LOS ANGELES – Though the eight contenders for best new artist at the 2024 Grammy Awards will be pitted against each other this weekend, there is no sense of competition among the Grammy nominees as they congregate at Spotify’s Best New Artist Party Thursday night.
Before they head inside the venue to perform short sets, several of the best new artist nominees – including Jelly Roll and Noah Kahan, as well as Victoria Monét and Coco Jones – are mingling on the red carpet and gamely posing for photos together.
The mood of the night for these nominees – a list of up-and-comers that also includes Ice Spice, Gracie Abrams, Fred again.. and The War And Treaty – as they’re on the precipice of potentially being lauded with a prestigious award? Excited, and grateful to be here.
“I woke up a little hungover,” best new artist nominee Jelly Roll confesses during his set. “But … it’s Grammy week, baby! I’m a two-time nominee for the first time.”
Inside a soundstage on the Paramount Pictures lot, the concert venue for the evening, hundreds of bodies are crammed together with nary a breath of space between them as guests struggle to navigate in their respective directions.
“I hope you don’t get trampled,” one guest tells a friend who bravely announces they’re making a trip to the bar.
VIP guests including “Mean Girls” star Reneé Rapp, “Barbie” star Simu Liu, singer Becky G and “Succession” star Nicholas Braun luckily have a designated lounge where they can avoid the masses.
These were some of the night’s highlights as all eight best new artist nominees took their turns on stage.
A hungover Jelly Roll blows the roof off the place, duets with Lainey Wilson
To find out what comprises Jelly Roll’s setlist for this event, look no further than the “popular” tracks listed on his Spotify page. The leather jacket-clad country/rock/hip-hop singer might be hungover, but his energy and excitement over being in LA for the Grammys are contagious.
“There’s a lot of people out there saying, ‘I didn’t expect this dude to be that good,'” he jokes in between songs.
In his rock tracks (“Halfway to Hell”), the band’s drums and bass cause the entire soundstage to tremble along with the melody. If the San Andreas Faultline decides to give us a jolt at this point, all of us would be none the wiser.
When Jelly Roll reaches his final song of the night, he brings out a surprise guest to help him through a track that the artist has previously admitted is one of the more difficult ones to sing. Lainey Wilson steps out onto the stage and goes on to deliver a duet of “Save Me.”
Who is Jelly Roll? A look at his journey from prison to best new artist Grammy nominee
Coco Jones nails a mashup of ‘Crazy For Me’ and Beyoncé’s ‘Crazy in Love’
Five-time Grammy nominee Jones and her backup dancers whip out some remarkable choreography (including an eye-boggling backbend move) as they perform tracks off her album, “What I Didn’t Tell You.”
In “Double Back,” Jones lets loose an impressive vocal run as she sings about second-guessing going back to an old flame.
Her set concludes with a mashup that Beyoncé herself would likely approve: Jones’ lead track off her album, “Crazy For Me” and the iconic “Crazy in Love,” which earned Beyoncé two Grammys 20 years ago. In the mashup, which Jones has performed live previously, she confidently intermixes the two tracks while showing off her vocal prowess.
‘Never give up’ Coco Jones on the road from Disney Channel to the Grammys
A songwriter to the stars, Victoria Monét proves she was made to be on stage
Monét, who racked up seven Grammy nominations this year, makes her presence known the moment she steps on the stage.
As a wind machine blows her wavy strands to artfully frame her face, Monét looks back at the audience over her shoulder to deliver the opening lines for “Jaguar,” off her 2020 album.
As she moves into her hit song “On My Mama,” from her latest album, Monét delivers immaculate choreography in perfect time with her backup dancers. Even as she and the group don glittery snapbacks, they do so in tandem.
After spending years penning hits for Ariana Grande, Blackpink and Nas, Monét has more than proved that she belongs in her own spotlight.
Learn more about Victoria Monét: Meet the songwriter-turned-star nominated for seven Grammys