Kacey Musgraves is undoubtedly riding high these days, especially with the upcoming 2019 Grammy Awards, where she has four nominations on tap—including the prestigious all-genre Album of the Year category for Golden Hour, which took home the same honor just a few months ago at the CMA Awards in November.

Still, Musgraves knows how hard she had to work to get to this place. And, as she tells People, she can list an impressive tally of things that she's had to overcome in the music industry, and that hold back fellow female artists from similar success.

"Unequal pay, unequal festival billing, unequal radio play. Having to work that much harder to overcome all of those unfortunate and archaic deficits," Musgraves succinctly notes.

However, she is more than happy and grateful that her album is being recognized by the Recording Academy. "This record is very personal to me. More personal than any bit of art I’ve ever made," she explains. "Also — so much great music was released this year. I really believe that art is thriving. Being nominated alongside great albums that garner way larger sales numbers and radio play is extra special for me. It lets me know that hard work does pay off, and also that people just want to connect to music that makes them feel something regardless of what genre it’s labeled under."

Golden Hour was released in March 2018. The 2019 Grammys will be held Feb. 10 in Los Angeles. Musgraves will continue an already busy 2019 with festival appearances at Coachella festival and Bonnaroo.

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