The first season of A24 and Prime Video's smash-hit animated series “Hazbin Hotel” ended on February 2, 2024, and even though the creative team worked hard on Season 2, the popularity of the show did not wane. “Husbin Hotel” had the largest global debut audience for a new animated title on Prime Video, beating out other hot items like “Invincible” and “The Boys Presents: Diabolical.” The series didn't boast the same recognizable IP as its contemporaries, but that didn't stop it from becoming a phenomenon. In the months since the season ended, convention sources have shown that “Hospin Hotel” has become one of the most popular shows for cosplayers, with fanart filling daily feeds on social media, but thanks to the death of monoculture, popularity often feels like it's in a vacuum.
“Haspin Hotel” as I described earlier is an adult animation, but more difficult for restrictions like “The Simpsons”. It's as bad as “South Park,” but offers a weirder audience. It has the same stunning Broadway cast as “Central Park,” but without the “Hamilton” name recognition to get your mom excited. “Hazbin Hotel” happens when you watch “Batman: The Animated Series” and “Invader Jim,” listen to tunes, and spend too much time on 2010s horned Tumblr rants. “Husbin Hotel” doesn't really have contemporaries, but it's nothing new for Vivienne “Vivsy Pop” Medrano's thinking.
The pilot episode, which helped put the show on A24 and Prime Video's radar, was funded exclusively by Medrano's Patreon followers, and was completed with a team of freelance animators. It's a “small anime series,” but the show has a secret weapon to keep it relevant and help push the series to the mainstream and mainstream consciousness.
“Hazbin Hotel” has the best music of any movie or TV show released in 2024. After being screwed over by the Emmys, it's time for the Grammys to do the right thing.
Haspin Hotel has an uphill battle
“Huspin Hotel” is currently campaigning for Best Soundtrack for Visual Media and Best Song for Visual Media for “Visham”. Unless you're an avid Grammy follower, understand that these categories are often tied to major studio or streamer projects. Last year, “Barbie the Album” won for Warner Bros. “Barbie” movie, “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story”, “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” competing against “Daisy Jones & the Six” from “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” and “Aurora.” The movie “Barbie” won last year's award for best song for visual media over Billie Eilish's “What Was I Made For?” Up against three songs from “Barbie” and “Lift Me Up” by Rihanna, “Wakanda Forever”. While the support of A24 and Prime Video certainly helps, “Hospin Hotel” is a very clear underdog when compared to what it would take to earn a nomination.
“Hospin Hotel” was written by Sam Hoft and Andrew Underberg. They're talented musicians, but lack the name recognition of the likes of Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez (who has a double ego), who would undoubtedly be nominated from “Agatha All Along” to “The Witch's Road.” They'll also compete against huge blockbusters like “Deadpool and Wolverine” and the nostalgic *NSYNC reunion in “Trolls: Band Together.” How the hell can an indie animated series that a large portion of Grammy voters have never heard of be in the running?
Songwriter Sam Hoft learned about Grammy Bush a few months ago on the back of the show's enormous success, and he thinks it was A24 and Prime Video's willingness to invest in such a creator-driven project. “They put energy behind promoting the show, but I think they understand that the way forward for entertainment is by encouraging the team behind the show, believing in creators and unique original ideas,” he said. tells me.
Hasbin Hotel's songs have become chart-topping hits
It's not like “Hospin Hotel” lacks chart performance to prove its legitimacy. The soundtrack peaked at #13 on the Billboard Hot 200 and #1 on the Soundtrack Albums chart. “Poison,” the song was promoted with A24 and peaked at #14 on the United States Billboard Rock/Alt. and reached #2 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart. The song clip on Prime Video has 30 million views on YouTube and singer Blake Roman's official page of the song has 25 million views. Not bad for a show with such a rabid fan base as teenagers and millennials who shop at Hot Topic. [complimentary]. Unfortunately, when it comes to awards voting bodies, awareness feels like a big part of the battle.
“There are naturally going to be a lot of awards voters who are very familiar with the projects coming out of the biggest studios, full of IP names they recognize,” explains Hoft. “Even if they don't see the program, they can go, 'Okay, I heard about this, I heard about this, I have something to do with it, and I mean, I'm seriously going out in my absence. And looking at all the possible nominees, I'm going to choose the one I'm comfortable with and the one I know.
It's easy to assume that voters will see/hear exactly every eligible nominee, but if the way everyone talks about the Best Animated Feature category at the Academy Awards is any indication… we know that's not true. “Hospin Hotel” is a huge hit, but in the same sense that “Five Nights at Freddy’s” became one of the biggest horror hits of 2023 (Hofft also has a song on the soundtrack) — confounding box office pundits in the process — it’s an isolated celebrity that hasn’t crossed the barrier into the mainstream. Often “Hospin Hotel” is far from the mainstream.
The nomination for Husbin Hotel is a win for original, independent creators
The Grammy Awards tend to go with big names in the visual media category. With exceptions like Bo Burnham's “Inside” (which was an epidemic), the genre is usually dominated by ridiculously popular songwriters and artists. The fact that “Husbin Hotel” is a 2D animated series also makes it an outlier. The 2D Animation Project for Best Song Written for Visual Media was last nominated in 2012 (for the songs “Christmastime Is Killing Us” from “Family Guy” and “So Long” from “Winnie the Pooh”). For Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media, it has to look even further back to “Fantasia 2000,” and was nominated in the category's second year (“Tarzan” won the inaugural year).
But it's not as if “Hospin” can't hold its own against some of these household names. Vocals on the soundtrack include Erika Henningsen (“Mean Girls”), Stephanie Beatriz (“Encanto”), Alex Friedman (“School of Rock,” “Beetlejuice”), Kimiko Glenn (“Waitress,” Baby Shark Voice), Darren Criss (“Glee, ” “Hedwig and the Angry Inch”), Jeremy Jordan (“Smash,” “The Last Five Years”), Daphne Rubin-Vega (“Rent,” “In the Heights”) and Keith David (he's David's Keith). These are the only names that non-theater people will recognize (I mean, you all have to love Amir Head, Alastair's voice artist).
The series' standout single, “Poison,” comes from Blake Roman, who appeared on Broadway in the show “Harmony,” an episode of “Blue Bloods,” but is otherwise mostly known for “Hospin Hotel” and Modero's others. Show, “Helluah Bass.” A nomination, let alone a hit, for “Hospin Hotel” would be a huge win for an artist on the fringes.
“One of the funniest things about writing 'Husbin Hotel,' is that every character has their own musical style, so it's like writing a musical with a dozen orchestras,” says Hoft. Whether it's the electro-swing of “Hell's Greatest Dad” or the self-loathing emotional agony you can dance to “Poison,” this music will help push the show to the next level. If you're a Grammy voter — or know someone who is — “Hospin Hotel” is not worth your consideration.
