REAL ARTISTS ARE HOLDING THE POWER

Six Grammy nominees — producers, songwriters and best new artist contenders — reflect on AI and the creative process

- MIKAEL WOOD POP MUSIC CRITIC

CHRISTINA HOUSE Los Angeles Times MUSICIANS Coco Jones, left, Cirkut, Carter Lang, Laufey, Raphael Saadiq and Alex Warren, all nominated for Grammys, gather at the Sun Rose in West Hollywood.

Scrolling past TikToks about oneself. Iceland’s most luxurious lodge. The difference — if indeed there is one? — between a joint and a blunt.

These were some of the topics of conversation when The Times gathered six musicians to discuss the work that led them to nominations for February’s 68th Grammy Awards.

Our panelists:

• Cirkut, 39, whose seven nods include producer of the year for his work with Lady Gaga, Rosé and the Weeknd, among others; album of the year for Gaga’s “Mayhem,” and record and song of the year for both Gaga’s “Abracadabra” and “Apt.” by Rosé and Bruno Mars

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

• Carter Lang, 35, who’s up for album of the year for his role as a producer and songwriter on Justin Bieber’s “Swag”

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

• Raphael Saadiq, 59, who has a nod for song written for visual media with “I Lied to You” from the movie “Sinners,” which is also up for the original song prize at the Golden Globes

• Alex Warren, 25, who’s nominated for best new artist

A few of these folks already had connections as they walked into the Sun Rose in West Hollywood on a December afternoon: Cirkut produced a cut on Jones’ album, while Saadiq’s nephew Dylan Wiggins was one of Lang’s creative partners on “Swag” and its sequel, “Swag II.”

"But I think everyone else, we all know people who know each other," Cirkut says, seated with the rest of the panel inside the hotel's cozy music venue. “It’s like a degree of separation.”