Leon Thomas, Kehlani & Mariah the Scientist Set to Spar at 2026 Grammys in R&B Categories: Our Predictions

There are 5 categories devoted to R&B housed successful the R&B, rap and spoken poesy tract astatine the 68th yearly Grammy Awards. Here, we preview the show and songwriting categories: champion R&B performance, champion R&B opus and champion accepted R&B performance.

Best R&B Performance

As the eligibility play drew to a adjacent connected Aug. 30, 3 R&B songs emerged arsenic near-definite locks for a champion R&B show information astatine adjacent year’s ceremony: “Mutt” (Leon Thomas), “Burning Blue” (Mariah the Scientist) and “Folded” (Kehlani). All 3 tracks dominated R&B radio, reinvigorated the civilization and achieved ample crossover success, reaching the Hot 100‘s apical 25.

Because “Mutt” was eligible (and submitted for consideration) astatine past year’s ceremony, Thomas opted to vie for Grammy golden with a unrecorded mentation of the way sourced from his viral NPR Tiny Desk set. Not lone is “Mutt” the biggest commercialized occurrence retired of this harvest of contenders (it deed No. 11 connected the Hot 100 and precocious entered the apical 10 connected Pop Airplay), but the song’s chances of a motion are besides bolstered by Thomas’ wide momentum and goodwill from years of behind-the-boards work, arsenic good arsenic caller precedent.

At the 2025 ceremony, Muni Long won this class with a unrecorded mentation of “Made for Me.” With submissions crossed the R&B field, a champion R&B opus triumph already nether his loop (thanks to his enactment connected SZA’s “Snooze”) and a deft campaign, expect a peculiarly splashy nominations announcement greeting for Thomas. After years of percolating extracurricular of R&B’s mainstream, Mariah the Scientist broke done successful a large mode with “Burning Blue” this year. The self-penned deed topped Rhythmic Airplay and gave mode to the highest-charting medium of Mariah’s career, August’s Hearts Sold Separately (No. 11 connected the Billboard 200). A information present would beryllium Mariah’s archetypal successful immoderate Grammy category.

Kehlani’s “Folded” is besides peaking astatine the cleanable time, and its throwback ’00s consciousness has inspired unofficial remixes from past Grammy winners Brandy and Toni Braxton. Kehlani scored 3 nods astatine past year’s ceremony, bringing her to 5 vocation nominations with zero wins. Coco Jones, a seven-time Grammy nominee and erstwhile victor present for “ICU” successful 2024, volition astir apt snag the 4th spot with “You,” a azygous from her Why Not More? LP.

Justin Bieber‘s “Yukon” leads the adjacent tier of contenders. The breakout SWAG deed topped Rhythmic Airplay and boasts songwriting and accumulation credits from buzzy alt-R&B craftsmen Dijon, Carter Lang, and Sir Dylan, but it inactive faces an uphill battle. Bieber’s “Peaches” scored R&B show and opus nods backmost successful 2022, but that opus featured 2 Grammy-nominated R&B stars (Daniel Caesar and Giveon) and topped the Hot 100. In comparison, “Yukon” lone reached No. 17. Can Bieber propulsion disconnected different motion successful this class by himself?

Other second-tier contenders see SZA (“Another Life”), Summer Walker (“Heart of a Woman”), Chris Brown and Bryson Tiller (“It Depends”), and Giveon, who submitted some his ain “Twenties” and his Teddy Swims duet, “Are You Even Real.” If R&B voters determine to disregard Bieber, look retired for Chris and Tiller to snag that last spot disconnected the spot of the Read Entire Article