The so called ‘year of rap’ has been highlighted and reiterated in the Grammy award nominations received by the broader rap community with both Jay-Z and Kendrick Lamar being nominated for numerous awards.
The 47 year old Jay-Z from Brooklyn features in all three of the primary categories having been nominated for song, album and record of the year, receiving nominations in eight categories.
Kendrick Lamar, 30, the artist from Compton, California, is vying for a total of seven awards, most namely having been nominated for album and record of the year. Others competing for album of the year include Kiwi pop star Lorde, American Bruno Mars and the multi-talented Childish Gambino.
No rapper has ever won song of the year, awarded for songwriting, or record of the year, to honour performance and production, in the history of the awards. Additionally, there are only 2 rappers to have ever taken home album of the year, Outkast and Lauryn Hill, however that was over a decade ago.
Such strong showings from Jay-Z and Lamar in the nominations indicate that this may be the year that rap returns to the top of the awards list and takes home one or more of the top prizes. Interestingly, Eminem, Kanye West and Jay-Z all rank among some of the most nominated artists off all time despite raps failure to capture the main categories.
In a twist of the tale, many of the mainstream popstars have missed out on the primary nominations with Ed Sheeran, Katy Perry and Lada Gaga all surprises in being overlooked.
It may highlight a shift in trends, and the fact that Taylor Swift’s new album ‘Reputation’ was deemed to have been released too late in the year to be nominated. Despite this, the country-come-pop star has still been nominated for two songs – one from Little Big Town and another from Fifty Shades Darker.
Australian artists have received mixed results with only 3 acts nominated. Adelaide’s Sia has been nominated for best song written for film or TV for her song “Never Give Up” as part of Lion whilst church act Hillsong Worship has been nominated for best contemporary Christian song with “What a Beautiful Name”.
The final Aussie act nominated, Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds have been given the nod for best music film category for “One More Time with Feeling” along with producer Andrew Dominik.
The Nominees for the Grammy awards are selected from more 84 countries with more than 22,000 entries submitted. The winners for this year’s awards are set to be announced on January 28, 2018 in New York City.