The Six Biggest Snubs for the 2026 Grammy Nominations

The nominees for the 68th Annual Grammy Awards have been announced, and — as you might have expected — fans, critics and artists are in their feelings over this year’s surprises and snubs. “Music’s Biggest Night" is set to take place on Feb. 1 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, and the nominations were announced on Friday, Nov. 7. 

Kendrick Lamar, Clipse, SZA, Kehlani and Tyler, The Creator are all up for major awards this year. 

Nominees were announced via livestream by Lizzo, Sabrina Carpenter, Masaki Koike, Doechii, Angélique Kidjo, Sam Smith, Brandi Carlile, Chappell Roan, CeCe Winans, David Foster, Dr. Chelsey Green, Gayle King, Jon Batiste, Karol G, Little Big Town, Mumford & Sons and Nicole Scherzinger.

While there is no shortage of star power and some great showings across multiple genres, some big names were shut out of this year’s awards. So Okayplayer has picked the 6 biggest snubs from the 2026 Grammy nominations. 

6. FKA Twigs

Eusexua is one of the most acclaimed albums of 2025, and it did very well on the dance charts. It’s the kind of forward-pushing dance pop album that tends to earn raves when it comes from a critical darling – which FKA absolutely is. So why did the Academy pretty much ignore some of her best work? 

5. BigXThaPlug

The other newcomer who should’ve been a lock for a Best New Artist nomination. Is the Academy souring on the country/hip-hop hybrid phenomenon that seemed to earn Lil Nas X, Shaboozey and Jelly Roll honors? Could be – because, on the heels of I Hope You’re Happy, BigX has been killing it all year and got no recognition from the Grammys. 

4. Chance The Rapper

The Chicago emcee is yet another perennial critical favorite, so when he dropped his long-awaited sophomore studio album Star Line, it seemed like awards season would be a foregone conclusion. But alas, the project didn’t get any nominations this year, and Chance went out of his way to thank the Academy anyway. 

3. The Alchemist

From Skeleton Key with Roc Marciano to Alfredo 2 with Freddie Gibbs to Life Is Beautiful with Larry June and 2 Chainz, you won’t convince us that he shouldn’t have gotten a Producer of the Year nod — even if he doesn’t embody the mainstream template they’re typically looking for. 

2. Playboi Carti

After extended delays, his album MUSIC dropped and was one of the more talked-about releases of the year. It scored critical acclaim and big-time sales in equal amounts, but Carti didn’t net any nominations at the Grammys this year. Granted, this year was pretty stacked, but you’d think he’d squeeze in there somewhere. 

1. The Weeknd

After his performance at the 2025 Grammys, it seemed like The Weeknd and the Academy had finally buried the hatchet following his four-year boycott. He’d been sitting the award show out after “Blinding Lights” didn’t win anything in 2020. But here we are; with a major album in Hurry Up Tomorrow and no nods given.