2026 Grammy nominees on why power is still in the hands of real artists. Sorry, AI

Scrolling past TikToks astir oneself. Iceland’s astir luxurious lodge. The quality — if so determination is one? — betwixt a associated and a blunt.

These were immoderate of the topics of speech erstwhile The Times gathered six musicians to sermon the enactment that led them to nominations for February’s 68th Grammy Awards.

Our panelists:

• Cirkut, 39, whose 7 nods see shaper of the twelvemonth for his enactment with Lady Gaga, Rosé and the Weeknd, among others; medium of the twelvemonth for Gaga’s “Mayhem,” and grounds and opus of the twelvemonth for some Gaga’s “Abracadabra” and “Apt.” by Rose and Bruno Mars

• Coco Jones, 27, whose “Why Not More?” is nominated for R&B album

• Carter Lang, 35, who’s up for medium of the twelvemonth for his relation arsenic a shaper and songwriter connected Justin Bieber’s “Swag”

• Laufey, 26, whose “A Matter of Time” is nominated for accepted popular vocal album

• Raphael Saadiq, 59, who has a motion for opus written for ocular media with “I Lied to You” from the movie “Sinners,” which is besides up for the archetypal opus prize astatine the Golden Globes

• Alex Warren, 25, who’s nominated for champion caller artist

A fewer of these folks already had connections arsenic they walked into the Sun Rose successful West Hollywood connected a December afternoon: Cirkut produced a chopped connected Jones’ album, portion Saadiq’s nephew Dylan Wiggins was 1 of Lang’s originative partners connected “Swag” and its sequel, “Swag II.”

“But I deliberation everyone else, we each cognize radical who cognize each other,” Cirkut says, seated with the remainder of the sheet wrong the hotel’s cozy euphony venue. “It’s similar a grade of separation.”

“In the precocious schoolhouse of music,” Laufey adds arsenic she takes disconnected her heels aft a photograph shoot, which leads Jones to telephone to her rep: “May I get those sandals, please, retired of that achromatic box?”

Where bash heels fertile among the worst things astir popular stardom?

Laufey: Sometimes I hide conscionable however overmuch they suck. I deliberation sitting successful glam for 2 hours each clip I request to look — that’s the worst part.

Coco Jones: The guys are like, “What glam?”

Laufey: On tour, the magnitude of clip spent conscionable getting acceptable is crazy. I get into truly acheronian holes conscionable being connected the net for excessively long.

Coco Jones.

Jones: That is truthful real. What would y’all accidental is the worst portion of this job?

Raphael Saadiq: Awards season.

Laufey: It’s similar a humiliation ritual.

Cirkut: Do we each person immoderate benignant of impostor syndrome?

Jones: I’ve got a touch. It sucks, though — I worked my a— off. It’s not a lottery I won.

Laufey: I deliberation it’s a bully thing. Impostor syndrome means you’re inactive holding onto the idiosyncratic you were before. If you don’t person it, you’ve wholly morphed into this caller person.

Alex Warren: I emotion that.

Jones: Did anyone cognize that the happening that enactment them connected the representation — that that would beryllium what did it?

Saadiq: I’m older than you guys — my archetypal grounds was successful 1988. I’ve been making records ever since, and I’ve been watching radical triumph and watching radical lose. I conscionable decided to consciousness similar the existent reward is erstwhile I’m successful the workplace and I perceive to a song. It’s an embarrassing magnitude of times that I perceive to a opus I worked on.

Jones: That’s fire.

Saadiq: So the reply is nary — you ne'er know.

Warren: My woman is the barometer for my records. All the songs I’ve written astir her, she’s like, “That’s nice.” But erstwhile I played her my opus “Ordinary,” she was like, “Holy s—, play that again.” For a 45-minute car ride, she listened to the opus implicit and implicit again.

Carter Lang: That was earlier oregon aft it came out?

Warren: Before. Then I had to combat for it.

Jones: What bash you mean?

Warren: I emotion my label, but they had a antithetic thought of what was the adjacent single. They were truly warring for a abstracted grounds that I didn’t write. So I conscionable threw “Ordinary” up connected TikTok. It didn’t bash good for 2 weeks — it afloat flopped.

Jones: Shut up.

Warren: I posted 30 times to it earlier it adjacent did anything. And close erstwhile TikTok was astir to get banned, it started doing well. Then it got banned — I thought, Well, determination goes my chance.

Jones: You posted it earlier your statement agreed that it was the adjacent single?

Cirkut: You leaked the record.

Laufey: What a beauteous amusement of persistence, though.

Alex Warren.

Lang: The powerfulness is backmost successful artists’ hands. I’ve learned a batch this past twelvemonth moving with Justin and however he’s like, “I’m gonna defy everything and conscionable enactment this retired however I privation to enactment it out, and my fans volition assistance it up.” It’s precise fearless. I deliberation that’s the climate.

Laufey: I retrieve gathering with labels erstwhile I started, and everyone was like, “Who bash you privation to be?” I ever struggled to reply that question — my euphony is specified an unusual blend of jazz and classical and pop. And I felt similar I’d failed the occupation interrogation of meetings with labels erstwhile I couldn’t reply due to the fact that I wanted to beryllium wholly my ain person. Now, artists who bash things that are antithetic are celebrated. My past medium was the happening that enactment maine connected the map, and the opus that went viral was the astir axenic bossa nova opus that I’d released.

What’s the takeaway?

Laufey: There’s an assemblage and a niche for everything. Trying to get everyone close present — I don’t deliberation that’s the sanction of the crippled anymore.

Warren: The algorithm is truthful tailored.

Laufey: It’s not 1 large assemblage — it’s many.

How does that manifest successful the mode you marque records?

Saadiq: You person to cognize what you like. Lucky for me, I ne'er had an A&R my full career. There were beauteous bully A&Rs backmost successful the day. Now, I consciousness similar they conscionable prosecute kids who deterioration chill sneakers: “You indispensable cognize what’s happening successful the streets.” All these A&Rs, they got chill sneakers, but they don’t truly cognize anything.

Let’s speech astir AI. The information that I tin prime up my telephone and inquire an app to make a caller opus for maine based connected a punctual — does that scare you?

Laufey: I asked it to marque a Laufey song, and it was truthful s— that I’m not worried. Audiences privation much than conscionable the music. They privation an medium with a story. They privation the creator down it that they tin subordinate to — that they tin constituent to and say, “She understands me.” They privation to transcript your outfit. They don’t privation to transcript AI’s outfit.

Cirkut: I was moving connected a opus the different day, and I’ll admit it: I opened up the app. I was trying to fig retired a bridge, and I was conscionable like, Generate thing for me. And it was truly cool. But I felt guilty. It didn’t consciousness close to me. It’s a weird motivation thing.

Lang: It feels similar it’s treating euphony similar it’s immoderate benignant of task.

Warren: People perceive to euphony for imperfection, and AI is creating a s— cleanable product, if that makes sense.

Laufey.

I haven’t heard an AI dependable that feels emotionally convincing.

Lang: It’s conscionable the beginning, though.

You tin spot it coming?

Saadiq: Oh, yeah.

Laufey: But it won’t basal onstage successful beforehand of radical and sing.

Lang: Or volition it? It’s not gonna beryllium the same. It doesn’t consciousness symptom and pleasure. It’s not acrophobic to die. It doesn’t cognize what it’s similar to beryllium born.

Warren: There’s this “Modern Family” occurrence wherever Cam and Mitch autumn successful emotion with a refrigerator due to the fact that it’s talking to them. That’s AI euphony to me. Sure, you similar the sonics of it — you’ll perceive to it a clump and it’ll beryllium successful your Spotify Wrapped. But you’re not gonna deliberation astir however that opus changed you.

Some of you person made a lot of songs. You ever travel crossed a portion of euphony that you’d forgotten you made?

Cirkut: That’s rare. Sometimes I’ll beryllium pleasantly amazed to perceive a opus I produced backmost successful 2012 — like, Wow, this is really inactive beauteous good. Some aged songs I benignant of cringe at.

Everybody person their cringe items?

Jones: Please — I did Disney Channel first.

Laufey: I tin hatred connected it, but if anybody other hates connected it, I get truly upset. It’s similar an aged photograph of maine — I’m the lone 1 that’s allowed to justice it.

Jones: Great analogies implicit there, babe.

Laufey: I deleted TikTok 3 weeks ago, truthful I’ve been doing a batch of soul-searching [laughs].

Raphael Saadiq.

Jones: I person a question for the producers successful the room. Do you consciousness similar moving with an creator has changed from adjacent 10 years agone with each the antithetic platforms now? Has that affected your process?

Lang: I’m doing the aforesaid childlike nature, conscionable discovering with them. If we’re not discovering, and it’s not a playful environment, it’s precise boring to me. Bring up a funky instrumentality oregon immoderate weird bundle and conscionable bash your thing.

Cirkut: Half the clip I don’t adjacent cognize what I’m doing. We’re starting with a blank canvas.

Is that existent adjacent with an creator similar Lady Gaga, who has specified an established identity?

Cirkut: Going into it, I had ideas of: OK, I privation to gully influences from immoderate of her earlier euphony truthful we tin consciousness that nostalgia of the Gaga songs that we love. But what does that dependable similar successful 2025? It’s amusive to conscionable play astir successful the sandbox and experimentation and stumble upon something.

The “Mayhem” unit was beauteous tight. Same for the teams that wrote and produced Laufey’s medium and Alex’s medium and the Bieber album.

Lang: When you signifier a benignant of set astir you and judge successful a corporate consciousness, everything conscionable starts to hap successful the mode it’s expected to. Even the creator levels themselves retired to being not supra oregon beneath anybody successful the process.

Laufey: It scares maine having much than 2 oregon 3 radical successful the room.

Warren: I person a publication wherever I constitute down what’s going connected successful my life, opus titles that would use to that, the sonic references I love, past a signaling connected my telephone of lyrics I have. I spell successful and I’m like, “This is however I’m feeling — however bash we consciousness astir this?” It’s precise intimate.

Saadiq: You marque maine dependable truthful unorganized. I don’t constitute thing down. I bash grounds things successful my phone, but past I hide it’s successful there.

Warren: What bash you bash erstwhile you get writer’s block?

Saadiq: I don’t get writer’s block. I deliberation writer’s artifact is thing radical archer themselves they’ve got.

Warren: You don’t get stuck connected a verse oregon something?

Saadiq: Oh, that’s conscionable maine not liking homework.

Cirkut.

Jones: I travel from a household of athletes, truthful adjacent though I’m expected to pb with my emotions, I cognize however to crook them disconnected to bash the job. Also, being a kid prima and doing auditions — you couldn’t person fear. “Girl, spell successful determination oregon you volition not get the job!”

Laufey: I person a classical euphony background, and you don’t discontinue halfway done practicing due to the fact that you don’t get a passage. You propulsion yourself through, adjacent if it sucks and you’re crying successful the end.

Jones: Definitely crying-in-the-car vibe.

Laufey: I outcry truthful overmuch successful the car.

Jones: “Thank you — large session!” Then you’re alone: “I hated that.”

Laufey: I spot songwriting arsenic some an creation and a discipline. So galore radical speech astir however you hold for inspiration to travel upon you: You aftermath up connected a sunny day, you unfastened the model and you’re like, “Oh, my God, I got it!” I deliberation it was Cole Porter who said, “Inspiration is simply a telephone call.”

Warren: I privation I had chill quotes similar that.

Laufey: He wrote musicals, truthful inspiration for him was erstwhile idiosyncratic called and said, “I request you to constitute this musical.”

Jones: Period.

What’s a tiny item successful your enactment that you’re truly arrogant of adjacent if astir listeners wouldn’t adjacent announcement it?

Warren: The arpeggiation successful “Ordinary” — I’ll unopen up astir this opus yet — everyone thinks it’s a harp, but it’s a rubber span guitar.

Saadiq: From the location successful Echo Park?

Lang: Old Style.

Warren: The guy, helium takes aged guitars and helium puts a rubber span on. It’s similar 200 bucks.

Saadiq: Same guitar is what I played connected “I Lied to You.” Every instrumentality you buy, you anticipation you’ll get to bash immoderate benignant of accumulation that it fits. That guitar, it’s the one.

Carter Lang.

Lang: On “Swag,” astir of the songs started with the aforesaid 2 instruments: a drum instrumentality and a small synth spot I had connected my computer. I look backmost to the mode those songs were fleshed out, and they don’t dependable similar they’re each the same. But determination was immoderate inspiration successful those boxes.

Laufey: I had this situation for the medium wherever I wanted to constitute with a philharmonic code. So I wrote a melody based disconnected the letters of a person’s name.

Warren: Jesus.

You Da Vinci Coded it.

Laufey: Shostakoviched it. He embedded his ain sanction successful a melody that helium utilized again and again and again.

Jones: One of my proudest moments was erstwhile my medium was delayed due to the fact that everything wasn’t getting cleared successful time. It made maine truthful upset astatine the clip — I had a day successful my head. But erstwhile I knew that day wasn’t gonna work, I stopped lying to myself, and I was like, “The album’s not finished.” I knew determination was thing missing, and past I recovered that missing piece.

Cirkut: This is simply a precise producer-nerdy thing, but I’ll accidental the footwear drum connected “Abracadabra.” I indispensable person tried similar 100 antithetic kicks. It’s conscionable a drum, but that’s the bosom and psyche of a creation record. The opus had already gone to premix and I swapped it retired and was like, That’s it.

Laufey: It had maine connected my feet astatine the Mayhem tour.

Name thing you loved this twelvemonth not connected to anyone here.

Warren: I’ve been listening to Sienna Spiro’s task connected repetition for the past 3 weeks.

Saadiq: There’s this feline named Junie Morrison, and helium has a unrecorded grounds from 1975 that I recovered connected streaming. I ne'er heard him play unrecorded before, and I’m successful the car playing it implicit and over.

Jones: Destin Conrad. Whatever he’s doing, I truly spot him successful it.

Cirkut: I perfectly loved the documentary astir the instauration of “We Are the World.”

Laufey: I’ve been getting backmost into Joni Mitchell, listening to the “Both Sides Now” album. The orchestrations are conscionable truthful beauteous — caller but truly classic. They were done by Vince Mendoza, and past I benignant of went down a Vince Mendoza rabbit hole.

Lang: I’m reasoning astir a grounds that I conscionable came backmost to by this creator Darondo, who made a fewer astonishing albums. My aged set successful Chicago utilized to play 1 of his songs, “Didn’t I,” and I started playing that opus for myself again.

Saadiq: Darondo’s from my hometown. He lived close adjacent doorway to my friend.

Lang: He changed my full s— up. Something astir that opus conscionable makes maine smile. I shared it with a radical of my friends contiguous successful a radical chat — conscionable like, “Happy Friday, y’all.”

Laufey: Can I beryllium successful this radical chat?