They are using the Lady Gaga rule the wrong way tbh
It should be used only when the artist got nominations and his/her first studio still isn't elegible because it was released after the deadline.
For example when Drake got a rap nomination before the release of his first studio album and then he got his Best New Artist nomination a year later after the release of his first studio album.
However Ed was elegible for Best New Artist last year and he missed that nomination.