Sabrina Carpenter became a first-time Grammy nominee last year thanks to her excellent breakthrough album, “Short n’ Sweet.” She won two awards, including best pop vocal album and best pop solo performance for the album’s frothy lead single, “Espresso.”
This year, Carpenter’s six nominations aren’t so much proof of her musical prowess as they’re proof that she’s now too big to fail.
Carpenter took a cue from Swift’s more-is-more strategy, unleashing another album just one year after “Short n’ Sweet” and capitalizing on the still-bright spotlight it attracted. Her follow-up, “Man’s Best Friend,” is scattered with cheeky gems (“Tears,” “Nobody’s Son”), but doesn’t quite hold up as a coherent artistic statement. Instead, it over-satirizes Carpenter’s betrayed-bombshell persona and often skews dangerously close to Lonely Island-style parody.
Nevertheless, “Man’s Best Friend” will compete against far superior projects for album of the year, including Gaga’s “Mayhem” and Lamar’s “GNX,” while its lead single, “Manchild,” is up for both record and song of the year. She is also nominated for best pop vocal album, best pop solo performance, and best music video.
It makes sense why the Grammys would want someone as popular as Carpenter on their side (and, most likely, on their stage), but these awards are supposed to be about acclaim, not flattery.
