This year was quite a surprise when it came to Hip Hop Grammy nominations. It’s taken decades for the Recording Academy to recognize all that the Hip Hop/Rap genre has to offer. 10 years ago, Kanye West was the only urban artist to be nominated for album of the year. Fast forward to 2018 and Jay-Z, Kendrick Lamar, Childish Gambino and Bruno Mars are among the top nominees the 60th Grammy Awards.
Grammy Awards are determined by 13,000 voting members of the Recording Academy, which consists of performers, songwriters, producers, engineers, managers, record executives and other industry personnel. Recordings eligible for consideration were released between Oct. 1, 2016 and Sept. 30, 2017.
“I think the nominations are a reflection of a very savvy current voting membership who really do have their fingers on the pulse of what is happening in music,” Academy President Neil Portnow told The LA Times “I think they’re also exhibiting good judgment about what represented excellence in music this year.”
Categories with Hip Hop Nominees:
Album of the year:
- “Awaken, My Love!” — Childish Gambino
- “4:44” — Jay-Z
- “Damn.” — Kendrick Lamar
- “Melodrama” — Lorde
- “24K Magic” — Bruno Mars
Record of the year:
- “Redbone” — Childish Gambino
- “Despacito” — Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber
- “The Story of O.J.” — Jay-Z
- “Humble.” — Kendrick Lamar
- ”24K Magic” — Bruno Mars
New artist:
- Alessia Cara
- Khalid
- Lil Uzi Vert
- Julia Michaels
- SZA
Urban contemporary album
- “Free 6lack” — 6lack
- “Awaken, My Love!” — Childish Gambino
- “American Teen” — Khalid
- “Ctrl” — SZA
- “Starboy” — the Weeknd
Rap performance
- “Bounce Back” — Big Sean
- “Bodak Yellow” — Cardi B
- “4:44” — Jay-Z
- “Humble.” — Kendrick Lamar
- “Bad and Boujee” — Migos featuring Lil Uzi Vert
Rap/sung performance
- “Prblms” — 6lack
- “Crew” — Goldlink featuring Brent Faiyaz & Shy Glizzy
- “Family Feud” — Jay-Z featuring Beyoncé
- “Loyalty.” — Kendrick Lamar featuring Rihanna
- “Love Galore” — SZA featuring Travis Scott
Rap song
- “Bodak Yellow” — Dieuson Octave, Klenord Raphael, Shaftizm, Jordan Thorpe, Washpoppin & J White, songwriters (Cardi B)
- “Chase Me” — Judah Bauer, Brian Burton, Hector Delgado, Jaime Meline, Antwan Patton, Michael Render, Russell Simins & Jon Spencer, songwriters (Danger Mouse featuring Run the Jewels & Big Boi)
- “Humble.” — K. Duckworth, Asheton Hogan & M. Williams II, songwriters (Kendrick Lamar)
- “Sassy” — E. Gabouer & M. Evans, songwriters (Rapsody)
- “The Story of O.J.” — Shawn Carter & Dion Wilson, songwriters (Jay-Z)
Rap album
- “4:44” — Jay-Z
- “Damn.” — Kendrick Lamar
- “Culture” — Migos
- “Laila’s Wisdom” — Rapsody
- “Flower Boy” — Tyler, the Creator
Don’t miss performances from: Rihanna (recently announced), Bruno Mars, Cardi B, SZA, Lady Gaga, Pink, Childish Gambino, Kendrick Lamar, Sam Smith, U2, Miley Cyrus, and Elton John.
The Grammys take place January 28th at New York’s Madison Square Garden.The telecast will be broadcast live on CBS at a new time: 7:30–11 p.m. ET and 4:
