{"id":245280,"date":"2026-01-22T01:12:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T01:12:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/245280\/"},"modified":"2026-01-22T01:12:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T01:12:07","slug":"duckwrths-imaginary-grammy-button-led-to-a-real-nomination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/245280\/","title":{"rendered":"Duckwrth’s imaginary Grammy button led to a real nomination"},"content":{"rendered":"

LOS ANGELES (AP) \u2014 Duckwrth manifested a 2026 Grammy nomination<\/a> for his album while in the recording studio. He just didn\u2019t know it.<\/p>\n

The singer, songwriter and producer would pretend to press an imaginary Grammy button whenever he and his friends finished a new track.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would be certain moments when we\u2019ll be done with the song, and we\u2019ll come up with this thing called \u2018Grammy button.\u2019 It\u2019s an invisible Grammy button \u2014 we\u2019ll be like, \u2018Grammy, Grammy.\u2019 And we said that over and over again … it was an interesting, beautiful manifestation,\u201d the artist told The Associated Press.<\/p>\n

The 37-year-old musician first started turning heads with his genre-fluid debut mixtape \u201cI\u2019m Uugly\u201d in 2016. Soon his eclectic sound could be heard across films and television shows like \u201cSpider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse\u201d<\/a> and HBO\u2019s \u201cInsecure.\u201d<\/a> Since then, Duckwrth\u2019s music has gone against the grain, seamlessly blending elements of hip-hop, funk, rock and soul throughout his projects. <\/p>\n

Immersive sound for a unique project<\/p>\n

Duckwrth\u2019s latest album, \u201cAll American F\u2014Boy,\u201d is nominated at the 68th annual Grammy Awards on Feb. 1 for best immersive audio album, a category that honors the technical work of albums mixed using multichannel audio recordings. <\/p>\n

If they win, the trophy will be awarded to immersive mix engineer Andrew Law, who formatted the album\u2019s previously mixed stereo recording for Dolby Atmos surround sound, a three-dimensional experience that allows listeners to feel as if they are at the center of the songs\u2019 layered instruments and melodies. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe difficult part is you have to keep the essence of the actual song so that when people listen to it on headphones or on other mediums, and not like in the (Dolby Atmos) studio, that it still sounds like the song without making it too crazy,\u201d said Law. \u201cI try to take the approach of keeping the song how it was meant to be heard. And then turn it into a big soundscape and something really, really fun when you\u2019re sitting in an Atmos studio.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crafting a new character<\/p>\n

The project is immersive in more ways than one. While brainstorming his next project, Duckwrth knew he wanted to center it on a character who was a bit more \u201cbrash and more a Sid Vicious type.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, I feel I had to find a way to blend what they already knew me for,\u201d he said. \u201cI told my friend I gotta trick people, I gotta secretly drop a rock album, but people not know it\u2019s a rock album.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the time, he was listening to audiobooks, like George Orwell\u2019s \u201c1984,\u201d<\/a> and wanted the album to feel like the layered soundscapes in a film or audiobook. So, he sat down and, over the course of 2 \u00bd years, created his own audio drama within the album, starring himself and featuring narration from actor LaKeith Stanfield.<\/a> The album was produced alongside BLK ODYSSY and 2Fresh, featuring artists like Taner\u00e9lle, Sherwyn, Tommy Newport and IDK.<\/p>\n

The album follows the titular \u201cAll American F\u2014Boy\u201d as he navigates the ups and downs of dating while grappling with a fear of commitment. His character ultimately is forced to confront his toxic playboy tendencies and break the patterns that have kept him in a constant loop of failed relationships. The loosely autobiographical project weaves into its coming-of-age story the invitation to explore the ways generational trauma, patriarchy and toxic masculinity affect romantic relationships. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was highly uncomfortable dropping this album, but I think when the wind pushes you so hard, it\u2019s like when you\u2019re like a child throwing a tantrum, and you\u2019re just like, \u2018No, I don\u2019t wanna, I don\u2019t wanna go to school,\u2019 but then your mom is like pushing you out the door, like \u2018Boy, if you don\u2019t get in that car,\u2019\u201d said Duckwrth. \u201cSo I think making this album, it was a strong wind against my back, pushing me forward to go as deep as possible and be as vulnerable as possible.\u201d <\/p>\n

Next up, the Grammys<\/p>\n

When looking back at the album\u2019s journey, both Law and Duckwrth knew they had something great on their hands. For Law, it was an instant win from the narration to the music. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was like, this is the one,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Duckwrth says the album and Law\u2019s immersive engineering work receiving a Grammy nomination is rewarding and a reminder to trust himself, his creative intuition and to be just as vulnerable with future projects. <\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, to get a Grammy nomination for just being all out rebellious is pretty cool,\u201d he said with a smile on his face. \u201cAnd I\u2019m excited for the kids who come after me to see that, whether we win or not, just having a nomination, especially for my album.\u201d <\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

For more coverage of this year\u2019s Grammy Awards, visit: www.apnews.com\/hub\/grammy-awards<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LOS ANGELES (AP) \u2014 Duckwrth manifested a 2026 Grammy nomination for his album while in the recording studio.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":245281,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[143456,5580,179,156,21849,26626,143457,2047,157,111,139,69,142518,143458],"class_list":{"0":"post-245280","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-andrew-law","9":"tag-arts-and-entertainment","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-george-orwell","13":"tag-grammy-awards","14":"tag-jason-aaron-mills","15":"tag-los-angeles","16":"tag-music","17":"tag-new-zealand","18":"tag-newzealand","19":"tag-nz","20":"tag-send-to-apple-news","21":"tag-tommy-newport"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245280","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245280"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245280\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}