Chappell Roan’s path to Grammys: The ‘Midwest Princess’ could be the year’s biggest music breakout
Over the last few months the internet has seen the rise of the self-identified “midwest princess” herself, Chappell Roan. The alt-pop sensation has broken out with her album “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess,” which has been on a steady rise on the charts. She’s distinguished from the rest of the pop world by her campy, drag-like persona and her queer-focused, often upbeat bangers. Roan’s road to the mainstream may have just begun; it might truly kickstart with a Grammy win for Best New Artist.
In the Grammy race, Roan has a few factors that could work in her favor. The first and perhaps most powerful is how she has managed to achieve cross-genre love. Even though she is essentially a pop star, she does have a lot of appeal to the alternative world, especially due to how campy and often anti-pop her songs can be. But she’s big enough to get in just with pop support. Her biggest hit right now, “Good Luck, Babe!,” is a big streaming hit on US Spotify, and it’s picking up on pop radio. And her album has produced other streaming hits like “Red Wine Supernova” and “Hot to Go!,” both of which have also charted on US Spotify. That indicates that Chappell does have a solid fanbase that might transcend genre. You could also argue that her sapphic themes make her a shoo-in for votes from other queer artists, who might relate to her lyricism.
Roan is also doing some savvy promotion, which might pay off in the end. One major spot she landed was NPR’s “Tiny Desk Concert,” which is a huge campaigning opportunity and has featured previous Best New Artist nominees like Omar Apollo, Anderson .Paak, and Jorja Smith. Roan’s set went viral, amassing over two million views in two months and getting a lot of hype on TikTok as well. She was also at Coachella this year, which further increased her visibility. On top of all of that, she toured with Olivia Rodrigo on her “Guts” tour, and since we know the recording academy really likes Rodrigo, it’s likely that some members saw Roan’s magic live. Other spots that Roan has hit include “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” Vevo’s DSCVR sessions, and MTV’s Push sessions.
What are the next moves for Roan in order to hit it big at the Grammys? Perhaps the most important right now is to keep up the promotion. If her team can grab spots like “Saturday Night Live,” “Today,” and most importantly a Recording Academy Summer Showcase or Grammy Museum appearance, then that will keep her music in the forefront. Furthermore, “Good Luck, Babe!” hasn’t fully crossed over to pop radio, which would be an important step to ensure pop votes. After all, a lot of artists and songs miss at the Grammys due to being too limited to streaming, a format that might skew younger than the academy at large. So it would be wise to amp up the promo for the song, and perhaps take it all the way to the top 10 on the pop radio charts. Last but not least, a collaboration with an established star might be wise, maybe even with Rodrigo herself; after all, they share the same producer, Dan Nigro.
As such, there are reasons to be hopeful that the pop breakout will get her flowers come nominations morning. And with “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess” picking up steam each and every day, it wouldn’t be a shocker if, by Grammy time, Chappell Roan is one of the biggest stars in the world.
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