. Next year I will race most weekends in Poland, most Mondays and Thursdays in the UK, and some in races in Sweden on Tuesdays. Plus, four qualification rounds for the Grand Prix and possibly the European championship.
AM: What was the first song that you heard that made you fall in love with music?
TW: I can’t remember exactly, but it would have been something my mum had on in the car when I was a kid. My first hook on EDM specifically would have to be the Old EDM. Specifically it would have to be the Old Skitz Mix CDs back in the day.
AM: What led to you becoming a DJ and a producer?
TW: I went to watch Fisher headline his own show in Perth, Western Australia, and as Fisher was a surfer before he became a DJ, I was just watching him thinking well if he can do that, so can I. So, the week after I started my DJ course with Lab Six.
AM: How would you describe the Tai Woffinden sound?
TW: It’s been varied as I navigate and find my sound, I started out with some Tech House, but I’m a Techno guy so I want to focus on that Mainstage vibe after my first release on Armada Music with Gabry Ponte. But, my current track with CERES and my next single are still slightly different in sound so I’ll continue to play around with it all and see where it takes me.
AM: What would you say are the similarities between racing in front of large crowds and being able to DJ in front of them?
TW: For now, the biggest crowd I’ve played to as a DJ has been 12,000 people at Forestland Festival. It’s hard to say if it’s the same level of intensity as when I race, but from my history, the bigger the crowd, and the more pressure, is exactly where I thrive.
AM: How do you get inspiration for your music?
TW: Same as most people I would guess. Hearing a track I like that sparks an idea, or an individual sound. In the world that we live in today with everything at our fingertips it shouldn’t take too long to be inspired by something.
AM: Tell us about Body and what it was like to collaborate with Gabry Ponte and vocalist Yasmin Jane?
TW: So my A&R at Armada sent over the vocals, I then made a little demo and we sent it to Gabry’s team to shoot our shot. Four days later he said he loved it and wanted to work on it and a week later got it back, we were all stoked with his influence on the production! From my side, one, it was huge to have my first release secured with Armada, and for that track to then be a collaborative with Gabry Ponte was just amazing!
AM: Feeling Super Naughty is your latest with CERES - what is the meaning behind this song?
TW: Again, I heard the vocals and just immediately thought there was something about it. The track was a bit more Techno originally, but I was listening to some track at that time from Indira Paganotto and starting to play with that sound myself so that’s how it came to the final song you hear now. I’m super happy with it. I guess the track is just about having a great time!
AM: You were at ADE this month - what was that like?
TW: ADE was wild…it was my first one and I really made the most of it. I met some great people, made lots of new connections, and did a lot of partying. I already can’t wait until next year and hopefully I can get a few DJ sets locked in as well.
AM: You will be at You&Me Fest, a multi-day NYE fest in Australia. How excited are you to be performing there?
TW: Yes, I am! I’m super grateful that Bailey and Isaac called me up! I’m in Australia all summer and I’m ready to build my presence in this part of the world so why not kick things off there with the local boys. They’re killing it over here in West Australia, I mean you only have to look at this year’s huge line-up to see!
AM: Who are 3 people that are on your bucket list that you would like to work with?
TW: Timmy Trumpet would be one. We have chatted about a track and getting him on one of my race bikes which would be wild!
Also Maddix for sure. I love his sound. Finally, Will Sparks, I'm just a fan of Will. I met him in Newcastle UK this year and we chatted for ages backstage. He is a great guy and a beast at what he does. I also love his DJ performances. Anyway, enough fanboying haha!
AM: Do you have any upcoming festivals or tours that we should know about?
TW: Not right now. I’m in the studio and You&Me is my next big one. However, I have an important meeting coming up which I hope brings big opportunities and parties into 2025.
AM: You do a lot of traveling. What are 3 things that you like to have with you when you're on the road?
TW: I'm a simple man! As long as I have my passport, phone and USB, I can do everything I want…
AM: Whether you're racing or hitting the stage, are there routines you do?
TW: Maybe this comes as a surprise, but I have no routines, pre or post events. I literally just live in the moment and enjoy whatever is surrounding me, be it the stage or the racetrack, I soak it all up and enjoy the process.
AM: Are there any upcoming projects that you would like to share?
TW: I have one track that’s just come back from clearance, and I think could be my biggest yet but can’t say much right now. I plan to host my own event again in the UK next year. I threw a one-off this summer and we sold 12,000 tickets in just 11 days and it was fully sold-out which was insane.
My full focus now is on getting ready for the 2025 season ahead.
IG @twoffinden
PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | Front/Back Cover + PG 16 - 21 Tai Woffiden| PG 22 Tai Woffiden Press |
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We're excited this month's cover of Athleisure Mag is graced by Chef Kristen Kish (S10 winner of Top Chef, Fast Foodies, Restaurants at the End of the World), Chef Tom Colicchio (A Place at the Table, The Simpsons, Billions), and Gail Simmons (Royal Pains, The Best Thing I Ever Ate, The Food That Built America). We sat down with them ahead of the S21 premiere of Bravo's Top Chef Wisconsin. We talked with Kristen who is on the other side of the judging table as a host as well as her fellow judges Tom and Gail! In our interview, we spoke about the impact of this iconic food competition show, their approach to judging the dishes, what they hope viewers and fans enjoy when watching this show, and why filming is a bit like Summer Camp!
ATHLEISURE MAG: We are so excited to be able to talk to you guys as we have been fans of the show ever since the beginning! We have interviewed each of you individually over the years on various projects that you have been involved in, but to be able to have you guys as our cover for this month and to have you all together as S21 premieres on March 20th is amazing!
What was the dish that you fell in love with that made you realize that you wanted to be in the culinary industry?
CHEF KRISTEN KISH: Oh wow! Well I can tell you the first thing that I ever made when I was 5!
AM: Yeah!
CHEF KK: It was a chocolate pudding, but there was no chocolate or pudding. I saw my mom make Thanksgiving gravy and she would thicken it with cornstarch slurry and she would refrigerate it. It comes out and it looks gelatinized and so when I started watching cooking shows before I had any concept of food, flavor, or actual technique, I was like, “I could make a chocolate pudding.” So I had soy sauce, thickener, and cornstarch. I did that and it sat in the refrigerator and my dad came home from work and gave it a try and he said it was great and off I went!
AM: Oh my goodness, I love that!
GAIL SIMMONS: That’s a good dad!
AM: That was sweet. And Tom!
CHEF TOM COLICCHIO: It was no particular dish. I’m actually writing a book called Why I Cook.
AM: Nice!
CHEF TC: During the pandemic I was doing a lot of these Zoom cooking classes and I kept coming back to certain themes. There were 2 things in particular, both around my grandfather that I think led me to food. One, at a young age, I used to fish with my grandfather and I was responsible for 2 things – one cleaning all of the fish and crabs and clams before my mother and grandmother cooked them and my second job was keeping my grandfather awake on the ride home. So that was always fun! That meal, because it was a larger meal, it was 20 people around the table and I think that somehow I took away from that was that’s what food does, it brings people around the table. That was probably more important than the food itself.
Then I struggled as a kid with ADHD. I wasn’t diagnosed back then and my children are all clinically diagnosed and I found that cooking was something that I could figure out very easily. It came very easily to me. Once I started working in the kitchen, all that chaos just cut through the clutter in my brain and I was able to hyper focus on my cooking.
So it’s not a particular dish, but those are the 2 sort of memories that led me to a career of cooking.
AM: I love that. Gail?
GS: Again, I also don’t think that it was one particular dish, it wasn’t that one moment. My mother was an amazing cook when I was growing up and she had a cooking school that was run out of our house and wrote a column for our national newspaper of Canada as a way to be able to stay home and also work while her children were small. I had 2 older brothers and there was a lot of noise in our house. I think that it was just watching her do this all the time! She ran these classes in our house so there were always people in our home, she was always entertaining and I just saw how much pleasure it gave her and everyone and how fulfilling it was for her to nourish people and to feed people.
I remember that this wasn’t a real dish, but my favorite thing to do as a child while my mom was in the kitchen cooking was to put my little wooden stool at the sink and she would put a big pot in the sink and let me just invade her spice cabinets and I would squirt a bit of this and drizzle a little bit of that and take a big wooden spoon and I would make soup. It allowed us to be together and it gave me such purpose in doing that with her and it was just this imaginary game where I could be a chef and I think that that was sort of that feeling where this was just something that could sustain others and make me feel great and I just sort of loved that feeling of being in the kitchen.
AM: Wow that’s such a memory.
Well, Gail and Tom, you guys have been on Top Chef for 21 seasons and just seeing everything through this food competition, what initially drew you to being part of it and what do you hope that fans are getting out of it when they are watching you guys?
GS: Drew us to be a part of it. I don’t think that either of us were drawn to being part of it because when we started, it wasn’t a thing. There was no food competition reality shows. There was Iron Chef Japan, but obviously that was a very different kind of competition. So this was a real trailblazer at the time and when they came to both of us, neither of us knew what they were talking about, nor were we that interested necessarily because it didn’t seem like a rational thing to do with your career at that moment. I was working at Food & Wine Magazine and actually Bravo came to Food & Wine to partner with them, to teach them about the restaurant and food world and to help them with sort of part of the prize and to learn about the industry. They said, well in exchange, if we like one of your editors, we’ll put them on the judging table to represent the magazine as this partnership. I was chosen to be that person, but I very clearly remember that when my publisher gave me that news, I was sort of terrified!
AM: Gulp!
GS: But I was doing it for my job and I knew that I would still have a job after even if no one liked the show. I had this totally different job with the magazine and this became a side thing to try out to sort of – as a lark. But I knew that Tom was doing it and I had known Tom for many years. But more importantly, the magazine really trusted him. He was a Food & Wine Best Chef, James Beard Award Winner, and I knew that there was going to be a moral compass to the show because of that. So we headed out to San Francisco with very little expectations and I think that that has been the greatest surprise that it exceeded anything that I could have imagined!
CHEF TC: For me, I said no 3 times before finally being coerced into saying yes. I got a call from the producer who said they were doing a show and we think that you would be great. There was a show around that time that featured a chef and it wasn’t a competition and I was like, I don’t want to do that. Then they sent me some DVDs of Project Greenlight and I loved that show.
AM: Same!
CHEF TC: So they sent someone to get me on camera and they asked if I could come in for a screen test and I said no I’m not going in for that. There was a documentary done by a producer from ABC News on the opening of Craft so I sent them that and they said, they wanted to make an offer.
Part of the reason that I said yes and my wife always says that I shouldn’t tell that story, but I will! I got tired of going to food festivals and I’m sitting next to Bobby Flay and he signs 300 books and I signed 20 and I didn’t think that it was because he had a better book, it was because he was on TV!
GS: That’s a great piece of the story! Like if you were living in NY at that moment, everybody knew Tom Colicchio!
AM: Absolutely.
GS: He was the NY chefiest chef! He was the chef-y-chef and still is to the end! But he was such a NY icon, and there wasn’t like a history or a precedent yet where there were chefs that had huge national followings except for the few that were on Food Network. You had Bobby, Emeril, Wolfgang, and that was sort of it. So I think that that sort of recalibrated things.
CHEF TC: What I hope that the viewing audience gets from what we do is that – one thing that just drives me crazy is when people think that there is some kind of game that we are playing. That we are trying to promote one person over another. We don’t care who wins. I’m not a fan.
AM: We can see that when you’re talking on the show.
CHEF TC: Right. I’m not a fan, I’m there to do a job and to be as honest as possible. I hope that that comes across. We’re not playing favorites, we’re not saying that a woman won last season so a man needs to be in this one. No, we don’t care. We judge on the food and that’s it. The only thing that I asked the producers from day one is that judges make decisions. So far, we have made every single decision.
GS: And we have never regretted one either!
CHEF TC: Right! There is that little disclaimer that they say that they help us. If we’re stuck, they’ll say, “well you said this or you said that – what do you think about this?” But they don’t make the decision.
AM: It’s more like running the tape.
GS: Yeah!
CHEF TC: Exactly! It’s kind reminding us of things that we’ve said and trying to get us to discuss. But that happens so infrequently! It happened in a few finales where we were really stuck and because also I think in the finales we pay more attention to it because there is so much on the line and some of them were so close that it would just come down to –
GS: Tiny nitpicking things.
CHEF TC: But, yeah, that’s it.
AM: Kristen, we love that you won Season 10 and it has been great to see you come back for various guest judging, but now you’re on the other side as a host! How do you feel about that and what does it feel like to know how it is on both sides of the table?
CHEF KK: I mean – it’s still a wild thing to know that this is happening! But you know, I will say that having competed, guest judging and obviously when I was done with my season, developing a relationship with these two that went far beyond then the actual show itself, like coming back into it already felt like you were coming back into a family setting. You see producers that have been there since my season and long before, these 2 obviously, I’m very familiar with and so as new as the position was, me coming in and being with these people wasn’t a new thing. So that brought a lot of comfort. I think really the main difference between competing and judging and now hosting is that I get to be part of the whole thing! I get to experience all of the chefs and all of the different variations that they are and regardless of how long that they are there, I get to be there for the whole thing which is pretty fantastic! I also get to say that, “you’re Top Chef!”
GS: For us, where we stood, filling Padma’s (Top Chef, Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi, Waffles + Mochi's Restaurant) very high heel shoes, there were very few people that we thought would fit all of that and I think that in a way, it was a very obvious choice to us. Especially because, we knew that we didn’t need to bring in for the 21st season, someone who had never been part of the show before.
AM: Right.
GS: It only made sense because we had created this massive family of 300+ chefs over the seasons who have gone on to such success that it would only make sense to bring someone in who had already been part of it and Tom and I were not the ones that were making the decision, let’s be clear about that. We were involved in the conversations, but it was just so natural and it made such great sense, because she has become such a leader in the industry because she won a season and went on to just – I mean, we have been sitting there being so proud of her for a decade watching as a friend! So, it just felt like the most natural, possible choice.
CHEF TC: I had conversations with the producers and no other name came up!
AM: There you go! We were so happy when we heard that it was you!
CHEF KK: Me too, me too!
AM: What did you guys love about being in Wisconsin for this season and where would you like to see it go for the next one?
GS: Wisconsin was interesting. We were just talking about this. We have been to every corner of this country at this point and we have been abroad, you know our last season, our 20th season Top Chef: World All-Stars was a massive milestone by being able to shoot the entire season in London and in Paris. That was extraordinary, but coming back home to the heartland, we hadn’t explored the Midwest. We were in Chicago in 2007 and that feels like it was an eternity ago especially in the life of restaurants. So I think that it was great to be able to go back to that part of the country and to explore its foodways (Editor’s Note: In social science, foodways are the cultural, social, and economic practices relating to the production and consumption of food. Foodways often refer to the intersection of food in culture, traditions, and history.), its indigenous culture, its agriculture, its history, the immigrant populations that brought so much of its food culture, and I don’t know, we had the greatest time! We ate a lot of cheese, we drank a lot of beer.
CHEF KK: There was a lot of custard!
GS: Oh yeah, frozen custard was obviously a highlight.
CHEF KK: I mean, thinking about where to go, I have only been to Milwaukee and Madison so the possibilities on my end – I mean wow, there’s so many places that we can go far and wide. But even from their perspective, they can speak to that, but after 21 seasons, there are just countless places that we can go and there are just so many options.
CHEF TC: The best parts of the show and they don’t get enough credit, the producers do such a great job. They’re on the ground 4 months before production starts, digging through, looking at different foodways, looking for interesting locations and really sort of teasing out some of these challenges. The team spends so much time doing it and yeah, we do a little bit of research. I mean, Gail does all of the research on the restaurants. I just tag along!
GS: I know where to go for dinner afterwards!
CHEF TC: But they do such a great job of researching for us and every season, it’s just beautiful because that location becomes its own character.
AM: Yeah.
CHEF TC: It becomes a real backdrop for everything that we do. Wisconsin was so great and the people were really friendly and so easy to work with.
GS: Coming from London, London was extraordinary for all the reasons that it was extraordinary, but London –
CHEF TC: Britain didn’t care about us!
GS: The UK doesn’t have Top Chef!
AM: Right.
GS: Their culture is all MasterChef all of the time.
CHEF TC: And the Queen died.
GS: Then the queen died in the middle of our season.
AM: Yes, that’s right!
GS: So then they really didn’t care about us. It was sort of refreshing, I liked that, but we were completely anonymous, no one cared, no one made a fuss over us, but sometimes you want a little fuss. I mean, you just want people to care that you’re there – just a little bit. Although I think it made us work harder and it challenged us in the best way, but coming back to Milwaukee – they were like – I mean, they were ready to welcome us with open arms! And that felt really nice.
AM: Love that!
And what about the 15 cheftestants this this season? Is there anything that we should keep an eye out for or what you were excited about or whatever you can share?
GS: I think that it’s really interesting that they’re fun, they’re all really good people, and they have great stories. Again, our casting team does the most amazing job because you think it’s just about casting the 15 best cooks that you can cast, but there are so many factors beyond that and our industry has changed so much and I think that it’s sort of a chicken and egg situation. Did we help mold the industry trends or did the industry trends help mold the show? I think that there is such an interesting interplay there, but you know, the diversity of our cast now versus 12 seasons ago in all senses right? Obviously people of color, we have always had a 50/50 women to men ratio which let me assure you is not the ratio in the real industry
CHEF TC: That’s right.
GS: It is such a massive undertaking casting people who are not only at the top of their game, but all have stories to tell and all can cook and talk at the same time, have perspectives and points of view that will carry over to our audience. It’s just an amazing thing the cast every season and the people that we meet and what we learn about them. I think that this year you will see a few really interesting things. Obviously stories from parts of the world from where they come from, their origins that we have never seen before which definitely is played out on their dishes and also, we’re talking a lot more about what it is like to cook with a disability in the kitchen. Which, this isn’t something that we have faced in a big way on this show. The chef who is actually from Wisconsin, Chef Dan Jacobs, the local chef and he has an amazing story to tell and I just think that it ups the level of appreciation for the craft.
CHEF TC: I think that this season, the chefs were somewhat a little inconsistent. One challenge, a chef would do amazing and then the next challenge it was – what happened? It was just hard to figure out –
GS: It kept us on our toes!
CHEF TC: It could have been nerves.
AM: Just looking at your face, we can see how you didn’t understand how that could happen.
CHEF TC: It was just so hard to understand because there were these ups and downs. But it was a great season and it was a lot of fun.
CHEF KK: It means that the challenges were very good though.
CHEF TC: Yeah, yeah.
CHEF KK: Because it challenged different parts of you and you couldn’t consistently be great at everything.
GS: And the same person wasn’t always on top.
CHEF TC: Yeah, it was an interesting season and there’s some fun stuff! We had a Sausage Race!
AM: When I saw that, I was like yes! Because I’m from the Midwest originally – I’m from Indiana!
GS: Oh!
AM: I was like what? They’re sharing the Sausage Race from the Milwaukee Brewers?
GS: It was the best! It was low hanging fruit. That kind of sounded dirty, but you know what I mean!
AM: Yes!
This season each episode is supersized for 75 mins. There wasn’t a Quick Fire in the first episode, the way immunity is handled – so what are the different twists that we can expect from this season?
CHEF KK: You know, I think that I’m really the most excited that I think midseason that’s after Restaurant Wars or something like that – that Tom and Gail are also part of the Quick Fire. So all 3 of us get to have the same conversation.
AM: Oh wow!
CHEF KK: Include it into the deliberation if you need it. It’s also nice to have the company and to have a little bit more time with them. So for me, that was one of the more fun changes that happened to do it with them.
AM: With the Elimination Challenge on the first episode, each of you had a task that the 15 cheftestants were divided to create 1 of 3 dishes. What was the thought behind the soup (Kristen’s Challenge), the roasted chicken (Tom’s Challenge), and the stuffed pasta (Gail’s Challenge)? Which we loved all of those.
GS: I think that we see patterns over the years right? We have been sitting in these chairs for a really long time Tom and I, longer than we want to admit and we see patterns in cooking. We see trends come and go, but even in the foundations of cooking, I feel that we and our producers have seen things that recur in good ways and bad, over and over again. There are certain foundations and techniques that every chef should have mastered long ago when they get to this stage, but amazingly, they get to the Top Chef Kitchen and it’s not that they don’t know how to make a roast chicken –
CHEF TC: Mmm
GS: And we know that they do it beautifully in their own kitchens.
CHEF TC: Mmm
GS: Or not.
CHEF TC: Mmm
GS: Some of them not.
ALL: Hahaha
GS: But it trips them up and they freeze and so we just wanted to first of all, put them in check and also, make sure that they understand that they shouldn’t be calling it in because something that seems really simple that we see so often on the show can be problematic and also for Kristen, I think that it was a great introduction for the first challenge because she had such a vivid memory in her season.
CHEF KK: We had to make a soup in order to make it to Seattle in the first place. So I cooked for Emeril in Vegas and there were 5 or 6 of us. You had to get his stamp of approval on the soup before you went on. So that was an easy choice for me!
CHEF TC: Roast chicken – if you’re a chef of this caliber and you can’t make a great roast chicken, maybe you need to rethink what you’re doing!
GS: Yeah!
CHEF TC: But also, there’s a certain maturity that you attain when you’re cooking for years, when you’re comfortable enough to leave something alone. I wanted to see who was going to over chef it.
AM: Right!
CHEF TC: Right? Versus having the confidence to just leave the roast chicken alone. I thought that it was a good way to start.
AM: Love that!
We all have our favorites whether it’s Restaurant Wars or certain guest judges that come in. What were your exciting moments of this season?
CHEF KK: Restaurant Wars was awesome! Restaurant Wars is fantastic and I love it so much. If I could ever go back in my life and redo one thing, it would be Restaurant Wars. I let it go.
GS: It ended up ok!
CHEF TC: I think you did alright!
CHEF KK: I just want to prove that I can do it! But it was nice to be part of it from the other side and now to be able to watch it when I see that episode – to see the thought process and the strategy that was played because I didn’t think about it in that way. So, throughout the season, I’m learning a lot about how to compete on Top Chef and I’m never going to do it again in terms of competing on Top Chef. But to also learn a thing or two with different perspectives and great chefs around the country who have something to teach us as well.
GS: I love all the challenges that take them out of the kitchen to cook in weird and wonderful places – on a farm, on a beach, in a baseball stadium. I think that it just changes everything and it gives us energy and it inspires us. But I also think that learning – everywhere we go as we obviously say – there are foodways, there are local traditions that we get to learn about and over the last several seasons gratefully, we have incorporated the indigenous foodways of everywhere we are – in Portland (S18), in Houston (S19), and certainly in this season in Milwaukee and I think that it really helps you take a step back from the way you think of food in the modern kitchen and in that sort of modernist way and we think that the way that we think of produce and agriculture gives us so much perspective as cooks.
CHEF TC: One of my favorite challenges was the Door County Fish Fry.
GS: Oh my God, wild!
CHEF TC: And the reason being was that there was this guy that does fish fry’s, probably 300 a year and he had a very specific way of doing it. We were all in the parking lot actually watching this happen and if you watch it with chef eyes, you’re like, “this is ridiculous. Why are you doing this?” You’re going against everything that you are taught. But the guy has been doing this a long time and it blew my mind that the chefs weren’t really paying attention to what he was doing. They were just like, I’m going to do it my way.
GS: Or I can make it better!
CHEF TC: Right, I can make it better. Yeah and it was interesting to watch.
AM: Oh wow!
CHEF TC: We also at some point, they were all calm and then you saw them all come to this realization that they really should have listened. Should have paid attention.
GS: They definitely should have paid attention in math class that day!
CHEF TC: Yeah.
AM: What can you tell us if anything about the finale that we should be looking forward to?
GS: I don’t know what we can tell you about the finale – there is a finale!
AM: There you go! There’s going to be people there.
CHEF TC: There’s people there.
GS: It’s not in Wisconsin. Every year it’s always a little different.
AM: So Tom, you always say that shooting this show is like Summer Camp.
CHEF TC: Yeah!
AM: What do you mean by that?
CHEF TC: Well I didn’t go to Summer Camp, but if I had –
AM: Neither have I.
CHEF TC: You go to Summer Camp, you have those friends. You see them for 6 weeks in the summer and you go back every summer and you see them. When we do this show, there’s probably 150 people on a crew these days. There has probably been about a quarter or 50 that have been doing this for 10+ years and so you see your summer friends. These are our summer friends and you hang out with them. You go out to dinner and a bunch of us play instruments and we get together and play so it’s fun!
GS: There are a lot of campfires!
CHEF TC: Yeah and it’s a fun get together and you fall right back into relationships as soon as you get there. It’s just immediately you’re right back into Summer Camp.
AM: What instrument are you playing?
CHEF TC: I play guitar!
AM: That’s what we thought!
CHEF KK: He’s very good!
GS: I play the cowbell! I’m joking!
AM: Kristen, what are you playing?
CHEF KK: If there was a keyboard, I would be playing.
CHEF TC: We’re going to get you a little accordion!
GS: Oh yeah!
CHEF KK: I will learn to play the accordion!
CHEF TC: Absolutely, we’re going to get you one so you can play.
AM: When we’re in the kitchen, we always love our favorite playlists while we’re making our dishes. What are 3 songs that you like listening to when you’re cooking?
CHEF KK: I don’t know if there is a particular song. But in my restaurant kitchen, there’s certain kinds of music that we go with the Beyonce, Whitney Houston vibe.
GS: Wow.
CHEF KK: Everyone loves it – it’s not politically drawn any which way.
AM: It’s just good sounds.
CHEF KK: It’s solid music. A lot of Earth, Wind, & Fire as well. At home, I listen to Van Morrison because I have great memories of my dad. My mom in the summertime in Michigan, all the windows in the house open and spring cleaning starts and my dad has like a CD player in the kitchen and it would blast through the house – Van Morrison – so for me, I always like to listen to Van Morrison.
AM: Tom?
CHEF TC: God, It all depends on what I am in the mood for.
GS: Yeah.
CHEF TC: I often cook with reggae and Grateful Dead - Anthony Bourdain just rolled over one time in his grave because he hates them, but it all depends. I do like cooking with music especially when I’m home.
We do have music in the kitchen here in NY at Craft, I stay out of it! I walk down there sometimes and I’m like, what the heck? But it’s like, do whatever you want.
AM: Gail?
GS: I would say the same. I love when I can be in my zone in my kitchen. I don’t like talking to people when I’m cooking, it's my quiet happy place. Everyone in my house knows that it’s my space. It’s not to say that I don’t speak to my family. I can also get them involved. But when I am in a rhythm with music, it really is my meditation in so many ways that that zone that you get into – but I listen to all kinds of things depending on my travels, where I have been, what’s happening in the moment. My husband actually works in the music industry. He creates playlists so there’s always playlists on my Spotify made from him. It also depends on my kids. My daughter has very strong opinions about the music so when she comes home she’ll often change it, but I just love a rhythm when I am cooking for sure.
AM: My last question has 3 parts, and is part of our feature, THE 9LIST 9M3NU, this month, it looks at: a) why you enjoy cooking in the Spring; b) what are spices that you enjoy cooking; and c) for Tom and Kristen, what are 3 dishes that we can enjoy are your restaurants and Gail, what are 3 dishes that we could enjoy if we were at your home?
GS: That’s a big 3 part question!
AM: We did this recently with Alton Brown and he got such a kick out of it!
So what do you love about the Spring when you are creating your dishes?
CHEF KK: I’m just excited to be out of fall! Because growing up in a 4 season kind of place, Austin is very different. I had to learn what food seasons there were. You had two tomato seasons – there’s a long story behind that. But you have 2 tomato seasons, 2 strawberry seasons. But I mean, for any season change that happens, by the time fall is nearing an end, I can’t do any more with squashes. I’m ready for the green fresh and the vibrancy! Now that my wife has started gardening, she has a whole Spring list that she is excited about. I’m excited about the fresh stuff at home and to be out of the fall vegetables!
CHEF TC: This time of year, morels, peas, and asparagus, fava beans, and rhubarb. I just shot photos of a book that I’m working on yesterday and it was Spring. There’s nothing happening in Spring right now although we had some great weather, but nothing is coming out of the ground yet. But in California, it’s already Spring and we had a bunch of stuff there that we shipped in. You know, it’s my favorite time to cook. I think that part of it is that it is Spring Renewal and you’re coming out of the winter, food becomes lighter, fresher, greener. The flavors are something that I really enjoy!
GS: I think that there is a reason that if you think about the rhythms of the world, like even in religion – Passover, Easter, or Eid, they all happen in the exact same time of year for a reason because it’s renewal, it’s celebration of the Earth and all of the waking up of the world again and so Spring is absolutely the best time of year to cook. All of the early berries and the rhubarb. All of the peas – I could eat peas all of the time, every moment of the year! But I don’t because they are so much sweeter and I like to eat them in the Spring and asparagus. All the fresh herbs, everything comes to life and I just feel like there is so much flavor there and you don’t realize until you get to cook with them, how much you have missed them through the cold winter months!
AM: Very true!
What are 3 spices that you like cooking with?
CHEF KK: Ooo someone else take this first so I can think about this one!
GS: Not together, but right now that I have been leading on a lot, sumac, smoked paprika, and cardamom. Again, not together!
AM: Right.
GS: But they are 3 spices that I find really add dimension to whatever I’m cooking.
CHEF TC: I love sumac! I always forget about sumac.
GS: I’m going to bring you some! I’m going to bring you some! I just received this giant pint container of the most beautiful sumac that I have ever tasted.
CHEF TC: Spice wise, pepper, black pepper, and long pepper which you don’t see a lot of. Fennel seed, I just can’t get enough of that!
GS: Oh me too!
CHEF TC: I absolutely love it, it’s one of my favorites. Gail and I are lovers of licorice, right here. The black ones, not the red stuff that’s candy. Actual licorice is my favorite.
GS: Ooo White Taragon is my favorite!
CHEF TC: Fennel – wild fennel fronds woo!
GS: Delicious!
CHEF TC: It’s the best!
CHEF KK: I agree on the black pepper! However, I like to toast my black pepper. So I toast my peppercorns before they go into the grinder. It just adds a whole other dimension of flavor. One of my favorite spice blends is Montreal Steak Seasoning.
GS: I love you for that answer!
CHEF KK: It’s so good!
GS: If I didn’t love you before, I love you now!
CHEF KK: It’s so good, so yes – Montreal Steak Seasoning.
GS: On everything? No matter what or just on meats?
CHEF KK: No, I do it on vegetables.
GS: Salty, smokey!
CHEF KK: I have it as a finishing salt on certain dishes. I don’t do it at my restaurant, I do it at home.
GS: I don’t know why it’s called Montreal Steak Seasoning.
CHEF KK: I don’t know either!
GS: It’s not particularly Montreal spices.
CHEF TC: It’s like why is that rice that San Francisco treat?
GS: That’s a really good question! It’s a mystery of the universe!
AM: Ha!
The last part of the question is for Kristen and Tom, what are 3 dishes that our readers should try at your restaurant that you would suggest for our readers to come and have?
CHEF KK: One of Arlo Grey's most popular dishes is this beautiful Malfaldini Pasta not that it was done intentionally, but I cooked these mushrooms several times and it just so happened to be a mushroom that got me my first win on Top Chef, but people love to come to the restaurant to try it. It’s like a 4 day sauce that you dehydrate and rehydrate it and it’s just humble white button mushrooms.
There’s this Crispy Rice dish which is my ode to crab fried rice in a lot of ways.
There are 3 dishes that will never change those two and the Lime Sorbet which has pink peppercorns, coconut, and people really love it and it’s like the dessert palette cleanser.
AM: Tom
CHEF TC: Well, it depends on the restaurant!
AM: Well choose your restaurant!
CHEF TC: So Small Batch out in Garden City, LI, I would say the Braised Chicken Thighs. We do it with semi-dried tomatoes, soppressata, lots of sherry vinegar, roasted garlic confit and really good.
Craft NY, the Braised Beef Short Ribs are the go-to there and any of the pasta dishes that we make are really good. We make them all by hand at Craft.
Then Temple Court, the Roast Chicken is really good! It’s a Spring roasted chicken with lots of garlic, ramps, and mushrooms.
AM: Gail, if we were to go home with you, what would we have for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner?
GS: Oh wait, now I have to give you a whole day? That’s a lot of things!
AM: Well, it’s 3 dishes!
GS: Alright, sure, ok! That’s fair!
Alright, I’m a big egg person so I would always make you eggs in the morning. I like just a simple, well I like eggs anyway that you give them to me, but one of my favorite ways is just a really simple soft scramble with some chives and a little parmesan. But I’m very particular, I hate when eggs are overcooked. I don’t want them undercooked.
CHEF TC: You hate the Spanish Fry.
GS: I hate – well I love them in a Spanish Tortilla but the fried egg with the crispy edges – I like it when the egg yolk is still runny.
CHEF TC: Ok.
GS: You know what I mean?
CHEF TC: Alright!
GS: There’s a delicate balance, but for a scramble or an omelet, it really drives me nuts when you get that brown crust on top! A soft scramble means cooking it slowly. People just want to pummel an egg and that’s not nice to the egg. So that’s what I would make you for breakfast.
For lunch, lunch is kind of random – it’s not like I’m making elaborate lunches! But maybe I would make a roasted chicken with some spring vegetables or make you a really big fresh salad with a beautiful piece of fish on top.
For dinner, my family, we love soups all year around. We make a lot of soup and braises as well as stews because it’s really great for families to eat and to make in big batches! But now that it is Spring, maybe I need to get out of that.
I’m trying to think of dinner because I don’t have a signature or a restaurant so I don’t have to cook anything ever more than once! I love that as a cook, I can make whatever I want.
AM: That’s right!
GS: So I think that it really depends on the time of year and where I’m coming from. Every time I’m coming back from a trip, I bring back with me these memories of a favorite thing that I was cooking then so I just got back from a trip from Quebec and all I want to eat now is Maple Syrup on everything. So, I might make you a very traditional Quebec Tourtiere which is a savory meat pie with a beautiful golden crust. It’s sort of like a chicken potpie, but it’s a little heavier. Or maybe a Tarte au Sucre which is a traditional Maple Sugar Tart – for dinner – just tart!
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | FRONT COVER Stephanie Diani/Bravo | PG 16 - 39, BACK COVER + 9PLAYLIST COLLAB David Moir/Bravo |
Read the MAR ISSUE #99 of Athleisure Mag and see IN GOOD TASTE | Chef Tom Colicchio, Chef Kristen Kish, and Gail Simmons in mag.
Read the FEB ISSUE #98 of Athleisure Mag and see 9PLAYLIST | Lionel Messi in mag.
We're always about good vibes and keeping them going. As we think to warmer days ahead, we caught up with lead singer Beto Montenegro of RAWAYANA who has released 4 studio albums, and received a nomination for Best New Artist of at the 18th Latin Grammy Awards in 2017. They're currently taking a break from their World Tour which will continue next month. As we're always on the hunt for great music, we took some time in the midst of the band's busy schedule to find out more about who they are, how they came together, their sound, those they've collaborated with, and their partnership with Old Parr scotch.
ATHLEISURE MAG: When did you fall in love with music?
BETO MONTENEGRO: It's because music makes me happy, it makes me smile. I feel it is the best tool to express my point of view about life.
AM: When did you realize that you wanted to do this professionally?
BM: After I realized that we had a big community waiting and asking for new music from us.
AM: When did you realize that you wanted to come together to create RAWAYANA?
BM: We really just did it for fun. There was no real plan to “create” it.
AM: How would you define the RAWAYANA sound?
BM: I think it’s an eclectic mixture of Caribbean sounds influenced by pop music.
AM: You were nominated as Best New Artist at the 18th Annual Latin Grammy Awards back in 2017, what did it mean to you to have that distinction?
BM: I don’t like to pay attention to awards. I feel that art or music is not a competition, but in a way it felt cool to be recognized by the industry so we had such a good time spending time with a lot of friends in the business.
AM: What have been some of your favorite collaborations that you've had musically?
BM: Danny Ocean, Elena Rose, Natalia Lafourcade, Micro TDH, Mr Eazi… all our collaborations are amazing.
AM: You've released 5 studio albums and most recently '¿Quién trae las Cornetas?' (Who Brings the speakers?) tell me about this and what we can expect from it.
BM: It’s an album about cycles and new journeys. For us the music and RAWAYANA is about a journey, so the music is a very important part in our journey. It’s a very personal album but also the union of like-minded people making music and having fun in the studio.
AM: You just finished a tour here in the US and you already have dates lined up for next year, do you have any routines that you do right before a show to get ready to hit the stage?
BM: I warm up my voice in the shower.
AM: Do you have routines that you do after the show so that you can come down from all that energy?
BM: I really don’t have one. It always changes on nightly basis.
AM: You have a nice breather now with it being the holidays. You created a cocktail in collaboration with Old Parr known as Old Parr Rawy. How did your partnership come about and tell us about this drink?
BM: We’re thrilled with this partnership with Old Parr to bring even more golden moments to our music. The brand is an icon in Latin America, and just like the whisky, our music is a fusion of different sounds, flavors, and rhythms, so we know our fans will be just as excited to raise a glass of Old Parr with us. Also, we wanted to give our fans a taste of home during the Holiday season by creating a cocktail inspired by Venezuela and the fusion of flavors we create as a band—The Old Parr Rawy.
AM: How does this drink tie into the band and your sound?
BM: The Old Parr Rawy is a delicious and easy-to-make cocktail made for everyday golden moments this Holiday season – from enjoying the energy from a concert to toasting with our closest friends. This cocktail is a fusion of different flavors, sounds, and rhythms, like our music.
AM: How will you spend the holiday season?
BM: With my childhood friends and family!
OLD PARR RAWY
INGREDIENTS
· 1.5 oz Old Parr Aged 12 Years
· 1 oz Grapefruit juice
· .5 oz Maple syrup
· .25 Lemon juice
· 3 Dashes of angostura bitters
PREPARATION
Fill a cocktail shaker with Old Parr Aged 12 Years, grapefruit juice, maple syrup, lemon
juice and ice. Shake the mixture thoroughly, then pour into a serving glass. Top with 3
dashes of angostura bitters.
IG @rawayana
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | PG 52 RAWAYANA/Facebook | PG 54 Team Diageo
Read the JAN ISSUE #97 of Athleisure Mag and see LET THE MUSIC PLAY | RAWAYANA’S Beto Montenegro in mag.
The People's Choice Awards announced this year’s winners on NBC, E!, and Peacock. This awards show allowed fans to cast a vote for their favorites and celebrate the best in movies, TV, music and pop culture. The show will be hosted by Simu Liu (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Simulant, Barbie) who is a Movie Performance of The Year Nominee for his role in Barbie. Our predictions are in bold, the ones we correctly identified as winners are in bold italics and winners that we didn’t predict are in italics.
Barbie
Fast X
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Oppenheimer
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
TAYLOR SWIFT | THE ERAS TOUR FILM
The Little Mermaid
The Super Mario Bros. Movie
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
Fast X
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
John Wick: Chapter 4
Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
The Marvels
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
80 for Brady
Anyone but You
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.
Asteroid City
Barbie
Cocaine Bear
No Hard Feelings
Wonka
Creed III
Five Nights at Freddy's
Killers of the Flower Moon
Leave the World Behind
M3GAN
Oppenheimer
Scream VI
The Color Purple
Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer
Chris Pratt, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Keanu Reeves, John Wick: Chapter 4
Leonardo DiCaprio, Killers of the Flower Moon
Michael B. Jordan, Creed III
Ryan Gosling, Barbie
Timothée Chalamet, Wonka
Tom Cruise, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One
Florence Pugh, Oppenheimer
Halle Bailey, The Little Mermaid
Jenna Ortega, Scream VI
Jennifer Lawrence, No Hard Feelings
Julia Roberts, Leave the World Behind
Margot Robbie, Barbie
Rachel Zegler, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
Viola Davis, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
Brie Larson, The Marvels
Chris Pratt, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Gal Gadot, Heart of Stone
Jason Momoa, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom
Keanu Reeves, John Wick: Chapter 4
Rachel Zegler, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
Tom Cruise, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One
Viola Davis, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
Adam Sandler, You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah
Glen Powell, Anyone but You
Jennifer Lawrence, No Hard Feelings
Margot Robbie, Barbie
Ryan Gosling, Barbie
Scarlett Johansson, Asteroid City
Sydney Sweeney, Anyone but You
Timothée Chalamet, Wonka
Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer
Julia Roberts, Leave the World Behind
Fantasia Barrino, The Color Purple
Florence Pugh, Oppenheimer
Jacob Elordi, Priscilla
Jenna Ortega, Scream VI
Leonardo DiCaprio, Killers of the Flower Moon
Michael B. Jordan, Creed III
America Ferrera, Barbie
Charles Melton, May December
Danielle Brooks, The Color Purple
Jacob Elordi, Saltburn
Melissa McCarthy, The Little Mermaid
Natalie Portman, May December
Simu Liu, Barbie
Viola Davis, Air
Grey's Anatomy
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Only Murders in the Building
Saturday Night Live
Ted Lasso
The Bear
The Last of Us
Vanderpump Rules
Abbott Elementary
And Just Like That...
Never Have I Ever
Only Murders in the Building
Saturday Night Live
Ted Lasso
The Bear
Young Sheldon
Chicago Fire
Ginny & Georgia
Grey's Anatomy
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Outer Banks
Succession
The Last of Us
The Morning Show
Ahsoka
American Horror Story: Delicate
Black Mirror
Ghosts
Loki
Secret Invasion
The Mandalorian
The Witcher
90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After?
Below Deck
Jersey Shore Family Vacation
Selling Sunset
The Kardashians
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills
The Real Housewives of New Jersey
Vanderpump Rules
America's Got Talent
American Idol
Big Brother
Dancing with the Stars
RuPaul's Drag Race
Survivor
Squid Game: The Challenge
The Voice
Beef
Citadel
Jury Duty
Love Is Blind
Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story
The Crown
The Night Agent
The Summer I Turned Pretty
Chase Stokes, Outer Banks
Jason Sudeikis, Ted Lasso
Jeremy Allen White, The Bear
Kieran Culkin, Succession
Pedro Pascal, The Last of Us
Samuel L. Jackson, Secret Invasion
Steve Martin, Only Murders in the Building
Tom Hiddleston, Loki
Ali Wong, Beef
Hannah Waddingham, Ted Lasso
Jennifer Aniston, The Morning Show
Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary
Reese Witherspoon, The Morning Show
Rosario Dawson, Ahsoka
Selena Gomez, Only Murders in the Building
Ali Wong, Beef
Bowen Yang, Saturday Night Live
Hannah Waddingham, Ted Lasso
Jason Sudeikis, Ted Lasso
Jeremy Allen White, The Bear
Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary
Selena Gomez, Only Murders in the Building
Steve Martin, Only Murders in the Building
Bella Ramsey, The Last of Us
Chase Stokes, Outer Banks
Ice-T, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Jennifer Aniston, The Morning Show
Kieran Culkin, Succession
Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Pedro Pascal, The Last of Us
Reese Witherspoon, The Morning Show
Adjoa Andoh, Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story
Ayo Edebiri, The Bear
Billie Eilish, Swarm
Jon Hamm, The Morning Show
Matt Bomer, Fellow Travelers
Meryl Streep, Only Murders in the Building
Steven Yuen, Beef
Storm Reid, The Last of Us
Ariana Madix, Vanderpump Rules
Chrishell Stause, Selling Sunset
Garcelle Beauvais, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills
Kandi Burruss, The Real Housewives of Atlanta
Khloé Kardashian, The Kardashians
Kim Kardashian, The Kardashians
Kyle Richards, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills
Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino, Jersey Shore Family Vacation
Anetra, RuPaul's Drag Race
Ariana Madix, Dancing with the Stars
Charity Lawson, The Bachelorette
Theresa Nist, The Golden Bachelor
Iam Tongi, American Idol
Keke Palmer, That's My Jam
Sasha Colby, RuPaul's Drag Race
Xochitl Gomez, Dancing with the Stars
Good Morning America
LIVE with Kelly and Mark
Sherri
The Drew Barrymore Show
The Jennifer Hudson Show
The Kelly Clarkson Show
The View
Today
Hart to Heart
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
Late Night with Seth Meyers
The Daily Show
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
Gordon Ramsay, Hell's Kitchen
Jimmy Fallon, That's My Jam
Nick Cannon, The Masked Singer
Padma Lakshmi, Top Chef
RuPaul, RuPaul's Drag Race
Ryan Seacrest, American Idol
Steve Harvey, Celebrity Family Feud
Terry Crews, America's Got Talent
Bad Bunny
Drake
Jack Harlow
Jungkook
Luke Combs
Morgan Wallen
Post Malone
The Weeknd
Beyoncé
Doja Cat
Karol G
Lainey Wilson
Miley Cyrus
Nicki Minaj
Olivia Rodrigo
Taylor Swift
Chris Stapleton
Cody Johnson
HARDY
Jelly Roll
Kane Brown
Luke Combs
Morgan Wallen
Zach Bryan
Ashley McBryde
Carly Pearce
Carrie Underwood
Gabby Barrett
Kelsea Ballerini
Lainey Wilson
Megan Moroney
Shania Twain
Bad Bunny
Bizarrap
Feid
Manuel Turizo
Maluma
Peso Pluma
Rauw Alejandro
Ozuna
Ángela Aguilar
Anitta
Becky G
Kali Uchis
Karol G
Rosalía
Shakira
Young Miko
Billie Eilish
Doja Cat
Dua Lipa
Jung Kook
Miley Cyrus
Olivia Rodrigo
Tate McRae
Taylor Swift
Cardi B
Drake
Future
Jack Harlow
Latto
Nicki Minaj
Post Malone
Travis Scott
Beyoncé
Brent Faiyaz
Janelle Monáe
SZA
Tems
The Weeknd
Usher
Victoria Monét
Coi Leray
Ice Spice
Jelly Roll
Jung Kook
Noah Kahan
Peso Pluma
PinkPantheress
Stephen Sanchez
Dan + Shay
Fuerza Regida
Grupo Frontera
Jonas Brothers
Old Dominion
Paramore
Stray Kids
TOMORROW X TOGETHER
"Dance The Night," Dua Lipa
"Fast Car," Luke Combs
"Flowers," Miley Cyrus
"Fukumean," Gunna
"greedy," Tate McRae
"Last Night," Morgan Wallen
"Paint The Town Red," Doja Cat
"Vampire," Olivia Rodrigo
Endless Summer Vacation, Miley Cyrus
For All The Dogs, Drake
Gettin' Old, Luke Combs
Guts, Olivia Rodrigo
Mañana Será Bonito, Karol G
Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va A Pasar Mañana, Bad Bunny
One Thing At A Time, Morgan Wallen
Pink Friday 2, Nicki Minaj
"All My Life," Lil Durk Feat. J. Cole
"Barbie World," Nicki Minaj & Ice Spice With Aqua
"Ella Baila Sola," Eslabon Armado X Peso Pluma
"First Person Shooter," Drake Feat. J. Cole
"I Remember Everything," Zach Bryan Feat. Kasey Musgraves
"Seven," Jung Kook Feat. Latto
"TQG," Karol G, Shakira
"Un x100to," Grupo Frontera X Bad Bunny
+–=÷x Tour, Ed Sheeran
COLDPLAY MUSIC of the SPHERES WORLD TOUR
Love On Tour, Harry Styles
Luke Combs World Tour
Morgan Wallen One Night At A Time World Tour
P!nk Summer Carnival Tour
Renaissance World Tour, Beyoncé
TAYLOR SWIFT | THE ERAS TOUR
Britney Spears
Dwayne Johnson
Kim Kardashian
Kylie Jenner
Megan Thee Stallion
Nicki Minaj
Selena Gomez
Taylor Swift
Baby J, John Mulaney
Emergency Contact, Amy Schumer
God Loves Me, Marlon Wayans
I'm An Entertainer, Wanda Sykes
Off The Record, Trevor Noah
Reality Check, Kevin Hart
Selective Outrage, Chris Rock
Someone You Love, Sarah Silverman
Coco Gauff
Giannis Antetokounmpo
LeBron James
Lionel Messi
Sabrina Ionescu
Simone Biles
Stephen Curry
Travis Kelce
Read the latest issue of Athleisure Mag.
We always enjoy a stunning coffeetable book that blends music, culture, and iconic artists together. In Bob Marley and The Wailers: The Ultimate Illustrated History dropped this month to dig into the life and legacy of this man and his band. Even after 40 years of Marley's death, he and his band continue to be the most famous reggae artists of all time!
Throughout the book are stunning images from various points of their career which allows you to see their life as well as the times that they lived in. We see how they went from a Jamaican ska act to international superstars while navigating being in their country that was going through its own awakening at that time.
The book illustrates how they popularized their genre, the influence of the Rastafari movement, Marley's socially conscious lyrics and how he became a symbol of pride and justice.
You'll learn about the history of the band up to Marley's death in 1981 and how his influence continues today. Images of performances, off-stage photography, rare memorabilia and commentary from noted music jounalists. This book also talks about the 2024 Bob Marley biopic, One Love which is in theaters on Valentine's Day.
When North Carolina's richest woman dies in The Heiress, she is also the most notorious woman! Ruby McTavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore, as a child was kidnapped as well as becoming a widower four times over!
She lorded over her tiny town of Tavistock from Ashby House, her family’s estate high in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Upon her death, her adopted son, Camden, wants nothing to do with the house, money or remaining relatives. He lives his own life as an English teacher in Colorado with his wife Jules. When his uncle dies, he is pulled back to his mess life. He begins to question the rumors of his mother's kidnapping when she was a girl as well as what happened to the husbands. A bigger question is why she chose to adopt him as well! Finding out about this information means more to him than a will and understanding the long reaching arms of what family means and how everyone is connected to one another is essential.
In The Heirloomed Kitchen: Made-from-Scratch Recipes to Gather Around for Generations we are privy to a curated cookbook of nostalgic-style photography that shows heirloom cookware, vessels, and utensils and recipes that are passed down from mother to child and grandchild.
With over 100 recipes there are a number of family recipes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Read the JAN ISSUE #97 of Athleisure Mag and see BINGELY BOOKS in mag.
Read the JAN ISSUE #97 of Athleisure Mag and see 9PLAYLIST | RAWAYANA in mag.
We continue through Awards Season with the 66th GRAMMYs which took place tonight on CBS and streamed on Paramount+ (live and on demand for Paramount+ with SHOWTIME subscribers, or on demand for Paramount+ Essential subscribers the day after the special airs).
Our predictions are in bold, the ones we correctly identified as winners are in bold italics and winners that we didn’t predict are in italics.
Award to the Artist and to the Producer(s), Recording Engineer(s) and/or Mixer(s) and mastering engineer(s), if other than the artist.
Worship
Jon Batiste
Jon Batiste, Jon Bellion, Pete Nappi & Tenroc, producers; Serban Ghenea & Pete Nappi, engineers/mixers; Chris Gehringer, mastering engineer
Not Strong Enough
boygenius
boygenius & Catherine Marks, producers; Owen Lantz, Catherine Marks, Mike Mogis, Bobby Mota, Kaushlesh "Garry" Purohit & Sarah Tudzin, engineers/mixers; Pat Sullivan, mastering engineer
Flowers
Miley Cyrus
Kid Harpoon & Tyler Johnson, producers; Michael Pollack, Brian Rajaratnam & Mark "Spike" Stent, engineers/mixers; Joe LaPorta, mastering engineer
What Was I Made For? [From The Motion Picture "Barbie"]
Billie Eilish
Billie Eilish & FINNEAS, producers; Billie Eilish, Rob Kinelski & FINNEAS, engineers/mixers; Chris Gehringer, mastering engineer
On My Mama
Victoria Monét
Deputy, Dernst Emile II & Jeff Gitelman, producers; Patrizio Pigliapoco & Todd Robinson, engineers/mixers; Colin Leonard, mastering engineer
Vampire
Olivia Rodrigo
Dan Nigro, producer; Serban Ghenea, Michael Harris, Chris Kasych, Daniel Nigro & Dan Viafore, engineers/mixers; Randy Merrill, mastering engineer
Anti-Hero
Taylor Swift
Jack Antonoff & Taylor Swift, producers; Jack Antonoff, Serban Ghenea, Laura Sisk & Lorenzo Wolff, engineers/mixers; Randy Merrill, mastering engineer
Kill Bill
SZA
Rob Bisel & Carter Lang, producers; Rob Bisel, engineer/mixer; Dale Becker, mastering engineer
Award to Artist(s) and to Featured Artist(s), Songwriter(s) of new material, Producer(s), Recording Engineer(s), Mixer(s) and Mastering Engineer(s) credited with 20% or more playing time of the album.
World Music Radio
Jon Batiste
Jon Batiste, Jon Bellion, Nick Cooper, Pete Nappi & Tenroc, producers; Jon Batiste, Pete Nappi, Kaleb Rollins, Laura Sisk & Marc Whitmore, engineers/mixers; Jon Batiste, Jon Bellion, Jason Cornet & Pete Nappi, songwriters; Chris Gehringer, mastering engineer
the record
boygenius
boygenius & Catherine Marks, producers; Owen Lantz, Will Maclellan, Catherine Marks, Mike Mogis, Bobby Mota, Kaushlesh "Garry" Purohit & Sarah Tudzin, engineers/mixers; Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers & Lucy Dacus, songwriters; Pat Sullivan, mastering engineer
Endless Summer Vacation
Miley Cyrus
Kid Harpoon, Tyler Johnson & Mike Will Made-It, producers; Pièce Eatah, Craig Frank, Paul David Hager, Stacy Jones, Brian Rajaratnam & Mark "Spike" Stent, engineers/mixers; Miley Cyrus, Gregory Aldae Hein, Thomas Hull, Tyler Johnson, Michael Len Williams II & Michael Pollack, songwriters; Joe LaPorta, mastering engineer
Did You Know That There's A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd
Lana Del Rey
Jack Antonoff, Zach Dawes, Lana Del Rey & Drew Erickson, producers; Jack Antonoff, Michael Harris, Dean Reid & Laura Sisk, engineers/mixers; Jack Antonoff, Lana Del Rey & Mike Hermosa, songwriters; Ruairi O'Flaherty, mastering engineer
The Age Of Pleasure
Janelle Monáe
Sensei Bueno, Nate "Rocket" Wonder & Nana Kwabena, producers; Mick Guzauski, Nate "Rocket" Wonder, Jayda Love, Janelle Monáe & Yáng Tan, engineers/mixers; Jarrett Goodly, Nathaniel Irvin III, Janelle Monáe Robinson & Nana Kwabena Tuffuor, songwriters; Dave Kutch, mastering engineer
GUTS
Olivia Rodrigo
Daniel Nigro, producer; Serban Ghenea, Sterling Laws, Mitch McCarthy, Daniel Nigro, Dave Schiffman, Mark "Spike" Stent, Sam Stewart & Dan Viafore, engineers/mixers; Daniel Nigro & Olivia Rodrigo, songwriters; Randy Merrill, mastering engineer
Midnights
Taylor Swift
Jack Antonoff & Taylor Swift, producers; Jack Antonoff, Zem Audu, Serban Ghenea, David Hart, Mikey Freedom Hart, Sean Hutchinson, Ken Lewis, Michael Riddleberger, Laura Sisk & Evan Smith, engineers/mixers; Jack Antonoff & Taylor Swift, songwriters; Randy Merrill, mastering engineer
SOS
SZA
Rob Bisel, ThankGod4Cody & Carter Lang, producers; Rob Bisel, engineer/mixer; Rob Bisel, Cody Fayne, Carter Lang & Solána Rowe, songwriters; Dale Becker, mastering engineer
A Songwriter(s) Award. A song is eligible if it was first released or if it first achieved prominence during the Eligibility Year. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.
A&W
Jack Antonoff, Lana Del Rey & Sam Dew, songwriters (Lana Del Rey)
Anti-Hero
Jack Antonoff & Taylor Swift, songwriters (Taylor Swift)
Butterfly
Jon Batiste & Dan Wilson, songwriters (Jon Batiste)
Dance The Night (From Barbie The Album)
Caroline Ailin, Dua Lipa, Mark Ronson & Andrew Wyatt, songwriters (Dua Lipa)
Flowers
Miley Cyrus, Gregory Aldae Hein & Michael Pollack, songwriters (Miley Cyrus)
Kill Bill
Rob Bisel, Carter Lang & Solána Rowe, songwriters (SZA)
Vampire
Daniel Nigro & Olivia Rodrigo, songwriters (Olivia Rodrigo)
What Was I Made For? [From The Motion Picture "Barbie"]
Billie Eilish O'Connell & Finneas O'Connell, songwriters (Billie Eilish)
This category recognizes an artist whose eligibility-year release(s) achieved a breakthrough into the public consciousness and notably impacted the musical landscape.
Gracie Abrams
Fred again..
Ice Spice
Jelly Roll
Coco Jones
Noah Kahan
Victoria Monét
The War And Treaty
A Producer's Award. (Artists names appear in parentheses.)
Jack Antonoff
• Being Funny In A Foreign Language (The 1975) (A)
• Did You Know That There's A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd (Lana Del Rey) (A)
• Midnights (Taylor Swift) (A)
Dernst "D'Mile" Emile II
• JAGUAR II (Victoria Monét) (A)
Hit-Boy
• Bus Stop (Don Toliver Featuring Brent Faiyaz) (T)
• Just Face It (Dreamville With Blxst) (T)
• Kings Disease III (Nas) (A)
• Magic 3 (Nas) (A)
• Magic 2 (Nas) (A)
• Slipping Into Darkness (Hit-Boy & The Alchemist) (S)
• Surf Or Drown Vol. 1 (Hit-Boy) (A)
• Surf Or Drown Vol. 2 (Hit-Boy) (A)
• Victims & Villains (Musiq Soulchild & Hit-Boy) (A)
• Metro Boomin
• Am I Dreaming (Metro Boomin Featuring Roisee & A$AP Rocky) (S)
• Calling (Metro Boomin Featuring NAV, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie & Swae Lee) (S)
• Creepin' (Metro Boomin Featuring 21 Savage & The Weeknd) (S)
• More M's (Drake & 21 Savage) (S)
• Oh U Went (Young Thug Featuring Drake) (S)
• Superhero (Heroes & Villains) (Metro Boomin, Future & Chris Brown) (S)
• Til Further Notice (Travis Scott Featuring James Blake & 21 Savage) (S)
• Trance (Metro Boomin Featuring Travis Scott & Young Thug) (S)
• War Bout It (Lil Durk Featuring 21 Savage) (S)
• Daniel Nigro
• Casual (Chappell Roan) (S)
• Divide (Dermot Kennedy) (S)
• Guts (Olivia Rodrigo) (A)
• Hot To Go! (Chappell Roan) (S)
• Kaleidoscope (Chappell Roan) (S)
• Red Wine Supernova (Chappell Roan) (S)
• Welcome To My Island (Caroline Polachek) (S)
A Songwriter's Award. (Artists names appear in parentheses.)
Edgar Barrera
• Cuestion De Tiempo (Don Omar) (T)
• Falsa Alarma (En Vivo) (Grupo Firme) (T)
• Gucci Los Paños (Karol G) (T)
• La Despedida (Christian Nodal) (T)
• Mi Ex Tenía Razón (Karol G) (T)
• Que Vuelvas (Various Artists) (T)
• Un Cumbión Dolido (Christian Nodal) (T)
• un x100to (Grupo Frontera & Bad Bunny) (T)
• Yo Pr1mero (Rels B) (S)
Jessie Jo Dillon
• Buried (Brandy Clark) (T)
• Girl In The Mirror (Megan Moroney) (T)
• Halfway To Hell (Jelly Roll) (T)
• I Just Killed A Man (Catie Offerman) (S)
• Memory Lane (Old Dominion) (S)
• Neon Cowgirl (Dan + Shay) (T)
• screen (HARDY) (T)
• The Town In Your Heart (Lori McKenna) (T)
• Up Above The Clouds (Cecilia's Song) (Brandy Clark) (T)
Shane McAnally
• Come Back To Me (Brandy Clark) (S)
• Good With Me (Walker Hayes) (S)
• He's Never Gunna Change (Lauren Daigle) (S)
• I Should Have Married You (Old Dominion) (S)
• Independently Owned (Alex Newell & Original Broadway Cast of Shucked) (S)
• Never Grow Up (Niall Horan) (S)
• Start Nowhere (Sam Hunt) (S)
• Walmart (Sam Hunt) (S)
• We Don't Fight Anymore (Carly Pearce & Chris Stapleton) (S)
Theron Thomas
• All My Life (Lil Durk Featuring J. Cole) (S)
• Been Thinking (Tyla) (S)
• Cheatback (Chlöe & Future) (T)
• How We Roll (Ciara & Chris Brown) (S)
• Make Up Your Mind (Cordae) (S)
• Pretty Girls Walk (Big Boss Vette) (S)
• Seven (Jung Kook & Latto) (S)
• Told Ya (Chlöe & Missy Elliot) (T)
• You And I (Sekou) (T)
Justin Tranter
• Gemini Moon (Reneé Rapp) (T)
• Honey! (Are U Coming?) (Måneskin) (S)
• I Want More (Marisa Davila & Cast Of Grease: Rise Of The Pink Ladies) (S)
• Jersey (Baby Tate) (S)
• A Little Bit Happy (TALK) (S)
• Pretty Girls (Reneé Rapp) (S)
• River (Miley Cyrus) (S)
For new vocal or instrumental pop recordings. Singles or Tracks only.
Flowers
Miley Cyrus
Paint The Town Red
Doja Cat
What Was I Made For? [From The Motion Picture "Barbie"]
Billie Eilish
Vampire
Olivia Rodrigo
Anti-Hero
Taylor Swift
For new vocal or instrumental duo/group or collaborative pop recordings. Singles or Tracks only.
Thousand Miles
Miley Cyrus Featuring Brandi Carlile
Candy Necklace
Lana Del Rey Featuring Jon Batiste
Never Felt So Alone
Labrinth Featuring Billie Eilish
Karma
Taylor Swift Featuring Ice Spice
Ghost In The Machine
SZA Featuring Phoebe Bridgers
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new pop vocal recordings.
Chemistry
Kelly Clarkson
Endless Summer Vacation
Miley Cyrus
GUTS
Olivia Rodrigo
- (Subtract)
Ed Sheeran
Midnights
Taylor Swift
For solo, duo, group or collaborative performances. Vocal or Instrumental. Singles or tracks only.
Blackbox Life Recorder 21F
Aphex Twin
Richard D James, producer; Richard D James, mixer
Loading
James Blake
James Blake & Dom Maker, producers; James Blake, mixer
Higher Than Ever Before
Disclosure
Cirkut, Guy Lawrence & Howard Lawrence, producers; Guy Lawrence, mixer
Strong
Romy & Fred again..
Fred again.., Stuart Price & Romy, producers; Fred again.. & Stuart Price, mixers
Rumble
Skrillex, Fred again.. & Flowdan
Fred again.. & Skrillex, producers; Skrillex, mixer
For solo, duo, group or collaborative performances. Vocal or Instrumental. Singles or tracks only.
Baby Don't Hurt Me
David Guetta, Anne-Marie & Coi Leray
Johnny Goldstein, Toby Green, David Guetta & Mike Hawkins, producers; Serban Ghenea, mixer
Miracle
Calvin Harris Featuring Ellie Goulding
Burns & Calvin Harris, producers; Calvin Harris, mixer
Padam Padam
Kylie Minogue
Lostboy, producer; Guy Massey, mixer
One In A Million
Bebe Rexha & David Guetta
Burns & David Guetta, producers; Serban Ghenea, mixer
Rush
Troye Sivan
Styalz Fuego, Novodor & Zhone, producers; Alex Ghenea, mixer
For vocal or instrumental albums. Albums only.
Playing Robots Into Heaven
James Blake
For That Beautiful Feeling
The Chemical Brothers
Actual Life 3 (January 1 - September 9 2022)
Fred again..
Kx5
Kx5
Quest For Fire
Skrillex
For new vocal or instrumental solo, duo/group or collaborative rock recordings.
Sculptures Of Anything Goes
Arctic Monkeys
More Than A Love Song
Black Pumas
Not Strong Enough
Boygenius
Rescued
Foo Fighters
Lux Æterna
Metallica
For new vocal or instrumental solo, duo/group or collaborative metal recordings.
Bad Man
Disturbed
Phantom Of The Opera
Ghost
72 Seasons
Metallica
Hive Mind
Slipknot
Jaded
Spiritbox
A Songwriter(s) Award. Includes Rock, Hard Rock and Metal songs. A song is eligible if it was first released or if it first achieved prominence during the Eligibility Year. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.
Angry
Mick Jagger, Keith Richards & Andrew Watt, songwriters (The Rolling Stones)
Ballad Of A Homeschooled Girl
Daniel Nigro & Olivia Rodrigo, songwriters (Olivia Rodrigo)
Emotion Sickness
Dean Fertita, Joshua Homme, Michael Shuman, Jon Theodore & Troy Van Leeuwen, songwriters (Queens Of The Stone Age)
Not Strong Enough
Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers & Lucy Dacus, songwriters (boygenius)
Rescued
Dave Grohl, Rami Jaffee, Nate Mendel, Chris Shiflett & Pat Smear, songwriters (Foo Fighters)
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new rock, hard rock or metal recordings.
But Here We Are
Foo Fighters
Starcatcher
Greta Van Fleet
72 Seasons
Metallica
This Is Why
Paramore
In Times New Roman...
Queens Of The Stone Age
For new vocal or instrumental solo, duo/group or collaborative Alternative music recordings.
Belinda Says
Alvvays
Body Paint
Arctic Monkeys
Cool About It
boygenius
A&W
Lana Del Rey
This Is Why
Paramore
Vocal or Instrumental.
The Car
Arctic Monkeys
The Record
boygenius
Did You Know That There's A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd
Lana Del Rey
Cracker Island
Gorillaz
I Inside The Old Year Dying
PJ Harvey
For new vocal or instrumental R&B recordings.
Summer Too Hot
Chris Brown
Back To Love
Robert Glasper Featuring SiR & Alex Isley
ICU
Coco Jones
How Does It Make You Feel
Victoria Monét
Kill Bill
SZA
For new vocal or instrumental traditional R&B recordings.
Simple
Babyface Featuring Coco Jones
Lucky
Kenyon Dixon
Hollywood
Victoria Monét Featuring Earth, Wind & Fire & Hazel Monét
Good Morning
PJ Morton Featuring Susan Carol
Love Language
SZA
A Songwriter(s) Award. A song is eligible if it was first released or if it first achieved prominence during the Eligibility Year. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.
Angel
Halle Bailey, Theron Feemster & Coleridge Tillman, songwriters (Halle)
Back To Love
Darryl Andrew Farris, Robert Glasper & Alexandra Isley, songwriters (Robert Glasper Featuring SiR & Alex Isley)
ICU
Darhyl Camper Jr., Courtney Jones, Raymond Komba & Roy Keisha Rockette, songwriters (Coco Jones)
On My Mama
Dernst Emile II, Jeff Gitelman, Victoria Monét, Kyla Moscovich, Jamil Pierre & Charles Williams, songwriters (Victoria Monét)
Snooze
Kenny B. Edmonds, Blair Ferguson, Khris Riddick-Tynes, Solána Rowe & Leon Thomas, songwriters (SZA)
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of newly recorded progressive vocal tracks derivative of R&B.
Since I Have A Lover
6LACK
The Love Album: Off The Grid
Diddy
Nova
Terrace Martin And James Fauntleroy
The Age Of Pleasure
Janelle Monáe
SOS
SZA
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new R&B recordings.
Girls Night Out
Babyface
What I Didn't Tell You (Deluxe)
Coco Jones
Special Occasion
Emily King
JAGUAR II
Victoria Monét
CLEAR 2: SOFT LIFE EP
Summer Walker
For a Rap performance. Singles or Tracks only.
The Hillbillies
Baby Keem Featuring Kendrick Lamar
Love Letter
Black Thought
Rich Flex
Drake & 21 Savage
SCIENTISTS & ENGINEERS
Killer Mike Featuring André 3000, Future And Eryn Allen Kane
Players
Coi Leray
For a solo or collaborative performance containing both elements of R&B melodies and Rap.
Sittin' On Top Of The World
Burna Boy Featuring 21 Savage
Attention
Doja Cat
Spin Bout U
Drake & 21 Savage
All My Life
Lil Durk Featuring J. Cole
Low
SZA
A Songwriter(s) Award. A song is eligible if it was first released or if it first achieved prominence during the Eligibility Year. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.
Attention
Rogét Chahayed, Amala Zandile Dlamini & Ari Starace, songwriters (Doja Cat)
Barbie World [From Barbie The Album]
Isis Naija Gaston, Ephrem Louis Lopez Jr. & Onika Maraj, songwriters (Nicki Minaj & Ice Spice Featuring Aqua)
Just Wanna Rock
Mohamad Camara, Symere Woods & Javier Mercado, songwriters (Lil Uzi Vert)
Rich Flex
Brytavious Chambers, Isaac "Zac" De Boni, Aubrey Graham, J. Gwin, Anderson Hernandez, Michael "Finatik" Mule & Shéyaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, songwriters (Drake & 21 Savage)
SCIENTISTS & ENGINEERS
Andre Benjamin, Paul Beauregard, James Blake, Michael Render, Tim Moore & Dion Wilson, songwriters (Killer Mike Featuring André 3000, Future And Eryn Allen Kane)
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new rap recordings.
Her Loss
Drake & 21 Savage
MICHAEL
Killer Mike
HEROES & VILLIANS
Metro Boomin
King's Disease III
Nas
UTOPIA
Travis Scott
For albums containing greater than 50% playing time of new spoken word poetry recordings.
A-You're Not Wrong B-They're Not Either: The Fukc-It Pill Revisited
Queen Sheba
For Your Consideration'24 -The Album
Prentice Powell and Shawn William
Grocery Shopping With My Mother
Kevin Powell
The Light Inside
J. Ivy
When The Poems Do What They Do
Aja Monet
For new vocal or instrumental solo, duo/group or collaborative jazz recordings.
Movement 18' (Heroes)
Jon Batiste
Basquiat
Lakecia Benjamin
Vulnerable (Live)
Adam Blackstone Featuring The Baylor Project & Russell Ferranté
But Not For Me
Fred Hersch & Esperanza Spalding
Tight
Samara Joy
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new vocal jazz recordings.
For Ella 2
Patti Austin Featuring Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band
Alive At The Village Vanguard
Fred Hersch & Esperanza Spalding
Lean In
Gretchen Parlato & Lionel Loueke
Mélusine
Cécile McLorin Salvant
How Love Begins
Nicole Zuraitis
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new instrumental jazz recordings.
The Source
Kenny Barron
Phoenix
Lakecia Benjamin
Legacy: The Instrumental Jawn
Adam Blackstone
The Winds Of Change
Billy Childs
Dream Box
Pat Metheny
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new ensemble jazz recordings.
The Chick Corea Symphony Tribute - Ritmo
ADDA Simfònica, Josep Vicent, Emilio Solla
Dynamic Maximum Tension
Darcy James Argue's Secret Society
Basie Swings The Blues
The Count Basie Orchestra Directed By Scotty Barnhart
Olympians
Vince Mendoza & Metropole Orkest
The Charles Mingus Centennial Sessions
Mingus Big Band
For vocal or instrumental albums containing greater than 75% playing time of newly recorded material. The intent of this category is to recognize recordings that represent the blending of jazz with Latin, Iberian-American, Brazilian, and Argentinian tango music.
Quietude
Eliane Elias
My Heart Speaks
Ivan Lins With The Tblisi Symphony Orchestra
Vox Humana
Bobby Sanabria Multiverse Big Band
Cometa
Luciana Souza & Trio Corrente
El Arte Del Bolero Vol. 2
Miguel Zenón & Luis Perdomo
For vocal or instrumental albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new Alternative jazz recordings.
Love In Exile
Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer, Shahzad Ismaily
Quality Over Opinion
Louis Cole
SuperBlue: The Iridescent Spree
Kurt Elling, Charlie Hunter, SuperBlue
Live At The Piano
Cory Henry
The Omnichord Real Book
Meshell Ndegeocello
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new traditional pop recordings.
To Steve With Love: Liz Callaway Celebrates Sondheim
Liz Callaway
Pieces Of Treasure
Rickie Lee Jones
Bewitched
Laufey
Holidays Around The World
Pentatonix
Only The Strong Survive
Bruce Springsteen
Sondheim Unplugged (The NYC Sessions), Vol. 3
(Various Artists)
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new contemporary instrumental recordings.
As We Speak
Béla Fleck, Zakir Hussain, Edgar Meyer, Featuring Rakesh Chaurasia
On Becoming
House Of Waters
Jazz Hands
Bob James
The Layers
Julian Lage
All One
Ben Wendel
For albums containing greater than 51% playing time of new recordings. Award to the principal vocalist(s), and the album producer(s) of 50% or more playing time of the album. The lyricist(s) and composer(s) of 50 % or more of a score of a new recording are eligible for an Award if any previous recording of said score has not been nominated in this category.
Kimberly Akimbo
John Clancy, David Stone & Jeanine Tesori, producers; Jeanine Tesori, composer; David Lindsay-Abaire, lyricist (Original Broadway Cast)
Parade
Micaela Diamond, Alex Joseph Grayson, Jake Pedersen & Ben Platt, principal vocalists; Jason Robert Brown & Jeffrey Lesser, producers; Jason Robert Brown, composer & lyricist (2023 Broadway Cast)
Shucked
Brandy Clark, Jason Howland, Shane McAnally & Billy Jay Stein, producers; Brandy Clark & Shane McAnally, composers/lyricists (Original Broadway Cast)
Some Like It Hot
Christian Borle, J. Harrison Ghee, Adrianna Hicks & NaTasha Yvette Williams, principal vocalists; Mary-Mitchell Campbell, Bryan Carter, Scott M. Riesett, Charlie Rosen & Marc Shaiman, producers; Scott Wittman, lyricist; Marc Shaiman, composer & lyricist (Original Broadway Cast)
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street
Annaleigh Ashford & Josh Groban, principal vocalists; Thomas Kail & Alex Lacamoire, producers (Stephen Sondheim, composer & lyricist) (2023 Broadway Cast)
For new vocal or instrumental solo country recordings.
In Your Love
Tyler Childers
Buried
Brandy Clark
Fast Car
Luke Combs
The Last Thing On My Mind
Dolly Parton
White Horse
Chris Stapleton
For new vocal or instrumental duo/group or collaborative country recordings.
High Note
Dierks Bentley Featuring Billy Strings
Nobody's Nobody
Brothers Osborne
I Remember Everything
Zach Bryan Featuring Kacey Musgraves
Kissing Your Picture (Is So Cold)
Vince Gill & Paul Franklin
Save Me
Jelly Roll With Lainey Wilson
We Don't Fight Anymore
Carly Pearce Featuring Chris Stapleton
A Songwriter(s) Award. A song is eligible if it was first released or if it first achieved prominence during the Eligibility Year. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.
Buried
Brandy Clark & Jessie Jo Dillon, songwriters (Brandy Clark)
I Remember Everything
Zach Bryan & Kacey Musgraves, songwriters (Zach Bryan Featuring Kacey Musgraves)
In Your Love
Tyler Childers & Geno Seale, songwriters (Tyler Childers)
Last Night
John Byron, Ashley Gorley, Jacob Kasher Hindlin & Ryan Vojtesak, songwriters (Morgan Wallen)
White Horse
Chris Stapleton & Dan Wilson, songwriters (Chris Stapleton)
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new country recordings.
Rolling Up The Welcome Mat
Kelsea Ballerini
Brothers Osborne
Brothers Osborne
Zach Bryan
Zach Bryan
Rustin' In The Rain
Tyler Childers
Bell Bottom Country
Lainey Wilson
For new vocal or instrumental American Roots recordings. This is for performances in the style of any of the subgenres encompassed in the American Roots Music field including bluegrass, blues, folk or regional roots. Award to the artist(s).
Butterfly
Jon Batiste
Heaven Help Us All
The Blind Boys Of Alabama
Inventing The Wheel
Madison Cunningham
You Louisiana Man
Rhiannon Giddens
Eve Was Black
Allison Russell
For new vocal or instrumental Americana performance. Award to the artist(s).
Friendship
The Blind Boys Of Alabama
Help Me Make It Through The Night
Tyler Childers
Dear Insecurity
Brandy Clark Featuring Brandi Carlile
King Of Oklahoma
Jason Isbell And The 400 Unit
The Returner
Allison Russell
A Songwriter(s) Award. Includes Americana, bluegrass, traditional blues, contemporary blues, folk or regional roots songs. A song is eligible if it was first released or if it first achieved prominence during the Eligibility Year. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.
Blank Page
Michael Trotter Jr. & Tanya Trotter, songwriters (The War And Treaty)
California Sober
Aaron Allen, William Apostol & Jon Weisberger, songwriters (Billy Strings Featuring Willie Nelson)
Cast Iron Skillet
Jason Isbell, songwriter (Jason Isbell And The 400 Unit)
Dear Insecurity
Brandy Clark & Michael Pollack, songwriters (Brandy Clark Featuring Brandi Carlile)
The Returner
Drew Lindsay, JT Nero & Allison Russell, songwriters (Allison Russell)
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new vocal or instrumental Americana recordings.
Brandy Clark
Brandy Clark
The Chicago Sessions
Rodney Crowell
You're The One
Rhiannon Giddens
Weathervanes
Jason Isbell And The 400 Unit
The Returner
Allison Russell
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new vocal or instrumental bluegrass recordings.
Radio John: Songs of John Hartford
Sam Bush
Lovin' Of The Game
Michael Cleveland
Mighty Poplar
Mighty Poplar
Bluegrass
Willie Nelson
Me/And/Dad
Billy Strings
City Of Gold
Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new vocal or instrumental traditional blues recordings.
Ridin'
Eric Bibb
The Soul Side Of Sipp
Mr. Sipp
Life Don't Miss Nobody
Tracy Nelson
Teardrops For Magic Slim Live At Rosa's Lounge
John Primer
All My Love For You
Bobby Rush
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new vocal or instrumental contemporary blues recordings.
Death Wish Blues
Samantha Fish And Jesse Dayton
Healing Time
Ruthie Foster
Live In London
Christone "Kingfish" Ingram
Blood Harmony
Larkin Poe
LaVette!
Bettye LaVette
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new vocal or instrumental folk recordings.
Traveling Wildfire
Dom Flemons
I Only See The Moon
The Milk Carton Kids
Joni Mitchell At Newport [Live]
Joni Mitchell
Celebrants
Nickel Creek
Jubilee
Old Crow Medicine Show
Seven Psalms
Paul Simon
Folkocracy
Rufus Wainwright
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new vocal or instrumental regional roots music recordings.
New Beginnings
Buckwheat Zydeco Jr. & The Legendary Ils Sont Partis Band
Live At The 2023 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
Dwayne Dopsie & The Zydeco Hellraisers
Live: Orpheum Theater Nola
Lost Bayou Ramblers & Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra
Made In New Orleans
New Breed Brass Band
Too Much To Hold
New Orleans Nightcrawlers
Live At The Maple Leaf
The Rumble Featuring Chief Joseph Boudreaux Jr.
This award is given to the artist(s) and songwriter(s) (for new compositions) for the best traditional Christian, roots gospel or contemporary gospel single or track.
God Is Good
Stanley Brown Featuring Hezekiah Walker, Kierra Sheard & Karen Clark Sheard; Stanley Brown, Karen V Clark Sheard, Kaylah Jiavanni Harvey, Rodney Jerkins, Elyse Victoria Johnson, J Drew Sheard II, Kierra Valencia Sheard & Hezekiah Walker, songwriters
Feel Alright (Blessed)
Erica Campbell; Erica Campbell, Warryn Campbell, William Weatherspoon, Juan Winans & Marvin L. Winans, songwriters
Lord Do It For Me (Live)
Zacardi Cortez; Marcus Calyen, Zacardi Cortez & Kerry Douglas, songwriters
God Is
Melvin Crispell III
All Things
Kirk Franklin; Kirk Franklin, songwriter
This award is given to the artist(s) and songwriter(s) (for new compositions) for the best contemporary Christian music single or track, (including pop, rap/hip-hop, Latin, or rock.)
Believe
Blessing Offor; Hank Bentley & Blessing Offor, songwriters
Firm Foundation (He Won't) [Live]
Cody Carnes
Thank God I Do
Lauren Daigle; Lauren Daigle & Jason Ingram, songwriters
Love Me Like I Am
for KING & COUNTRY Featuring Jordin Sparks
Your Power
Lecrae & Tasha Cobbs Leonard
God Problems
Maverick City Music, Chandler Moore & Naomi Raine; Daniel Bashta, Chris Davenport, Ryan Ellis & Naomi Raine, songwriters
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of newly recorded, vocal, traditional or contemporary/R&B gospel music recordings.
I Love You
Erica Campbell
Hymns (Live)
Tasha Cobbs Leonard
The Maverick Way
Maverick City Music
My Truth
Jonathan McReynolds
All Things New: Live In Orlando
Tye Tribbett
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of newly recorded, vocal, contemporary Christian music, including pop, rap/hip hop, Latin, or rock recordings.
My Tribe
Blessing Offor
Emanuel
Da' T.R.U.T.H.
Lauren Daigle
Lauren Daigle
Church Clothes 4
Lecrae
I Believe
Phil Wickham
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of newly recorded, vocal, traditional/roots gospel music, including country, Southern gospel, bluegrass, and Americana recordings.
Tribute To The King
The Blackwood Brothers Quartet
Echoes Of The South
Blind Boys Of Alabama
Songs That Pulled Me Through The Tough Times
Becky Isaacs Bowman
Meet Me At The Cross
Brian Free & Assurance
Shine: The Darker The Night The Brighter The Light
Gaither Vocal Band
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new Latin pop recordings.
La Cuarta Hoja
Pablo Alborán
Beautiful Humans, Vol. 1
AleMor
A Ciegas
Paula Arenas
La Neta
Pedro Capó
Don Juan
Maluma
X Mí (Vol. 1)
Gaby Moreno
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new Música Urbana recordings.
SATURNO
Rauw Alejandro
MAÑANA SERÁ BONITO
Karol G
DATA
Tainy
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new Latin rock or alternative recordings.
MARTÍNEZ
Cabra
Leche De Tigre
Diamante Eléctrico
Vida Cotidiana
Juanes
De Todas Las Flores
Natalia Lafourcade
EADDA9223
Fito Paez
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new regional Mexican (banda, norteño, corridos, gruperos, mariachi, ranchera and Tejano) recordings.
Bordado A Mano
Ana Bárbara
La Sánchez
Lila Downs
Motherflower
Flor De Toloache
Amor Como En Las Películas De Antes
Lupita Infante
GÉNESIS
Peso Pluma
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new tropical Latin recordings.
Siembra: 45º Aniversario (En Vivo en el Coliseo de Puerto Rico, 14 de Mayo 2022)
Rubén Blades Con Roberto Delgado & Orquesta
Voy A Ti
Luis Figueroa
Niche Sinfónico
Grupo Niche Y Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Colombia
VIDA
Omara Portuondo
MIMY & TONY
Tony Succar, Mimy Succar
Escalona Nunca Se Había Grabado Así
Carlos Vives
For new vocal or instrumental Global music recordings.
Shadow Forces
Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer & Shahzad Ismaily
Alone
Burna Boy
FEEL
Davido
Milagro Y Disastre
Silvana Estrada
Abundance In Millets
Falu & Gaurav Shah (Featuring PM Narendra Modi)
Pashto
Béla Fleck, Edgar Meyer & Zakir Hussain Featuring Rakesh Chaurasia
Todo Colores
Ibrahim Maalouf Featuring Cimafunk & Tank And The Bangas
Amapiano
ASAKE & Olamide
City Boys
Burna Boy
UNAVAILABLE
Davido Featuring Musa Keys
Rush
Ayra Starr
Water
Tyla
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new vocal or instrumental Global Music recordings.
Epifanías
Susana Baca
History
Bokanté
I Told Them...
Burna Boy
Timeless
Davido
This Moment
Shakti
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new reggae recordings.
Born For Greatness
Buju Banton
Simma
Beenie Man
Cali Roots Riddim 2023
Collie Buddz
No Destroyer
Burning Spear
Colors Of Royal
Julian Marley & Antaeus
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new vocal or instrumental new age recordings.
Aquamarine
Kirsten Agresta-Copely
Moments Of Beauty
Omar Akram
Some Kind Of Peace (Piano Reworks)
Ólafur Arnalds
Ocean Dreaming Ocean
David Darling & Hans Christian
So She Howls
Carla Patullo Featuring Tonality And The Scorchio Quartet
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new musical or spoken word recordings that are created and intended specifically for children.
Ahhhhh!
Andrew & Polly
Ancestars
Pierce Freelon & Nnenna Freelon
Hip Hope For Kids!
DJ Willy Wow!
Taste The Sky
Uncle Jumbo
We Grow Together Preschool Songs
123 Andrés
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new recordings.
I Wish You Would
Trevor Noah
I'm An Entertainer
Wanda Sykes
Selective Outrage
Chris Rock
Someone You Love
Sarah Silverman
What's In A Name?
Dave Chappelle
Big Tree
Meryl Streep
Boldly Go: Reflections On A Life Of Awe And Wonder
William Shatner
The Creative Act: A Way Of Being
Rick Rubin
It's Ok To Be Angry About Capitalism
Senator Bernie Sanders
The Light We Carry: Overcoming In Uncertain Times
Michelle Obama
Award to the principal artist(s) and/or 'in studio' producer(s) of a majority of the tracks on the album. In the absence of both, award to the one or two individuals proactively responsible for the concept and musical direction of the album and for the selection of artists, songs and producers, as applicable. Award also goes to appropriately credited music supervisor(s).
AURORA
(Daisy Jones & The Six)
Barbie The Album
(Various Artists)
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever - Music From And Inspired By
(Various Artists)
Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3: Awesome Mix, Vol. 3
(Various Artists)
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story
Weird Al Yankovic
Award to Composer(s) for an original score created specifically for, or as a companion to, a current legitimate motion picture, television show or series, or other visual media.
Barbie
Mark Ronson & Andrew Wyatt, composers
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Ludwig Göransson, composer
The Fabelmans
John Williams, composer
Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny
John Williams, composer
Oppenheimer
Ludwig Göransson, composer
Award to Composer(s) for an original score created specifically for, or as a companion to, video games and other interactive media.
Call Of Duty®: Modern Warfare II
Sarah Schachner, composer
God Of War Ragnarök
Bear McCreary, composer
Hogwarts Legacy
Peter Murray, J Scott Rakozy & Chuck E. Myers "Sea", composers
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
Stephen Barton & Gordy Haab, composers
Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical
Jess Serro, Tripod & Austin Wintory, composers
A Songwriter(s) award. For a song (melody & lyrics) written specifically for a motion picture, television, video games or other visual media, and released for the first time during the Eligibility Year. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.)
Barbie World [From "Barbie The Album"]
Naija Gaston, Ephrem Louis Lopez Jr. & Onika Maraj, songwriters (Nicki Minaj & Ice Spice Featuring Aqua)
Dance The Night [From "Barbie The Album"]
Caroline Ailin, Dua Lipa, Mark Ronson & Andrew Wyatt, songwriters (Dua Lipa)
I'm Just Ken [From "Barbie The Album"]
Mark Ronson & Andrew Wyatt, songwriters (Ryan Gosling)
Lift Me Up [From "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever - Music From And Inspired By"]
Ryan Coogler, Ludwig Göransson, Robyn Fenty & Temilade Openiyi, songwriters (Rihanna)
What Was I Made For? [From "Barbie The Album"]
Billie Eilish O'Connell & Finneas O'Connell, songwriters (Billie Eilish)
Award to the artist, video director, and video producer.
I'm Only Sleeping
(The Beatles)
Em Cooper, video director; Jonathan Clyde, Sophie Hilton, Sue Loughlin & Laura Thomas, video producers
In Your Love
Tyler Childers
Bryan Schlam, video director; Kacie Barton, Silas House, Nicholas Robespierre, Ian Thornton & Whitney Wolanin, video producers
What Was I Made For
Billie Eilish
Billie Eilish, video director; Michelle An, Chelsea Dodson & David Moore, video producers
Count Me Out
Kendrick Lamar
Dave Free & Kendrick Lamar, video directors; Jason Baum & Jamie Rabineau, video producers
Rush
Troye Sivan
Gordon Von Steiner, video director; Kelly McGee, video producer
For concert/performance films or music documentaries. Award to the artist, video director, and video producer.
Moonage Daydream
(David Bowie)
Brett Morgen, video director; Brett Morgen, video producer
How I'm Feeling Now
Lewis Capaldi
Joe Pearlman, video director; Sam Bridger, Isabel Davis & Alice Rhodes, video producers
Live From Paris, The Big Steppers Tour
Kendrick Lamar
Mike Carson, Dave Free & Mark Ritchie, video directors; Cornell Brown, Debra Davis, Jared Heinke & Jamie Rabineau, video producers
I Am Everything
(Little Richard)
Lisa Cortés, video director; Caryn Capotosto, Lisa Cortés, Robert Friedman & Liz Yale Marsh, video producers
Dear Mama
(Tupac Shakur)
Allen Hughes, video director; Joshua Garcia, Loren Gomez, James Jenkins & Stef Smith, video producers
The Art Of Forgetting
Caroline Rose, art director (Caroline Rose)
Cadenza 21'
Hsing-Hui Cheng, art director (Ensemble Cadenza 21')
Electrophonic Chronic
Perry Shall, art director (The Arcs)
Gravity Falls
Iam8bit, art director (Brad Breeck)
Migration
Yu Wei, art director (Leaf Yeh)
Stumpwork
Luke Brooks & James Theseus Buck, art directors (Dry Cleaning)
The Collected Works Of Neutral Milk Hotel
Jeff Mangum, Daniel Murphy & Mark Ohe, art directors (Neutral Milk Hotel)
For The Birds: The Birdsong Project
Jeri Heiden & John Heiden, art directors (Various Artists)
Gieo
Duy Dao, art director (Ngot)
Inside: Deluxe Box Set
Bo Burnham & Daniel Calderwood, art directors (Bo Burnham)
Words & Music, May 1965 - Deluxe Edition
Masaki Koike, art director (Lou Reed)
Evenings At The Village Gate: John Coltrane With Eric Dolphy (Live)
Ashley Kahn, album notes writer (John Coltrane & Eric Dolphy)
I Can Almost See Houston: The Complete Howdy Glenn
Scott B. Bomar, album notes writer (Howdy Glenn)
Mogadishu's Finest: The Al Uruba Sessions
Vik Sohonie, album notes writer (Iftin Band)
Playing For The Man At The Door: Field Recordings From The Collection Of Mack McCormick, 1958–1971
Jeff Place & John Troutman, album notes writers (Various Artists)
Written In Their Soul: The Stax Songwriter Demos
Robert Gordon & Deanie Parker, album notes writers (Various Artists)
Fragments – Time Out Of Mind Sessions (1996-1997): The Bootleg Series, Vol. 17
Steve Berkowitz & Jeff Rosen, compilation producers; Steve Addabbo, Greg Calbi, Steve Fallone, Chris Shaw & Mark Wilder, mastering engineers (Bob Dylan)
The Moaninest Moan Of Them All: The Jazz Saxophone of Loren McMurray, 1920-1922 Colin Hancock, Meagan Hennessey & Richard Martin, compilation producers; Richard Martin, mastering engineer; Richard Martin, restoration engineer (Various Artists)
Playing For The Man At The Door: Field Recordings From The Collection Of Mack McCormick, 1958–1971
Jeff Place & John Troutman, compilation producers; Randy LeRoy & Charlie Pilzer, mastering engineers; Mike Petillo & Charlie Pilzer, restoration engineers (Various Artists)
Words & Music, May 1965 - Deluxe Edition
Laurie Anderson, Don Fleming, Jason Stern, Matt Sulllivan & Hal Willner, compilation producers; John Baldwin, mastering engineer; John Baldwin, restoration engineer (Lou Reed)
Written In Their Soul: The Stax Songwriter Demos
Robert Gordon, Deanie Parker, Cheryl Pawelski, Michele Smith & Mason Williams, compilation producers; Michael Graves, mastering engineer; Michael Graves, restoration engineer (Various Artists)
An Engineer's Award. (Artists names appear in parentheses.)
Desire, I Want To Turn Into You
Macks Faulkron, Daniel Harle, Caroline Polachek & Geoff Swan, engineers; Mike Bozzi & Chris Gehringer, mastering engineers (Caroline Polachek)
History
Nic Hard, engineer; Dave McNair, mastering engineer (Bokanté)
JAGUAR II
John Kercy, Kyle Mann, Victoria Monét, Patrizio "Teezio" Pigliapoco, Neal H Pogue & Todd Robinson, engineers; Colin Leonard, mastering engineer (Victoria Monét)
Multitudes
Michael Harris, Robbie Lackritz, Joseph Lorge & Blake Mills, engineers (Feist)
The Record
Owen Lantz, Will Maclellan, Catherine Marks, Mike Mogis, Bobby Mota, Kaushlesh "Garry" Purohit & Sarah Tudzin, engineers; Pat Sullivan, mastering engineer (boygenius)
An Engineer's Award. (Artist names appear in parentheses.)
The Blue Hour
Patrick Dillett, Mitchell Graham, Jesse Lewis, Kyle Pyke, Andrew Scheps & John Weston, engineers; Helge Sten, mastering engineer (Shara Nova & A Far Cry)
Contemporary American Composers
David Frost & Charlie Post, engineers; Silas Brown, mastering engineer (Riccardo Muti & Chicago Symphony Orchestra)
Fandango
Alexander Lipay & Dmitriy Lipay, engineers; Alexander Lipay & Dmitriy Lipay, mastering engineers (Gustavo Dudamel, Anne Akiko Meyers, Gustavo Castillo & Los Angeles Philharmonic)
Sanlikol: A Gentleman Of Istanbul - Symphony For Strings, Percussion, Piano, Oud, Ney & Tenor
Christopher Moretti & John Weston, engineers; Shauna Barravecchio & Jesse Lewis, mastering engineers (Mehmet Ali Sanlikol, George Lernis & A Far Cry)
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 & Schulhoff: Five Pieces
Mark Donahue, engineer; Mark Donahue, mastering engineer (Manfred Honeck & Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra)
Field 10: Production, Engineering, Composition & Arrangement
A Producer's Award. (Artist names appear in parentheses.)
David Frost
The American Project (Yuja Wang, Teddy Abrams, Louisville Orchestra) (A)
Arc II - Ravel, Brahms, Shostakovich (Orion Weiss) (A)
Blanchard: Champion (Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Latonia Moore, Ryan Speedo Green, Eric Owens, Stephanie Blythe, Metropolitan Opera Chorus & Orchestra) (A)
Contemporary American Composers (Riccardo Muti & Chicago Symphony Orchestra) (A)
The Guitar Player (Mattias Schulstad) (A)
Mysterium (Anne Akiko Meyers, Grant Gershon & Los Angeles Master Chorale) (A)
Verdi: Rigoletto (Daniele Rustioni, Piotr Beczala, Quinn Kelsey, Rosa Feola, Varduhi Abrahamyan, Andrea Mastroni, The Metropolitan Opera Chorus & Orchestra) (A)
Morten Lindberg
An Old Hall Ladymass (Catalina Vicens & Trio Mediæval) (A)
Thoresen: Lyden Av Arktis - La Terra Meravigliosa (Christian Kluxen & Arktisk Filharmoni) (A)
The Trondheim Concertos (Sigurd Imsen & Baroque Ensemble Of The Trondheim Symphony Orchestra) (A)
Yggdrasil (Tove Ramlo-Ystad & Cantus) (A)
Dmitriy Lipay
Adès: Dante (Gustavo Dudamel & Los Angeles Philharmonic) (A) Fandango (Gustavo Dudamel, Anne Akiko Meyers & Los Angeles Philharmonic) (A)
Price: Symphony No. 4; Dawson: Negro Folk Symphony (Yannick Nézet-Séguin & Philadelphia Orchestra) (A)
Rachmaninoff: The Piano Concertos & Paganini Rhapsody (Yuja Wang, Gustavo Dudamel & Los Angeles Philharmonic) (A)
Walker: Lyric For Strings; Folksongs For Orchestra; Lilacs For Voice & Orchestra; Dawson: Negro Folk Symphony (Asher Fisch & Seattle Symphony) (A)
Elaine Martone
Ascenso (Santiago Cañón-Valencia) (A)
Berg: Three Pieces From Lyric Suite; Strauss: Suite From Der Rosenkavalier (Franz Welser-Möst & The Cleveland Orchestra) (A)
Between Breaths (Third Coast Percussion) (A)
Difficult Grace (Seth Parker Woods) (A)
Man Up / Man Down (Constellation Men's Ensemble) (A)
Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5 (Franz Welser-Möst & The Cleveland Orchestra) (A)
Rachmaninoff & Gershwin: Transcriptions By Earl Wild (John Wilson) (A)
Sirventés - Music From The Iranian Female Composers Association (Brian Thornton, Katherine Bormann, Alicia Koelz, Eleisha Nelson, Amahl Arulanadam & Nathan Petipas) (A)
Walker: Antifonys; Lilacs; Sinfonias Nos. 4 & 5 (Franz Welser-Möst & The Cleveland Orchestra) (A)
Brian Pidgeon
Fuchs: Orchestral Works, Vol. 1 (John Wilson & Sinfonia Of London) (A)
Music For Strings (John Wilson & Sinfonia Of London) (A)
Nielsen: Violin Concerto; Symphony No. 4 (James Ehnes, Edward Gardner & Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra) (A)
Pierre Sancan - A Musical Tribute (Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Yan Pascal Tortelier & BBC Philharmonic) (A)
Poulenc: Orchestral Works (Bramwell Tovey & BBC Concert Orchestra) (A)
Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 3; Voclaise; The Isle Of The Dead (John Wilson & Sinfonia Of London) (A)
Schubert: Symphonies, Vol. 3 (Edward Gardner & City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra) (A)
Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 12 & 15 (John Storgårds & BBC Philharmonic) (A)
Tchaikovsky: Orchestral Works (Alpesh Chauhan & BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra) (A)
(A Remixer's Award. (Artists names appear in parentheses for identification.) Singles or Tracks only.)
Alien Love Call
BADBADNOTGOOD, remixers (Turnstile & BADBADNOTGOOD Featuring Blood Orange)
New Gold (Dom Dolla Remix)
Dom Dolla, remixer (Gorillaz Featuring Tame Impala & Bootie Brown)
Reviver (Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs Remix)
Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, remixer (Lane 8)
Wagging Tongue (Wet Leg Remix)
Wet Leg, remixers (Depeche Mode)
Workin' Hard (Terry Hunter Remix)
Terry Hunter, remixer (Mariah Carey)
For vocal or instrumental albums in any genre. Must be commercially released for physical sale or on an eligible streaming or download service and must provide a new immersive mix of four or more channels. Award to the immersive mix engineer, immersive producer (if any) and immersive mastering engineer (if any).
Act 3 (Immersive Edition)
Ryan Ulyate, immersive mix engineer; Michael Romanowski, immersive mastering engineer; Ryan Ulyate, immersive producer (Ryan Ulyate)
Blue Clear Sky
Chuck Ainlay, immersive mix engineer; Michael Romanowski, immersive mastering engineer; Chuck Ainlay, immersive producer (George Strait)
The Diary Of Alicia Keys
George Massenburg & Eric Schilling, immersive mix engineers; Michael Romanowski, immersive mastering engineer; Alicia Keys & Ann Mincieli, immersive producers (Alicia Keys)
God Of War Ragnarök (Original Soundtrack)
Eric Schilling, immersive mix engineer; Michael Romanowski, immersive mastering engineer; Kellogg Boynton, Peter Scaturro & Herbert Waltl, immersive producers (Bear McCreary)
Silence Between Songs
Aaron Short, immersive mastering engineer (Madison Beer)
A Composer's Award for an original composition (not an adaptation) first released during the Eligibility Year. Singles or Tracks only.
Amerikkan Skin
Lakecia Benjamin, composer (Lakecia Benjamin Featuring Angela Davis)
Can You Hear The Music
Ludwig Göransson, composer (Ludwig Göransson)
Cutey And The Dragon
Gordon Goodwin & Raymond Scott, composers (Quartet San Francisco Featuring Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band)
Helena's Theme
John Williams, composer (John Williams)
Motion
Edgar Meyer, composer (Béla Fleck, Edgar Meyer & Zakir Hussain Featuring Rakesh Chaurasia)
An Arranger's Award. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.
Angels We Have Heard On High
Nkosilathi Emmanuel Sibanda, arranger (Just 6)
Can You Hear The Music
Ludwig Göransson, arranger (Ludwig Göransson)
Folsom Prison Blues
John Carter Cash, Tommy Emmanuel, Markus Illko, Janet Robin & Roberto Luis Rodriguez, arrangers (The String Revolution Featuring Tommy Emmanuel)
I Remember Mingus
Hilario Duran, arranger (Hilario Duran And His Latin Jazz Big Band Featuring Paquito D'Rivera)
Paint It Black
Esin Aydingoz, Chris Bacon & Alana Da Fonseca, arrangers (Wednesday Addams)
An Arranger's Award. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.
April In Paris
Gordon Goodwin, arranger (Patti Austin Featuring Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band)
Com Que Voz (Live)
John Beasley & Maria Mendes, arrangers (Maria Mendes Featuring John Beasley & Metropole Orkest)
Fenestra
Godwin Louis, arranger (Cécile McLorin Salvant)
In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning
Erin Bentlage, Jacob Collier, Sara Gazarek, Johnaye Kendrick & Amanda Taylor, arrangers (säje Featuring Jacob Collier)
Lush Life
Kendric McCallister, arranger (Samara Joy)
Award to the Conductor and to the Orchestra.
Adès: Dante
Gustavo Dudamel, conductor (Los Angeles Philharmonic)
Bartók: Concerto For Orchestra; Four Pieces
Karina Canellakis, conductor (Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra)
Price: Symphony No. 4; Dawson: Negro Folk Symphony
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor (The Philadelphia Orchestra)
Scriabin: Symphony No. 2; The Poem Of Ecstasy
JoAnn Falletta, conductor (Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra)
Stravinsky: The Rite Of Spring
Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor (San Francisco Symphony)
Award to the Conductor, Album Producer(s) and Principal Soloists, and to the Composer and Librettist (if applicable) of a world premiere Opera recording only.
Blanchard: Champion
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor; Ryan Speedo Green, Latonia Moore & Eric Owens; David Frost, producer (The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; The Metropolitan Opera Chorus)
Corigliano: The Lord Of Cries
Gil Rose, conductor; Anthony Roth Costanzo, Kathryn Henry, Jarrett Ott & David Portillo; Gil Rose, producer (Boston Modern Orchestra Project & Odyssey Opera Chorus)
Little: Black Lodge
Timur; Andrew McKenna Lee & David T. Little, producers (The Dime Museum; Isaura String Quartet)
Award to the Conductor, and to the Choral Director and/or Chorus Master where applicable and to the Choral Organization/Ensemble.
Carols After A Plague
Donald Nally, conductor (The Crossing)
The House Of Belonging
Craig Hella Johnson, conductor (Miró Quartet; Conspirare)
Ligeti: Lux Aeterna
Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor (San Francisco Symphony Chorus)
Rachmaninoff: All-Night Vigil
Steven Fox, conductor (The Clarion Choir)
Saariaho: Reconnaissance
Nils Schweckendiek, conductor (Uusinta Ensemble; Helsinki Chamber Choir)
For new recordings of works with chamber or small ensemble (twenty-four or fewer members, not including the conductor). One Award to the ensemble and one Award to the conductor, if applicable.
American Stories
Anthony McGill & Pacifica Quartet
Beethoven For Three: Symphony No. 6, 'Pastorale' And Op. 1, No. 3
Yo-Yo Ma, Emanuel Ax & Leonidas Kavakos
Between Breaths
Third Coast Percussion
Rough Magic
Roomful Of Teeth
Uncovered, Vol. 3: Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, William Grant Still & George Walker
Catalyst Quartet
Award to the Instrumental Soloist(s) and to the Conductor when applicable.
Adams, John Luther: Darkness And Scattered Light
Robert Black
Akiho: Cylinders
Andy Akiho
The American Project
Yuja Wang; Teddy Abrams, conductor (Louisville Orchestra)
Difficult Grace
Seth Parker Woods
Of Love
Curtis Stewart
Award to: Vocalist(s), Collaborative Artist(s) (Ex: pianists, conductors, chamber groups) Producer(s), Recording Engineers/Mixers with greater than 50% playing time of new material.
Because
Reginald Mobley, soloist; Baptiste Trotignon, pianist
Broken Branches
Karim Sulayman, soloist; Sean Shibe, accompanist
40@40
Laura Strickling, soloist; Daniel Schlosberg, pianist
Rising
Lawrence Brownlee, soloist; Kevin J. Miller, pianist
Walking In The Dark
Julia Bullock, soloist; Christian Reif, conductor (Philharmonia Orchestra)
Award to the Artist(s) and to the Album Producer(s) and Engineer(s) of over 50% playing time of the album, and to the Composer and Librettist (if applicable) with over 50% playing time of a world premiere recording only.
Fandango
Anne Akiko Meyers; Gustavo Dudamel, conductor; Dmitriy Lipay, producer
Julius Eastman, Vol. 3: If You're So Smart, Why Aren't You Rich?
Christopher Rountree, conductor; Lewis Pesacov, producer
Mazzoli: Dark With Excessive Bright
Peter Herresthal; Tim Weiss, conductor; Hans Kipfer, producer
Passion For Bach And Coltrane
Alex Brown, Harlem Quartet, Imani Winds, Edward Perez, Neal Smith & A.B. Spellman; Silas Brown & Mark Dover, producers
Sardinia
Chick Corea; Chick Corea & Bernie Kirsh, producers
Sculptures
Andy Akiho; Andy Akiho & Sean Dixon, producers
Zodiac Suite
Aaron Diehl Trio & The Knights; Eric Jacobsen, conductor; Aaron Diehl & Eric Jacobsen, producers
A Composer's Award. (For a contemporary classical composition composed within the last 25 years, and released for the first time during the Eligibility Year.) Award to the librettist, if applicable.
Adès: Dante
Thomas Adès, composer (Gustavo Dudamel & Los Angeles Philharmonic)
Akiho: In That Space, At That Time
Andy Akiho, composer (Andy Akiho, Ankush Kumar Bahl & Omaha Symphony)
Brittelle: Psychedelics
William Brittelle, composer (Roomful Of Teeth)
Mazzoli: Dark With Excessive Bright
Missy Mazzoli, composer (Peter Herresthal, James Gaffigan & Bergen Philharmonic)
Montgomery: Rounds
Jessie Montgomery, composer (Awadagin Pratt, A Far Cry & Roomful Of Teeth)
Earlier today, the People's Choice Awards announced their nominees which will be revealed on Feb 18th at 8pm ET which you can see on NBC, E!, and Peacock. This awards show allows you to cast a vote for your favorites and celebrate the best in movies, TV, music and pop culture. You have until Jan 19th to cast your vote. This show will be hosted by Simu Liu (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Simulant, Barbie) who is a Movie Performance of The Year Nominee for his role in Barbie. Our predictions are in bold, the ones we correctly identified as winners are in bold italics and winners that we didn’t predict are in italics.
Barbie
Fast X
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Oppenheimer
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
TAYLOR SWIFT | THE ERAS TOUR FILM
The Little Mermaid
The Super Mario Bros. Movie
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
Fast X
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
John Wick: Chapter 4
Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
The Marvels
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
80 for Brady
Anyone but You
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.
Asteroid City
Barbie
Cocaine Bear
No Hard Feelings
Wonka
Creed III
Five Nights at Freddy's
Killers of the Flower Moon
Leave the World Behind
M3GAN
Oppenheimer
Scream VI
The Color Purple
Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer
Chris Pratt, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Keanu Reeves, John Wick: Chapter 4
Leonardo DiCaprio, Killers of the Flower Moon
Michael B. Jordan, Creed III
Ryan Gosling, Barbie
Timothée Chalamet, Wonka
Tom Cruise, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One
Florence Pugh, Oppenheimer
Halle Bailey, The Little Mermaid
Jenna Ortega, Scream VI
Jennifer Lawrence, No Hard Feelings
Julia Roberts, Leave the World Behind
Margot Robbie, Barbie
Rachel Zegler, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
Viola Davis, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
Brie Larson, The Marvels
Chris Pratt, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Gal Gadot, Heart of Stone
Jason Momoa, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom
Keanu Reeves, John Wick: Chapter 4
Rachel Zegler, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
Tom Cruise, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One
Viola Davis, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
Adam Sandler, You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah
Glen Powell, Anyone but You
Jennifer Lawrence, No Hard Feelings
Margot Robbie, Barbie
Ryan Gosling, Barbie
Scarlett Johansson, Asteroid City
Sydney Sweeney, Anyone but You
Timothée Chalamet, Wonka
Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer
Julia Roberts, Leave the World Behind
Fantasia Barrino, The Color Purple
Florence Pugh, Oppenheimer
Jacob Elordi, Priscilla
Jenna Ortega, Scream VI
Leonardo DiCaprio, Killers of the Flower Moon
Michael B. Jordan, Creed III
America Ferrera, Barbie
Charles Melton, May December
Danielle Brooks, The Color Purple
Jacob Elordi, Saltburn
Melissa McCarthy, The Little Mermaid
Natalie Portman, May December
Simu Liu, Barbie
Viola Davis, Air
Grey's Anatomy
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Only Murders in the Building
Saturday Night Live
Ted Lasso
The Bear
The Last of Us
Vanderpump Rules
Abbott Elementary
And Just Like That...
Never Have I Ever
Only Murders in the Building
Saturday Night Live
Ted Lasso
The Bear
Young Sheldon
Chicago Fire
Ginny & Georgia
Grey's Anatomy
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Outer Banks
Succession
The Last of Us
The Morning Show
Ahsoka
American Horror Story: Delicate
Black Mirror
Ghosts
Loki
Secret Invasion
The Mandalorian
The Witcher
90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After?
Below Deck
Jersey Shore Family Vacation
Selling Sunset
The Kardashians
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills
The Real Housewives of New Jersey
Vanderpump Rules
America's Got Talent
American Idol
Big Brother
Dancing with the Stars
RuPaul's Drag Race
Survivor
Squid Game: The Challenge
The Voice
Beef
Citadel
Jury Duty
Love Is Blind
Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story
The Crown
The Night Agent
The Summer I Turned Pretty
Chase Stokes, Outer Banks
Jason Sudeikis, Ted Lasso
Jeremy Allen White, The Bear
Kieran Culkin, Succession
Pedro Pascal, The Last of Us
Samuel L. Jackson, Secret Invasion
Steve Martin, Only Murders in the Building
Tom Hiddleston, Loki
Ali Wong, Beef
Hannah Waddingham, Ted Lasso
Jennifer Aniston, The Morning Show
Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary
Reese Witherspoon, The Morning Show
Rosario Dawson, Ahsoka
Selena Gomez, Only Murders in the Building
Ali Wong, Beef
Bowen Yang, Saturday Night Live
Hannah Waddingham, Ted Lasso
Jason Sudeikis, Ted Lasso
Jeremy Allen White, The Bear
Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary
Selena Gomez, Only Murders in the Building
Steve Martin, Only Murders in the Building
Bella Ramsey, The Last of Us
Chase Stokes, Outer Banks
Ice-T, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Jennifer Aniston, The Morning Show
Kieran Culkin, Succession
Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Pedro Pascal, The Last of Us
Reese Witherspoon, The Morning Show
Adjoa Andoh, Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story
Ayo Edebiri, The Bear
Billie Eilish, Swarm
Jon Hamm, The Morning Show
Matt Bomer, Fellow Travelers
Meryl Streep, Only Murders in the Building
Steven Yuen, Beef
Storm Reid, The Last of Us
Ariana Madix, Vanderpump Rules
Chrishell Stause, Selling Sunset
Garcelle Beauvais, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills
Kandi Burruss, The Real Housewives of Atlanta
Khloé Kardashian, The Kardashians
Kim Kardashian, The Kardashians
Kyle Richards, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills
Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino, Jersey Shore Family Vacation
Anetra, RuPaul's Drag Race
Ariana Madix, Dancing with the Stars
Charity Lawson, The Bachelorette
Theresa Nist, The Golden Bachelor
Iam Tongi, American Idol
Keke Palmer, That's My Jam
Sasha Colby, RuPaul's Drag Race
Xochitl Gomez, Dancing with the Stars
Good Morning America
LIVE with Kelly and Mark
Sherri
The Drew Barrymore Show
The Jennifer Hudson Show
The Kelly Clarkson Show
The View
Today
Hart to Heart
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
Late Night with Seth Meyers
The Daily Show
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
Gordon Ramsay, Hell's Kitchen
Jimmy Fallon, That's My Jam
Nick Cannon, The Masked Singer
Padma Lakshmi, Top Chef
RuPaul, RuPaul's Drag Race
Ryan Seacrest, American Idol
Steve Harvey, Celebrity Family Feud
Terry Crews, America's Got Talent
Bad Bunny
Drake
Jack Harlow
Jung Kook
Luke Combs
Morgan Wallen
Post Malone
The Weeknd
Beyoncé
Doja Cat
Karol G
Lainey Wilson
Miley Cyrus
Nicki Minaj
Olivia Rodrigo
Taylor Swift
Chris Stapleton
Cody Johnson
HARDY
Jelly Roll
Kane Brown
Luke Combs
Morgan Wallen
Zach Bryan
Ashley McBryde
Carly Pearce
Carrie Underwood
Gabby Barrett
Kelsea Ballerini
Lainey Wilson
Megan Moroney
Shania Twain
Bad Bunny
Bizarrap
Feid
Manuel Turizo
Maluma
Peso Pluma
Rauw Alejandro
Ozuna
Ángela Aguilar
Anitta
Becky G
Kali Uchis
Karol G
Rosalía
Shakira
Young Miko
Billie Eilish
Doja Cat
Dua Lipa
Jung Kook
Miley Cyrus
Olivia Rodrigo
Tate McRae
Taylor Swift
Cardi B
Drake
Future
Jack Harlow
Latto
Nicki Minaj
Post Malone
Travis Scott
Beyoncé
Brent Faiyaz
Janelle Monáe
SZA
Tems
The Weeknd
Usher
Victoria Monét
Coi Leray
Ice Spice
Jelly Roll
Jung Kook
Noah Kahan
Peso Pluma
PinkPantheress
Stephen Sanchez
Dan + Shay
Fuerza Regida
Grupo Frontera
Jonas Brothers
Old Dominion
Paramore
Stray Kids
TOMORROW X TOGETHER
"Dance The Night," Dua Lipa
"Fast Car," Luke Combs
"Flowers," Miley Cyrus
"Fukumean," Gunna
"greedy," Tate McRae
"Last Night," Morgan Wallen
"Paint The Town Red," Doja Cat
"Vampire," Olivia Rodrigo
Endless Summer Vacation, Miley Cyrus
For All The Dogs, Drake
Gettin' Old, Luke Combs
Guts, Olivia Rodrigo
Mañana Será Bonito, Karol G
Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va A Pasar Mañana, Bad Bunny
One Thing At A Time, Morgan Wallen
Pink Friday 2, Nicki Minaj
"All My Life," Lil Durk Feat. J. Cole
"Barbie World," Nicki Minaj & Ice Spice With Aqua
"Ella Baila Sola," Eslabon Armado X Peso Pluma
"First Person Shooter," Drake Feat. J. Cole
"I Remember Everything," Zach Bryan Feat. Kasey Musgraves
"Seven," Jung Kook Feat. Latto
"TQG," Karol G, Shakira
"Un x100to," Grupo Frontera X Bad Bunny
+–=÷x Tour, Ed Sheeran
COLDPLAY MUSIC of the SPHERES WORLD TOUR
Love On Tour, Harry Styles
Luke Combs World Tour
Morgan Wallen One Night At A Time World Tour
P!nk Summer Carnival Tour
Renaissance World Tour, Beyoncé
TAYLOR SWIFT | THE ERAS TOUR
Britney Spears
Dwayne Johnson
Kim Kardashian
Kylie Jenner
Megan Thee Stallion
Nicki Minaj
Selena Gomez
Taylor Swift
Baby J, John Mulaney
Emergency Contact, Amy Schumer
God Loves Me, Marlon Wayans
I'm An Entertainer, Wanda Sykes
Off The Record, Trevor Noah
Reality Check, Kevin Hart
Selective Outrage, Chris Rock
Someone You Love, Sarah Silverman
Coco Gauff
Giannis Antetokounmpo
LeBron James
Lionel Messi
Sabrina Ionescu
Simone Biles
Stephen Curry
Travis Kelce
Read the latest issue of Athleisure Mag.
This month, one of our favorite shows came back for its second season, HBO's Rap Sh!t which follows the journey of Shawna (Aida Osman) and Mia (KaMillion) as they navigate the music industry. Their relationship and journey is loosely based on City Girls. We learn about the music scene in South Florida, the Haitian community and what they do in order to survive along their ride to the top! One of the main characters, Maurice is played by Daniel Augustin who we have enjoyed in ABC's Grey's Anatomy and Hulu's How I Met Your Father! We wanted to find out more about this entertainer, how he approaches his craft, and what we can expect from this season of Rap Sh!t.
ATHLEISURE MAG: It’s so good to sit down with you as I have been a fan of your work and I love your character Maurice in Rap Sh!t and of course, the show is amazing! So I’m excited to talk with you!
DANIEL AUGUSTIN: Thank you so much! Thank you so much for saying that! It’s very exciting to hear and I’m excited to talk to you guys too!
AM: It’s clear that you’re definitely an entertainer. You’re an actor, director, producer, and a musician. When did you realize that you wanted to be in this industry?
DA: I think that I realized that I wanted to be in this industry before I knew how to be. That was around the time when I was watching Hannah Montana.
AM: Oh!
DA: The TV show, yeah! I didn’t know how to be an actor at that time because all I could do was the community acting in South Florida. South Florida didn’t have anywhere near the industry. I think in South Florida there were some Nickelodeon shows, but nothing along the lines of what I was seeing on Hannah Montana. I remember Hannah Montana’s (Miley Cyrus) brother on the show whose name was Jackson (Jason Earles) - I remember hearing he was 28/29/30 and he was playing her high school brother. I remember thinking how many opportunities must come from being able to portray characters at different ages. I just remember watching that show and that it sparked my imagination as to what’s possible and to no longer seeing what I see on TV as solely impossible.
AM: Right.
DA: I mean, she was even doing a bunch of stuff like being dressed up and nobody knowing that it’s her and all she’s doing is just wearing a different wig! That show did a lot for me and I think that at the time that that came out, I was probably 14/15 and that’s when I felt that I wanted to do it. Before that, watching people like Martin Lawrence (Martin, Boomerang, Bad Boys franchise), Jamie Foxx (Ray, White House Down, The Amazing Spider Man 2), Marlon Wayans (Scary Movie franchise, Respect, Air), and Will Smith (Men in Black franchise, Suicide Squad, King Richard) in their sitcoms that they had at the time – those guys raised me essentially and I think that that’s where I found my sense of charisma and playfulness with people. But I don’t think that it was until I saw the Hannah Montana show that I started to think that anything could kind of be possible. This guy is 29 years old and he’s playing someone in high school! That’s when I started to think about how I could go about doing this.
AM: That’s really cool and it’s interesting to see where inspiration can come from.
Earlier this month, you released Movie. Why did you want to take on this project?
DA: Movie means a lot to me because I have not been releasing music in years. I started releasing music when I was maybe 10 years old. So I think I stopped around 2018 as I had made a very hard pivot towards film and TV so I have not been recording, I have not been writing, and I hadn’t really been finding my way to sonics in the way that I would as a recording artist. I was very excited about doing this because when the SAG strike happened, I wasn’t nervous about anything, but I thought about how much control of my career that I don’t necessarily have per se. I don’t want to feel like I don’t have control of my life. So I started to pivot and focus on writing again and I started to focus first on screenwriting. I wrote a pilot, I wrote about my old high school football coach and I’m writing a feature film with my wife, Sh’Kia Augustin that we’re collaborating on. But there was still something that I didn’t feel like I was activated in a very theatrical way and in a way that moves through my body. So, I started to team up with the guys – a majority of those that I did when I was young. So I started in a Christian rap group called Mav-7 and I started reaching out to those guys that were in that group. Alvin Lewis is the main one who is servicing as all forms of A&R, helping me find music/songs and people to work with. Steven Guy, Channel Aria Sound, that’s just 3 names off the top and these guys were helping me craft my sound again. They were helping me craft stories and they were helping me see myself in an entertaining way that amused me and in a way that I felt would be entertaining to others and that I would want to be behind it.
I think that the strike had a lot to do with it and it offered me a lot of time to actually find another form or way to express myself.
AM: You also released Kinfolk: The Series which is 6 episodes and is also your passion project. It was also recognized and selected in Tribeca’s 2022 Creator Market, what led to that coming about?
DA: Kinfolk is another form of taking control of my career. I didn’t film it and you know work on it just to take control of my career. I started as a production assistant and I learned so many skills as a production assistant. I think I started in 2012 working at this small production company called As Seen On TV. They do these smaller commercials for products that you’ll see in Walgreens and Walmart. The commercials will go on late at night, but this gentleman, Laszlo Rain, he would do such an amazing job at making sets to make it look like it was a much bigger professional production. I was always enamored at that and I was always enamored at the magic behind what it took to make it look good. As an actor, I see the part that I play, but there are so many parts that go into the process.
Around 2010, Kanye West had come out with My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy album that he did and I also remember High School Musical. High School Musical really changed the way that I saw creativity as a whole. From that point on, I wasn’t the guy that was just making the songs, I wasn’t the guy that was the actor, I wanted to turn my songs into a script. So it went from, I want to make music and to feel the rhythms – it turned from that to wanting to be able to turn this into more of a narrative. My wife and I, who was my girlfriend at the time, she helped me get my first camera. It was a Canon 5D Mark III. We bought that camera and we started shooting. I still didn’t know that I wanted to do all of this stuff yet because I wasn’t good at it. I wasn’t good at directing, I wasn’t good at editing, I wasn’t good at coloring, I was bad at it – I was bad at all of that stuff actually.
But we just kept doing stuff, kept shooting stuff and people kept asking me for stuff. They’d say that they had a wedding on Fri and if I could help them, and I would. That would allow me to have a new lesson on a Fri that I hadn’t expected to get. So upon doing Kinfolk, I think that that was a culmination of a lot of different years of being creative and just just being in front of the camera. That’s not to say that being in front of the camera is not creative. But you see how much more creativity goes into pre-producing a project and then the post-production of a project. I think that by doing pre-production, post-production, and feeling the sense of gratitude for completing the project, I started to really feel like I was more than the person who waits to be picked and on set. A lot of the people that I worked with on set, those actors would tell me how much they appreciated the opportunity because a lot of those people were those that were super talented, but they weren’t booking stuff. Booking is not that simple. It’s hard and it feels like a lottery sometimes. It feels like you’re just not going to win! Upon working with other people and other actors, who just really want to be able to go out and do this, I started to appreciate it more because I think that I started to get more value out of my days because I was able to service more people than myself as opposed to just waiting for an audition. I know I started to appreciate that process more and more and I think that that’s where it all started.
AM: That’s really interesting and because of that, you and your wife, have your production company Augustin Productions. What are the kinds or types of projects that you’re looking to do under that company?
DA: Right now, all of the projects, when I think about it they’ve all been in alignment with very family oriented stories or family away from family kind of stories. I think that that’s what I have been coming to terms with – how much is family really part of all of our lives. Kinfolk in particular is so family centric, but aside from that, I worked on a short film that I believe made it to the Toronto Black Film Festival called TIFI {LITTLE GIRL} in creole Tifi means girl. It’s about this young girl and her family. This young girl wants to play soccer. So I think that if I can tie it into one word – cultural. Augustin Productions works on projects that have very cultural and specific minded objectives and narratives. I don’t know if that makes sense on how I just phrased that – but it makes sense to me – very cultural.
AM: No, I definitely get where you’re going with that and how the work ties itself into that category.
DA: I like that it’s family and culture based. In Kinfolk, we don’t have any Haitian characters in there, but there’s a lot of things that I think that Haitian families can relate to even though that story has more African American in it than anything else. So I think that the culture always stands firm more than anything I’m directing, shooting, editing, but also there’s family tied into it very heavily which I think helps people relate so much more when they’re watching.
AM: As an actor, what are you looking for when you’re thinking about accepting a role and what’s your creative process when you are becoming that character that you will portray?
DA: What I’m looking for – when I’m looking at a role, it’s how can I actually add value to the role? I’m looking to see where I can actually add that kind of value because I can see who the person is on paper. But when I start to speak for the person, the paper can only serve as a blueprint now. So I tend to look for everything that’s not on the paper. The paper serves solely as a blueprint, but that blueprint tells me things that sometimes, you can’t fit on the page. So I start to make choices for the actor that I believe and the writers may change some things and they’re more than welcome to – I just start to make choices for the actor based on what the blueprint tells me. If the blueprint says this character is going to say this in this scene, I’m going to take that to mean that they said that, but there is a reason why they said that, and that’s not necessarily off the page. So I’m looking to see if what they have given the actor can lead to images in my head. If it doesn’t lead to images in my head, then there might be somebody else who is best served for that role. Because I need to be well informed in how I can bring something to that role almost like a BYOB. I’ve got to bring my own bottle and food to the party. So I’m looking for something that will let me know what ingredients that this character may need so that I can sizzle off the page.
As far as how I prepare, a lot of times I think that I lead in with some kind of music. Like after I read the role, I almost always can have a soundtrack in mind. Preferably, it’s something without words, I always try to have a soundtrack in mind and I just let it play as I start to prepare. So there’s 2 types of preparation. There’s the audition and then there’s on set. If it is an audition, I’m still going to have music playing while I’m preparing, just because it almost feels like that music speaks to the character and what I’m about to do as well.
So for my role on Rap Sh!t – for that role, before I even did the audition, I had the music going in the background just playing and it was probably a very specific song based on where that person is in their life. The character Maurice, where he was in life at the beginning of the show in Season 1 is not where he is going to be in Season 2. In Season 2 by the finale, he will have gone through stuff that I don’t think that people would have assumed would be what he is going through.
So for the first season, all the songs that I was listening to were so so flirty, playful, seductive, and sensual. But in Season 2, I get into a lot more. So on my way to work, if we’re shooting in Culver City in LA or if we’re in Miami and I’m on the plane, I already have a playlist prepared to have him start to speak to me and to speak for me and these people have already gone through all of these things. One of the songs in particular, I hope it doesn’t give away any information -
AM: ooo
DA: I’ll give you 2 songs. 1 song that I would always listen to on the way to work was Michael Franks’, When Sly Calls, that’s a jazz sound. The other is The O’Jays’ Back Stabbers.
AM: Ok now!
DA: Haha so I listen to those songs on the way to work. These people have lived through that stuff already so by the time that I get into work, I feel like I have downloaded some energy before I come into work. Because what’s going to go on the screen, can’t be what’s on the page. Because on the page is literally my blueprint and for me to come in and color things onto the page so that we can fill the page with more than that black ink, I need something else that has been downloaded into my system that I can now give and bring to this party. I need to be able to bring my own bottle, to bring my own food, and I think that I get that a lot from music! I do other things too. I study in a very particular way as I’m sure that every actor does, but I kind of always have music in the background playing when I’m studying. So even when I put the script down for a second, I’m catching this person’s energy and it’s staying with me when I’m on set. It’s not just me, it’s kind of like, you know the work is us, but it’s bigger then us too.
AM: I love how you’re using music in that way!
I love this show, I’m such a huge fan of it from the words, the characters, the visuals and more! Of course, as we all watched the series finale of HBO's Insecure, to know a few months later that we could get excited about her newest project, Rap Sh!t the anticipation was real! What drew you to this series initially?
DA: Well initially, it was the fact that it was based on Miami – that was 1. He’s Haitian – that’s 2! He wasn’t Haitian at first as it just said, that he was either Haitian or Hispanic when I first saw the breakdown. Haitians are a huge part of the culture in Miami so that drew me in heavily. Lastly, and there’s more than this, but my character starts off working at a hotel in Miami. When my parents first came to South Florida from Haiti, they both came from Haiti, they were immigrants, and they both worked at hotels in Miami. My dad was a concierge and when I saw that role with him being a concierge, it was like a spiritual connection for me in a sense where it was just something small and cute that I can appreciate about this character because a majority of times, usually not everything connects.
Sometimes, you’re trying to see where you can connect this or that. I had a character on How I Met Your Father who moved to Australia. I had never been to Australia, so that was something for me that for me to be able to connect with it, I was watching documentaries of Australia and the Great Barrier Reef and stuff like that! When I saw those things and that he was Haitian, living in Miami, and a concierge, automatically it started to sit very well with me.
AM: Wow!
DA: There’s so many other things in it that are icing on the cake for me! But him being Haitian and from Miami was great! I’m from Fort Lauderdale, but we’re neighbors and that was something for me that was very very special to see. I don’t see that on every audition. There are definitely more Haitian roles and I’ve seen that uptick in the past over the past or 3 years for Haitian roles and Haitian representation. But, seeing Issa Rae’s name, I’ve always been a fan of hers especially just based on how she uplifted her community, she’s done so much creatively speaking, and how she has done so much for independent creators. I’ve always been a huge fan of hers so seeing that she was behind this and HBO – I’m a huge huge huge fan of this as well. So seeing all of these things was like, alright it’s such an alignment that for me to be able to have this role it’s just one of my most proudest achievements of my life to date.
AM: How would you describe Maurice?
DA: I would describe Maurice as indescribable, but I will still explain that. I feel like he’s all of us in a way as he’s very human individual, he’s just also a very, by any means necessary kind of guy at the same time. In spite of his by any means necessary approach, he’s able to be playful and fun. He’s flirty and supportive. I think that he’s one of the most diverse characters I’ve seen on screen because I think that there’s so much to unpack as it pertains to his character, his culture, how he communicated with women, because I think that when people talk nowadays and they talk about dating, they tend to talk about how difficult dating is. But I don’t think that it is difficult, just because it’s hard, it’s difficult because we’re not all good communicators, we don’t always know what we want, and sometimes when we do feel that we know what we want, it’s not very clear. I feel like he’s misunderstood, but he’s one of the most supportive individuals that I have seen on screen, almost to a fault.
AM: For those that may need a refresher where did we leave Maurice last season and depending on how much you can tell us, where do we pick up with him again heading into this season as it just started earlier this month?
DA: Last season, he was bathed in mystery. The season ends off with him essentially letting Shawna know that they need to cool off and they need to lay low because they got caught and they’re in trouble, but he’s playing it off like it’s ok. Because I think that he has been in these kinds of scenarios before.
Me personally, I have experienced a lot of what Maurice has experienced because when I was younger, I had a lot of friends that were in what you say in creole, the jwett – it’s a play, it’s a game and so I was on the outside looking in for some of it, but when I didn’t have a 9-5, I had friends that were doing what Maurice was doing and they would try to pull me in and sometimes, they’d get me to come in because I was trying to figure out how to pay bills or how to pay for studio sessions and so on and so forth. So, I’ve been in the situation where Maurice has been in where you’re in trouble, but you have to have confidence that you’re not in trouble so that you can actually get out of trouble.
So he’s been in a headstrong space where he’s seemingly way too cool about it and I think that it is creating an unease for Shawna because of how cool he is about it, she doesn’t necessarily know how to be easy because she doesn’t know and hasn’t had the kinds of experiences that he has had. He ends up letting her know that they’re in trouble, that she is ok, that nothing is wrong, and nothing is going to happen. Ultimately, when she goes back to work, something has happened, the cops come, and they want to speak to her. She doesn’t know how to handle it and she doesn’t know how to be cool and she runs. The season ends with her trying to run off from the police! We end up leaving it off in this space that is a bit open ended and we don’t know what is going on with Maurice and Shawna and she doesn’t know what happened nor does she know what is happening between the two of them.
Essentially I think that Shawna is going to continue to be left in that space of not knowing what is happening more that anybody. For Season 2 as we continue, I think that we’re going to play more of a game of that space and not knowing with Maurice. It’s a mystery and sometimes it’s going to be poured onto Shawna and I think that they are going to go back and forth and so I don’t want to say too much!
AM: Oh wow! We’ve been watching a few seasons and of course, we’re hooked and can’t wait to see how the season continues to evolve and unfold! When it ended last season, I wanted to know what was going on and thankfully we’ll get more answers over the next few weeks and I know our readers will feel the same way!
DA: Yes! It’s going to be a seesaw of emotions in Season 2!
AM: When you’re not on set, how do you take time for yourself to relax or to indulge in self-care?
DA: Man, man – how do I? When I’m not on set, lately what it’s been is that I have been doing therapy lately. That’s been very useful for me to figure out what self-care even looks like? So that’s been one of the things because sometimes, even when I’m not on set, I’m still working on stuff! I’m still writing scripts and I have been doing that a lot. I’ve been working with script consultant, out in London, by the name of Dominic Morgan, very helpful. I’ve been working with a script consultant here in LA called Pilar Alessandra and her program is called On The Page. It’s hard for me to call that self-care, but I have been trying to figure out too – what self-care even is.
Some of the other things that I have been doing self-care - wise is I have been watching more documentaries lately and reality TV as opposed to narratives. It’s just so I can cool off a bit on all of the story stuff that I am constantly involved in. Just so that I can have a bit more fun with it. I’ve been recording again. That’s been a lot of fun and I flew out to South Florida and recorded a lot of music with Alvin Louis and Steven Guy.
And there’s been yoga -
AM: Nice!
DA: There’s been creating even though that’s not necessarily a super chill thing to do. It does feel like self-care to me because it makes me feel like I am taking care of myself creatively and professionally as well. Last one that I will add to that is reading! I’ve been doing a ton of reading!
AM: Are there any upcoming projects that we should keep an eye out for that you will be releasing soon that you’re able to share?
DA: Oh wow, so, there definitely is. There’s some stuff that has happened that I have not been allowed to talk about!
AM: As always is the case!
DA: Yeah, so I’m trying to see if I can sneak something off about it. Let’s just say, there’s going to be something going on in the near future where it will be super hero related. I’m not saying that I will be a superhero.
AM: Okay.
DA: But it is something superhero related in the pretty near future. I just don’t have control over dates. I did just release a music video for Movie and that one was just one part of what I will be sharing with fans. There’s going to be some BTS coming out about that and also a ton of other videos that I shot. 2 more videos here in LA that were directed by Jacob Rink and I shot 2 videos in South Florida. So there is going to be a lot of music and I’m trying to see if the feature film that me and my wife are writing, I wish that I could talk about it, but I’m scared to say what the topic is of the film as I think that it is so synonymous with all of us here. For that one, I’m trying to see if we will be able to self-produce it and to shoot it on our own. I don’t know if we are going to be able to self-produce it just yet, but that’s a goal as well. So right now, I’m going to say that those are the main things that are on the forefront of my mind – music, self-produced content and a superhero thing that I am holding out for that I am hoping will come out soon. I look forward to be able to talk about that and I would also like to be able to say a Rap Sh!t Season 3!
AM: We are all hoping that there will be a Rap Sh!t Season 3! It’s been fun over the years to see you on Grey’s Anatomy as well as How I Met Your Father! In terms of you and this show, I’m always a fan of the concepts that are talked about, looking at how people navigate getting into the music business, learning more about the vibe of South Florida and anything that is missed from the show, catching up with Jessie Woo and Zach Campbell on Chat Sh!t fills in the rest of the gaps I enjoy hearing immediately after I have watched!
DA: Yeah!!!!!
AM: So I definitely hope there are more seasons to come and you continue to do what you’re doing!
DA: Thank you, I appreciate you for saying that!
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | PG 158 - 162 Ben Cope | PG 165 + 166 Alicia Vera/HBO Max | PG 169 + 170 Erin Simkin/Max |
Read the NOV ISSUE #95 of Athleisure Mag and see THE HEAT | Daniel Augustin in Mag.
