Nominations for the 61st Grammy Awards were announced Friday and one of the nominees was brought to tears live on television as Kendrick Lamar and Drake received the most nominations with eight and seven, respectively.Â
Canadian rapper Drake is up for song of the year for God’s Plan and album of the year for Scorpion.
Dua Lipa, Jorja Smith, and Ella Mai are among the Brits on the nominations list, which was revealed in full on Friday.“Two Grammy nominations, I’m so happy but I can’t stop crying, I can’t believe it!†tweeted Dua.
The British-Kosovan pop star’s nods are for best new artist and best dance recording for Electricity, a collaboration with Silk City, Diplo, and Mark Ronson.
Meanwhile, London-born Ella Mai is nominated for song of the year and best R&B song for Boo’d Up, which reached number five in the US Billboard Hot 100 earlier this year.
The song helped her become the first Brit to top the US R&B chart since 1992.
Jorja Smith, from Walsall, is up for the Grammy for best new artist, following her Mercury Prize nomination and her Brit Awards Critics’ Choice win.
Arctic Monkeys, Jon Hopkins, Disclosure, Seal and Mark Ronson are among the other British nominees.
Elsewhere, folk singer Brandi Carlile has six nods, while Lady Gaga, Cardi B and Childish Gambino each have five.
Ariana Grande receives two nominations – one for best pop vocal album (Sweetener), and best pop solo performance (God is a Woman).
One of the most notable snubs is for Taylor Swift – whose album Reputation received only one nod, for best pop vocal album.
This year’s most nominated artists
8 – Kendrick Lamar
7 – Drake
6 – Boi-1Da, Brandi Carlile, Mike Bozzi
5 – Cardi B, Childish Gambino, H.E.R., Lady Gaga, Maren Morris, Soundwave
Four of the major categories were expanded this year, to allow for more recognition for women and BAME (black, Asian and minority ethnic) artists.
Song and album of the year are among the categories which will now have eight nominees, instead of five.
The change comes after the Recording Academy created a diversity task force in response to criticism that the winners are usually disproportionately white and male.
The categories which have been expanded are album of the year, the record of the year (for the best overall song), the song of the year (which is specifically for songwriting) and best new artist.
The other categories will continue to include five nominees.
Bruno Mars swept last year’s awards and caused something of an upset when he won the album of the year prize over Kendrick Lamar.
The 2019 ceremony takes place on 10 February at the Staples Centre in Los Angeles.
Source: bbc.com