Could Jacob Collier ambush the Grammys again with ‘Djesse Vol. 4’?

Jaime Rodriguez
·4 min read
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The 29-year-old British star Jacob Collier has risen to fame from YouTube all the way to the Grammys, earning six trophies throughout his career. While Collier was a Grammy favorite from his first album, “Djesse Vol. 3” was the one to put him on the radar for a lot of folks, earning three Grammy noms including for Album of the Year. That nomination was quite unexpected and launched Collier to a lot more fame, especially as his fusion of jazz/R&B/pop is quite unique and not what many would expect to cross over to the Grammy mainstream. Despite not being a huge commercial artist, Collier might be looking at his biggest year ever at the Grammys with his new album, “Djesse Vol. 4.” But just how much recognition will Collier get?

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The most obvious nominations to watch for are in the arrangement categories, where Collier has won all six of his Grammys. His likely submissions are “100,000 Voices” or “Wherever I Go” in Best Arrangement, Instrumental and Vocals, and his highly acclaimed cover of “Bridge Over Troubled Water” (featuring John Legend and Tori Kelly) for Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella. The latter is especially competitive and will likely earn Collier a seventh win. That cover will likely serve as Collier’s ticket to other Grammy success too, as it could be a serious contender for Best Traditional R&B Performance or Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, depending on where it is submitted. Collier could also go for it in the general field by submitting it for Record of the Year. For Song of the Year, the most likely submissions probably are the singles, “Little Blue” (featuring Brandi Carlile) or “Witness Me” (featuring Shawn Mendes, Stormzy and Kirk Franklin).

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What makes “Djesse Vol. 4” so special, and what might really help Collier get another Album of the Year nom, is just how varied it is sonically. The album includes tracks that could fit in the global categories (“A Rock Somewhere,” “Box of Stars Pt. 1”), pop categories (“Witness Me,” “Little Blue”), American roots (“Summer Rain”), R&B (“Wherever I Go,” “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” “Cinnamon Crush”), and even dance (“Mi Corazón”). And Collier will probably have a fanbase among jazz/classical fusion musicians, who would especially respect his craft. He will necessarily monopolize the votes from all of those genres, but getting a few votes from each bloc can result in big things. In that way, Collier might follow a similar path to Jon Batiste when he won five Grammys including Album of the Year for “We Are.”

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Something else that helps Collier, and might even take him to a win, are his collaborators. More than his previous releases, this new “Djesse” installment is an extravaganza of collaborative work and includes a lot of Grammy winners, including but not limited to Chris Martin, Brandi Carlile, John Mayer, Tori Kelly, John Legend and Kirk Franklin. How does this help? Well, the Grammys are peer-voted, so any collaborators in the Recording Academy could vote for the album and campaign for it as well. Even for those who didn’t work on the album, Collier has a wide range of features across these four “Djesse” albums whose fans might also show up for him to win big. This is a factor that helped unexpected Album of the Year winners like Herbie Hancock (“River: The Joni Letters”) and the aforementioned Batiste: being a musician’s musician who commands the respect of many in the industry.

With so many pop stars in contention for 2025, including Ariana Grande (“Eternal Sunshine“), Taylor Swift (“The Tortured Poets Department”) and Beyoncé (“Cowboy Carter”), we might see a pop split just like in 2022, when Olivia Rodrigo (“Sour“), Billie Eilish (“Happier Than Ever”) and Lady Gaga (“Love for Sale”) all were major contenders for the win. That year Batiste won. So watch out this year because Collier might just fit the exact same mold.

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