The America Music Awards 2020 is in full swing as the nominees are unveiled. Among them are some of the most thrilling artists that took to the studio during the year in review, releasing infectious club bangers or soul penetrating songs during a period (the global pandemic) where good music could not have been more appreciated.

For this year, Canadian R&B singer The Weeknd, and Compton native, Roddy Ricch bagged the most nominations, and rightly so. The year for both artists, particularly Ricch, has been exceptional, with Ricch peaking number one on the billboards with his hit song The Box.

Following them is, of course, the girl who shares the same home town as Beyoncé, Megan the Stallion. To say 2020 was her year would be an understatement, no female rapper was able to garner the media attention she did this year, and with her hit song, Savage, which was a Tik Tok favourite and WAP with Cardi B, which was borderline an anthem for America, it’s not surprising that she bagged 5 nominations.

Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, Dababy, Doja Cat and bad Bunny all had four nominations. But among all these exceptional artistes, who truly deserves the nominations they got and who doesn’t? Let’s allow you decide in the comment section:

ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Justin Bieber
Post Malone
Roddy Ricch
Taylor Swift
The Weeknd

NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Lewis Capaldi
Doja Cat
DaBaby
Lil Baby
Roddy Ricch
Megan Thee Stallion

To be honest, Megan seems the likely option, and we would love for her to bag this, but she has some pretty stiff completion and this is one award that can go any way.

COLLABORATION OF THE YEAR
Cardi B ft. Megan Thee Stallion, “WAP”
DaBaby ft. Roddy Ricch, “Rockstar”
Dan + Shay with Justin Bieber, “10,000 Hours”
Lady Gaga & Ariana Grande, “Rain On Me”
Megan Thee Stallion ft. Beyoncé, “Savage Remix”

Easily the toughest category, here, you can’t predict who bags this, but if you ask us, we would say Dababy ft. Roddy Ricch. Rockstar, that’s only if you ask us.

FAVORITE MUSIC VIDEO
Doja Cat, “Say So”
Future ft. Drake, “Life Is Good”
Lady Gaga & Ariana Grande, “Rain On Me”
Taylor Swift, “Cardigan”
The Weeknd, “Blinding Lights”

Future’s “Life Is Good” went too far across the world to be left hanging. The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” reached the hearts of music lovers but Life Is Good has the feel that makes you want to vote more than once if you were given the opportunity.

FAVORITE MALE ARTIST – POP/ROCK
Justin Bieber
Post Malone
The Weeknd

Justin Bieber has a stronghold on the pop category, perhaps stronger than The Weeknd and Post Malone. But, the Weeknd, in turn, had an exceptional year, and Post Malone has a fan base that is hard to ignore, but our guess will be Bieber, just cause of his ever-lit influence in pop culture.

FAVORITE SONG – POP/ROCK
Lewis Capaldi, “Someone You Loved”
Dua Lipa, “Don’t Start Now”
Post Malone, “Circles”
Roddy Ricch, “The Box”
The Weeknd, “Blinding Lights”

This is one category where P0st Malone could actually win it, considering how he grew to become another King of Pop Culture. However, he has to contend with The Weeknd, who may just be a bit too hard to overcome.

FAVORITE MALE ARTIST – RAP/HIP-HOP
DaBaby
Juice WRLD
Roddy Ricch

Tough, tough, tough, but honestly, WRLD is the most favourite here.

FAVORITE FEMALE ARTIST – RAP/HIP-HOP
Cardi B
Nicki Minaj
Megan Thee Stallion

Personally, we don’t see how Megan is not bagging this, and we’re not entirely sure what Nicki is doing in the category, she didn’t have the year both Megan and Cardi B had.

FAVORITE ALBUM – RAP/HIP-HOP
Lil Baby, My Turn
Lil Uzi Vert, Eternal Atake
Roddy Ricch, Please Excuse Me For Being Antisocial

Roddy Rich… easy.

FAVORITE SONG – RAP/HIP-HOP
Cardi B ft. Megan Thee Stallion, “WAP”
DaBaby ft. Roddy Ricch, “Rockstar”
Roddy Ricch, “The Box”

This is easily the toughest category, so we’re not even going to predict, we will, however, state the song I’m rooting for and that’s Rockstar.

FAVORITE SOUNDTRACK
Birds of Prey: The Album
Frozen II
Trolls: World Tour

Birds of Prey is most likely going to take this one.

Here are the remaining categories:

FAVORITE FEMALE ARTIST – SOUL/R&B
Jhene Aiko
Doja Cat
Summer Walker

FAVORITE ALBUM – SOUL/R&B
Doja Cat, Hot Pink
Summer Walker, Over It
The Weeknd, After Hours

FAVORITE MALE ARTIST – SOUL/R&B
Chris Brown
John Legend
The Weeknd

We could say Chris Brown here but he has relatively been quiet, and John Legend? Let’s just predict The Weeknd is going home with this.

FAVORITE FEMALE ARTIST – COUNTRY
Gabby Barrett
Miranda Lambert
Maren Morris

FAVORITE DUO OR GROUP – COUNTRY
Dan + Shay
Florida Georgia Line
Old Dominion

FAVORITE ALBUM – COUNTRY
Luke Combs, What You See Is What You Get
Blake Shelton, Fully Loaded: God’s Country
Morgan Wallen, If I Know Me

FAVORITE SONG – COUNTRY
Dan + Shay with Justin Bieber, “10,000 Hours”
Maren Morris, “The Bones”
Blake Shelton (Duet with Gwen Stefani), “Nobody But Yo

FAVORITE MALE ARTIST – COUNTRY
Kane Brown
Luke Combs
Morgan Wallen

FAVORITE ALBUM – POP/ROCK
Harry Styles, Fine Line
Taylor Swift, folklore
The Weeknd, After Hours

Taylor Swift’s latest album “Folklore” has returned to number one in America, becoming the first record to sell more than a million copies in 2020. The star’s low-key eighth album was recorded during the lockdown and released as a surprise for fans in August. So, we will naturally go for her here.

FAVORITE DUO OR GROUP – POP/ROCK
BTS
Jonas Brothers
Maroon 5

FAVORITE FEMALE ARTIST – POP/ROCK
Dua Lipa
Lady Gaga
Taylor Swift

FAVORITE SOCIAL ARTIST
BTS
Billie Eilish
EXO
Ariana Grande
NCT 127

FAVORITE SONG – SOUL/R&B
Chris Brown ft. Drake, “No Guidance”
Summer Walker, “Playing Games”
The Weeknd, “Heartless”

FAVORITE MALE ARTIST – LATIN
Bad Bunny
J Balvin
Ozuna

FAVORITE FEMALE ARTIST – LATIN
Becky G
KAROL G
Rosalía

FAVORITE ALBUM – LATIN
Anuel AA, Emmanuel
Bad Bunny, Las que no iban a salir
Bad Bunny, YHLQMDLG

FAVORITE SONG – LATIN
Bad Bunny “Vete”
Black Eyed Peas X J Balvin “RITMO (Bad Boys For Life)”
KAROL G & Nicki Minaj “Tusa”

FAVORITE ARTIST – ALTERNATIVE ROCK
Billie Eilish
Tame Impala
Twenty-one pilots

FAVORITE ARTIST – ADULT CONTEMPORARY
Lewis Capaldi
Jonas Brothers
Maroon 5

FAVORITE ARTIST – CONTEMPORARY INSPIRATIONAL
Lauren Daigle
for KING & COUNTRY
Kanye West

The way Kanye West morphed into a ‘Jesus’ singer is one that caught everyone by surprise. He is a controversial singer but has inspired more people than will make him not win this one.

FAVORITE ARTIST – ELECTRONIC DANCE MUSIC (EDM)
Kygo
Lady Gaga
Marshmello

Marshmello might just be the unlikeliest pop star you could imagine, but given the way his music has resonated, he’s clearly the pop star who might go home with this.