Jay-Z and Kendrick Lamar are among the top contenders for the 60th annual Grammy Awards. This year, the awards are heavy on hip-hop and R&B. Mainstream pop stars, like Ed Sheeran, seem to have been shut out of major prizes, according to The New York Times.
Jay-Z got a total of eight nods for his album “4:44.” It was a dark album, featuring personal confessions as well as meditations about race. Meanwhile, Lamar received seven nominations for “DAMN.,” which also included racial politics mixed with self-reflection. It was a critical favorite and smash on streaming services when released, according to The Times.
Bruno Mars follows, with six nominations, and Childish Gambino, Khalid, SZA and No I.D. (Jay-Z’s producer) each had five, reports The Times. The Grammy nominations are striking at a time when award shows are under scrutiny for how they incorporate diversity. Minority artists dominate the Grammys’ ballot this year, in nearly all the most prestigious category, including record, song, and album of the year.
Those vying for record of the year include Jay-Z for “The Story of O.J.”; Mr. Lamar for “HUMBLE.”; Mr. Mars for “24K Magic”; Childish Gambino for “Redbone”; and “Despacito,” by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee with Justin Bieber.
Meanwhile, Jay-Z and Lamar will face off for album of the year, along with Mars’s “24k Magic” and Childish Gambino’s “Awaken, My Love!” and Lorde’s “Melodrama.”
Song of the year nods went to the writers of “Despacito,” Jay-Z’s “4:44,” Mr. Mars’s “That’s What I Like,” Logic’s “1-800-273-8255” and Julia Michaels’s “Issues” according to The Times.
Sheeran is notably absent from the song of the year nod. His song, “Shape of You,” has been one of the year’s biggest hits. Last year, he took home song of the year for “Thinking Out Loud.” Sheeran did receive two nods, but this time, for outside the top fields: “Shape of You” for pop solo performance; and “÷” for pop vocal album, reports The Times.
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