We don’t talk about Bruno, but we should discuss “Encanto’s” chances at the Grammys. While the mega-selling soundtrack, which boasts eight original songs from Lin-Manuel Miranda, is likely to be nominated for compilation soundtrack for visual media, it has the bona fides for major category love too. In addition to glowing reviews, “Encanto” spent nine weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 — the second-longest run of the 2020s (behind Bad Bunny).
More significantly, it cut through the cultural clutter, producing a series of resounding hits that are forever ingrained on the psyche of children, their parents and anyone who just happened to be in the general vicinity while the film was playing. “We Don’t Talk about Bruno” spent five weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, while “Surface Pressure” cracked the top 10. The fact that these songs connected so widely while celebrating Colombian music by incorporating bambuco, vallenato and cumbia is extraordinary.
For that alone, “Encanto” deserves to be in the conversation for album of the year, but recent history isn’t on its side. Since being given their own category in 2000, soundtracks rarely compete for the big prize; that wasn’t the case in an era when previous winners included “Saturday Night Fever” (1979), “The Bodyguard” (1994) and “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” (2002). In the past 20 years, only one soundtrack has been nominated for album of the year: “Black Panther” in 2019.
The trend is also reflected in the record of the year category. Soundtrack songs dominated the category in the ’90s, for example, with “Wind Beneath My Wings” (“Beaches”) winning in 1990, “I Will Always Love You” (“The Bodyguard”) claiming victory in 1994 and “My Heart Will Go On” (“Titanic”) taking top honors in 1999. Since then, only “Shallow” (“A Star Is Born”) and “Sunflower” (“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”) have even been nominated.
If any project can buck this trend, it’s “Encanto.” Masterminded by Miranda, the album was a massive commercial success despite forgoing obvious pop anthems in favor of culturally appropriate, plot-furthering anthems that honor traditional sounds and instruments. Time will tell how the committee treats “Encanto,” but it deserves, at the very least, to be talked about.
