The U.S. National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) released on Monday the list of the 2016 Grammy Nominees. Kendrick Lamar managed to score 11 nominations, more than any other artist, while Taylor Swift and The Weeknd scored six nominations each. The 58th Grammy Awards are scheduled for Feb. 15 in Los Angeles and will air on CBS at 8 p.m.
The rap superstar Lamar scored the album of the year nomination for “To Pimp a Butterfly”, which presents an America where the police are corrupt, black people are not treated as equals, celebrity is hard to handle and when society attempts to eliminate your humanity, the one thing must do is to tell yourself that we gon’ be alright.
Behind the leading nominee, pop star Taylor Swift followed with six nominations that include her five-time platinum “1989” success as album of the year and “Blank Space” as record and song of the year, the three most desired Grammys. Just like in 2014, both artists achieved pop/duo vocal performance and music video noms, this time for Lamar’s collaboration on Swift’s “Bad Blood” song. It wouldn’t be a surprise if they end up performing it together at the show in February.
According to Swift’s “1989”, the U.S. is a nation where love is way too complicated, true friendship is hard to find, New York City is comparable to Oz for white people, and when everyone starts gossiping about your private life, you must do nothing except for shake it off, shake it off.
Grammy voters usually choose the music that they feel familiar with, music that is clearly popular, socially righteous and, of course, commercially successful. Lamar and Swift included these elements in different ways, so it would be exciting to see how they connect with fans from now until the show starts. The pop star has recently opened up about the way she felt when she lost 2014’s album of the year Grammy to the French robots of Draft Punk. She said she didn’t even attend the parties because she had to go home and cry. This might be her way to say “don’t break my heart again”.
As for The Weeknd, he’s also on the race for 2015’s best album with “Beauty Behind the Madness”. Among the other nominations he shares with Swift, the Canadian songwriter scored the record of the year nomination with “Can’t Feel My Face”, while “Earned It”, the main single on the “Fifty Shades of Grey” soundtrack, was nominated for Best R&B Performance in the genres categories.
Fans seem quite happy with the just-released list, except for the fact that Adele doesn’t figure on it. Her Album 25 has been on top of the charts since late November but the Grammy’s eligibility period ended in September 30.
Here’s the list of the main categories and its nominees:
Album of the Year
Sound & Color — Alabama Shakes
To Pimp a Butterfly — Kendrick Lamar
Traveller — Chris Stapleton
1989 — Taylor Swift
Beauty Behind the Madness — The Weeknd
Best New Artist
Courtney Barnett
James Bay
Sam Hunt
Tori Kelly
Meghan Trainor
Record of the Year
“Really Love” — D’Angelo and The Vanguard
“Uptown Funk” — Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars
“Thinking Out Loud” — Ed Sheeran
“Blank Space” — Taylor Swift
“Can’t Feel My Face” — The Weeknd
Song of the Year
“Alright” — Kendrick Lamar
“Blank Space” — Taylor Swift
“Girl Crush” — Little Big Town
“See You Again” — Wiz Khalifa feat. Charlie Puth
“Thinking Out Loud” — Ed Sheeran
Source: The Washington Post