The music industry is abuzz today following the announcement of the nominees for the 64th annual Grammy Awards. The Award show will be aired live from the Crypto.com Arena, formerly Staples Center in Los Angeles on January 31, 2022.
Highly acclaimed musician, bandleader, and television personality, Jon Batiste leads the nominations with 11. The second-most nominations are shared between Justin Bieber, Doja Cat, and H.E.R., who all earned eight. It’s another promising year for Billie Eilish, who earned seven nods along with Olivia Rodrigo. Last time around, Eilish earned four nominations.
The prized category of Album of the Year sees some familiar faces like Justin Bieber for Justice (Triple Chucks Deluxe), Taylor Swift for Evermore and Kanye West with Donda. Bieber also features in another hotly contested category, Record of the Year, along with Song of the Year for “Peaches” with Daniel Caesar and Giveon.
Other popular artist vying for the Record of the Year category includes Doja Cat for “Kiss Me More” with SZA and Silk Sonic’s “Leave the Door Open.” Lil Nas X‘s “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” is also featured in the category.
When it comes to rap, several of the top artists in the genre right now will go up for the Best Rap Album category. They include J. Cole for his album The Off-Season, Drake with Certified Lover Boy, Nas for King’s Disease II, Tyler, the Creator’s Call Me If You Get Lost, and Kanye West’s Donda. As usual, that will be a very difficult category for any artist to emerge victoriously.
At the 2021 Grammy’s, Nas took home the title and his first-ever Grammy Award with his 13th studio album King’s Disease. He had to beat out D Smoke’s Black Habits, Jay Electronica’s A Written Testimony, Freddie Gibbs and the Alchemist’s Alfredo, and The Allegory by Royce 5’9″.
Ye picked up a total of four nods for his latest work, Donda, including Album of the Year and Best Rap Album as J. Cole also got four nominations. Some new faces have joined the various rap categories, including Baby Keem, Saweetie, and YoungBoy Never Broke Again.
The Best Reggae Album category will also be a highly contested one as several top artists in the genre come up against one another. For the first time in the category’s history, two women are featured in the reggae category. They are Etana for Pamoja, and Spice for 10. The other nominees are Gramps Morgan for Positive Vibration, Sean Paul with Live N Livin, a first-time nod for Jesse Royal for his album Royal and Soja’s Beauty In The Silence.
The Weeknd has made it clear that he wants no part of the Grammy’s following the snob of his now widely celebrated album After Hours. However, he still pulls in three nominations for Doja Cat’s Planet Her (Deluxe), Kanye’s Donda, and Kanye’s “Hurricane.”
Veteran rapper and business mogul Jay-Z is also in the mix with three nominations, enough for him to create history as he becomes the most-nominated artist of all time with an astounding 83 nominations. He now takes the throne from Quincy Jones.
The Weeknd’s views on the process for selection must have had some effect on the Recording Academy, as for the first time in 30 years, nominations will be decided solely by the voting membership. That means there are no secret committees this year. When the Weeknd abandoned the Grammy’s, he said he was doing so because of the secret committees and that he would no longer allow his label to submit music to the Grammys.
Another notable change of the format this year includes the fact that there are now ten nominees instead of eight in the general field categories. This includes categories such as Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Album of the Year.
Check out some of the nominees and categories below:
64RD Annual GRAMMY Awards Nominations
BEST REGGAE ALBUM
“Pamoja” -Etana
“Positive Vibration” – Gramps Morgan
“Live N Livin” – Sean Paul
“Royal” – Jesse Royal
“Beauty In The Silence” – Soja
“10” – Spice
RECORD OF THE YEAR
“I Still Have Faith In You” – Abba
“Freedom” – Jon Batiste
“I Get A Kick Out Of You” – Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga
“Peaches” – Justin Bieber feat. Daniel Caesar & Giveon
“Right On Time” – Brandi Carlile
“Kiss Me More” – Doja Cat feat. SZA
“Happier Than Ever” – Billie Eilish
“Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” – Lil Nas X
“Drivers License” – Olivia Rodrigo
“Leave The Door Open” – Silk Sonic
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
We Are – Jon Batiste
Love for Sale – Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga
Justice (Triple Chucks Deluxe) – Justin Bieber
Planet Her (Deluxe) – Doja Cat
Happier Than Ever – Billie Eilish
Back of My Mind – H.E.R.
Montero – Lil Nas X
Sour – Olivia Rodrigo
Evermore – Taylor Swift
DONDA – Kanye West
SONG OF THE YEAR
“Bad Habits” – Fred Gibson, Johnny Mcdaid & Ed Sheeran, Songwriters (Ed Sheeran)
“A Beautiful Noise” – Ruby Amanfu, Brandi Carlile, Brandy Clark, Alicia Keys, Hillary Lindsey, Lori Mckenna, Linda Perry & Hailey Whitters, Songwriters (Alicia Keys & Brandi Carlile)
“Drivers License” – Daniel Nigro & Olivia Rodrigo, Songwriters (Olivia Rodrigo)
“Fight for You” – Dernst Emile Ii, H.E.R. & Tiara Thomas, Songwriters (H.E.R.)
“Happier Than Ever” – Billie Eilish O’connell & Finneas O’connell, Songwriters (Billie Eilish)
“Kiss Me More” – Rogét Chahayed, Amala Zandile Dlamini, Lukasz Gottwald, Carter Lang, Gerard a. Powell Ii, Solána Rowe & David Sprecher, Songwriters (Doja Cat Featuring Sza)
“Leave the Door Open” – Brandon Anderson, Christopher Brody Brown, Dernst Emile Ii & Bruno Mars, Songwriters (Silk Sonic)
“Montero (Call Me by Your Name)” – Denzel Baptiste, David Biral, Omer Fedi, Montero Hill & Roy Lenzo, Songwriters (Lil Nas X)
“Peaches” – Louis Bell, Justin Bieber, Giveon Dezmann Evans, Bernard Harvey, Felisha “fury” King, Matthew Sean Leon, Luis Manuel Martinez Jr., Aaron Simmonds, Ashton Simmonds, Andrew Wotman & Keavan Yazdani, Songwriters (Justin Bieber Featuring Daniel Caesar & Giveon)
“Right on Time” – Brandi Carlile, Dave Cobb, Phil Hanseroth & Tim Hanseroth, songwriters (Brandi Carlile)
BEST NEW ARTIST
Arooj Aftab
Jimmie Allen
Baby Keem
Finneas
Glass Animals
Japanese Breakfast
The Kid Laroi
Arlo Parks
Olivia Rodrigo
Saweetie
BEST POP SOLO PERFORMANCE
“Anyone” – Justin Bieber
“Right On Time” – Brandi Carlile
“Happier Than Ever” – Billie Eilish
“Positions” – Ariana Grande
“Drivers License” – Olivia Rodrigo
BEST POP DUO/GROUP PERFORMANCE
“I Get A Kick Out Of You” – Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga
“Lonely” – Justin Bieber & Benny Blanco
“Butter” – BTS
“Higher Power” – Coldplay
“Kiss Me More” – Doja Cat feat. SZA
BEST POP VOCAL ALBUM
We Are – Jon Batiste
Justice (Triple Chucks Deluxe) – Justin Bieber
Planet Her (Deluxe) – Doja Cat
Happier Than Ever – Billie Eilish
Positions – Ariana Grande
Sour – Olivia Rodrigo
BEST R&B PERFORMANCE
“Lost You” – Snoh Aalegra
“Peaches” – Justin Bieber Featuring Daniel Caesar & Giveon
“Damage” – H.E.R.
“Leave the Door Open” – Silk Sonic
“Pick Up Your Feelings” – Jazmine Sullivan
BEST TRADITIONAL R&B PERFORMANCE
“I Need You” – Jon Batiste
“Bring It on Home to Me” – BJ The Chicago Kid, PJ Morton & Kenyon Dixon Featuring Charlie Bereal
“Born Again” – Leon Bridges Featuring Robert Glasper
“Fight for You” – H.E.R.
“How Much Can a Heart Take” – Lucky Daye Featuring Yebba
BEST R&B SONG
“Damage” – H.E.R.
“Good Days” – SZA
“Heartbreak Anniversary” – Giveon
“Leave the Door Open” – Silk Sonic
“Pick Up Your Feelings” – Jazmine Sullivan
BEST PROGRESSIVE R&B ALBUM
New Light – Eric Bellinger
Something to Say – Cory Henry
Mood Valiant – Hiatus Kaiyote
Table for Two – Lucky Daye
Dinner Party: Dessert – Terrace Martin, Robert Glasper, 9th Wonder & Kamasi Washington
Studying Abroad: Extended Stay – Masego
BEST R&B ALBUM
Temporary Highs in the Violet Skies – Snoh Aalegra
We Are – Jon Batiste
Gold-Diggers Sound – Leon Bridges
Back of My Mind – H.E.R.
Heaux Tales – Jazmine Sullivan
BEST RAP PERFORMANCE
“Family Ties” – Baby Keem feat. Kendrick Lamar
“Up” – Cardi B
“my . life” – J. Cole feat. 21 Savage and Morray
“Way 2 Sexy” – Drake feat. Future and Young Thug
“Thot S**t” – Megan Thee Stallion
BEST MELODIC RAP PERFORMANCE
“pride . is . the . devil” – J. Cole feat. Lil Baby
“Need to Know” – Doja Cat
“Industry Baby” – Lil Nas X feat. Jack Harlow
“WUSYANAME” – Tyler, the Creator feat. YoungBoy Never Broke Again and Ty Dolla $ign
“Hurricane” – Kanye West feat. The Weeknd and Lil Baby
BEST RAP SONG
“Bath Salts” – Shawn Carter, Kasseem Dean, Michael Forno, Nasir Jones & Earl Simmons, songwriters (DMX feat. JAY-Z and Nas)
“Best Friend” – Amala Zandelie Dlamini, Lukasz Gottwald, Randall Avery Hammers, Diamonté Harper, Asia Smith, Theron Thomas & Rocco Valdes, songwriters (Saweetie feat. Doja Cat)
“Family Ties” – Roshwita Larisha Bacha, Hykeem Carter, Tobias Dekker, Colin Franken, Jasper Harris, Kendrick Lamar, Ronald Latour & Dominik Patrzek, songwriters (Baby Keem feat. Kendrick Lamar)
“Jail” – Dwayne Abernathy, Jr., Shawn Carter, Raul Cubina, Michael Dean, Charles M. Njapa, Sean Solymar, Brian Hugh Warner, Kanye West & Mark Williams, songwriters (Kanye West feat. JAY-Z)
“My . Life” – Shéyaa Bin Abraham-Joseph & Jermaine Cole, songwriters (J. Cole feat. 21 Savage and Morray)
BEST RAP ALBUM
The Off-Season – J. Cole
Certified Lover Boy – Drake
King’s Disease II – Nas
Call Me If You Get Lost – Tyler, the Creator
Donda – Kanye West
PRODUCER OF THE YEAR, NON-CLASSICAL
Jack Antonoff
Rogét Chahayed
Mike Elizondo
Hit-Boy
Ricky Reed
BEST MUSIC VIDEO
“Shot in the Dark” – AC/DC
“Freedom” – Jon Batiste
“I Get a Kick Out of You” – Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga
“Peaches” – Justin Bieber feat. Daniel Caesar and Giveon
“Happier Than Ever” – Billie Eilish
“Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” – Lil Nas X
“Good 4 U” – Olivia Rodrigo
