March 29, 2024

2019 Grammy Nominations: Kendrick Lamar, Drake and Women Lead the Way

In recent years, hip-hop and RB, genres that dominate commercially, have been more prevalent in the major Grammy categories, but that has not always translated to wins: Jay-Z, the most nominated artist at the ceremony in January, came up empty in eight categories this time, and Lamar, who has now been nominated 37 times and won 12, has lost album of the year three times. (Most recently, the pop/RB singer Bruno Mars took home the big award for his album “24K Magic.”)

“Black Panther: The Album,” which also features the Weeknd and a smattering of West Coast rap, plus elements of African music, could prove a roundabout contender for best album. In the last 40 years, three soundtracks have won in that category — “Saturday Night Fever” in 1979, “The Bodyguard” in 1994 and “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” in 2002. (The first-ever Grammy Award for album of the year went to a TV soundtrack: Henry Mancini’s “The Music From Peter Gunn.”)

As the Grammys grapple with identity, some of the most popular names in music have opted out of the show, whose viewership dropped 24 percent this year to a nine-year low. In 2017, Drake, who has 42 career nods, was nominated for eight awards and won two, but declined to appear at the ceremony, saying later that he felt “alienated” from the institution. The next year, the rapper declined to submit his “More Life” project for consideration, following in the footsteps of Frank Ocean, and once again did not attend.

The recording academy said it had received more than 21,000 submissions across 84 categories; recordings released from Oct. 1, 2017, to Sept. 30, 2018, were eligible.

From there, voters are directed to make selections in their areas of expertise — up to 15 categories, plus the four general awards — to determine the long list of nominees. For many of the major categories, including the big four and genres like rap, rock, RB and jazz, the voters’ top 20 picks are then narrowed down by more opaque review committees, which determine the final nominees, with winners selected later by the general membership of about 13,000 voters.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/07/arts/music/grammys-2019.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

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