Grammy nominated artist Sabrina Carpenter has been making music for ten years and is still up for Best New Artist. Photo collage courtesy of freshman Cadence Flickinger.
With the nominations for the 2025 Grammys out, students at San Luis Obispo High School have been having spirited conversations about their favorite artists. A common debate across many media outlets, and students, is the Best New Artist category.
Historically, the category has been reserved for artists that have made their rise to fame in the last year. But with this year’s nominations a controversy has arisen. The curious case of American singer-songwriter Sabrina Carpenter. Carpenter received six nominations, one being best new artist.
“She should qualify because, one, I like her music and think it’s pretty relatable, and two, she’s become really popular and worked so hard to be where she is so she definitely deserves it,” said freshman Claire Fake.
According to the recording academy, Best New Artist is defined as a category that recognizes a rising star who through their performance and artistry is helping to shape the future of music.
Traditionally, the award has been given to artists who have just begun to receive attention for their talents. This is where fans have been upset. Carpenter began her music career in 2014 and has released six albums along with several singles and EPs since then.
But she just got attention so she’s still new right? While many have just discovered Carpenter’s songs, she has many fans who have blown up her songs in the past.
“I first heard about Sabrina in 2017 when I was seven and listened to her album ‘EVOLution’ and have been a huge fan ever since,” said freshman Juliet Vowell.
Carpenter’s 2022 album “Emails I Can’t Send” amassed millions of streams per song. The album included the song “Nonsense” which is Carpenter’s second most streamed song on Spotify with over a billion streams as of November. The song had gone viral due to the witty, creative, and double entendre rich outros she would perform at her concerts. With every outro being different each show, fans enjoyed getting to hear what last night’s outro was after every performance.
However, Carpenter’s mainstream popularity is largely credited to her 2024 song “Espresso”. Having over 1.5 billion streams, the viral hit was what truly brought Carpenter to the eyes of all. 2024 has been by far Carpenter’s most successful year. From starting the year opening for American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, to a scandal with the Catholic Church, to almost all of her album “Short n’ Sweet” going viral, Carpenter is more popular than ever.
Three out of five surveyed SLOHS students said that Carpenter shouldn’t qualify, however interviewed students also brought to attention that even though Carpenter is nominated, the other nominees can easily beat her out.
“Out of the other nominees, I’ve only really listened to Benson Boone and Chappell Roan, and both are really good artists. I personally listen to Chappell Roan more and would like to see her win,” said Fake.
While media outlets and fans alike have been debating whether Carpenter should qualify for Best New Artist or not, the decision is up to the Recording Academy. Fans can only hope they make the right one.
Source: deseret.com
