Kendrick Lamar, Taylor Swift, the Weeknd up for top Grammys

Not to be counted out is the Weeknd, who is nominated for seven Grammys.

Lamar’s “To Pimp a Butterfly” was also up for Album of the Year, as well as The Weeknd’s “Beauty Behind the Madness”.

Overall, nine artists scored four nominations each, and an additional 17 are up for three awards apiece.

Announced Monday morning, the Grammy races for Record of the Year and Song of the Year include two overlapping nominees: Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud” and Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space”. “He’s someone that’s very serious about his art and about his craft, and has been working it for quite some time”. Her other nominations are for pop solo performance, pop duo or group performance, pop vocal album and music video. His Fifty Shades of Grey song “Earned It” -was nominated for best R&B performance, R&B song and song written for visual media. His album To Pimp A Butterfly is nominated for the Album of the Year Grammy.

For best rock performance, the nominees included Elle King and Wolf Alice along with Alabama Shakes, Florence + the Machine and Foo Fighters. However, the song of the year simply focuses on the lyrics and songwriting.

And Stratford’s Justin Bieber is nominated for best dance recording and is listed in Diplo’s nomination for Producer of the Year, non-classical for the track Where Are Ü Now.

Lamar, who won two Grammys last year in the specialist rap category, broke into the mainstream this year with nominations for the top prize, album of the year.

The 2016 GRAMMY Awards will be broadcast live on February 15 on City. Voting for the second round, completed by mail and starting next week, ends on January 15, 2016. This year’s nominees: D’Angelo and the Vanguard’s “Really Love”; “Uptown Funk” by Mark Ronson, featuring Bruno Mars; Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud”; Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space”; and The Weeknd’s “Can’t Feel My Face”.

The song race finds them in contention with Little Big Town’s “Girl Crush”, Kendrick Lamar‘s “Alright”, and Wiz Khalifa & Charlie Puth’s “See You Again”.

Indie darling Courtney Barnett, British singer-songwriter James Bay, country newcomer Sam Hunt and pop stars Tori Kelly and Meghan Trainor will compete for best new artist.

Taylor Swift on her 1989 World Tour.

If Kendrick Lamar wasn’t a household name before, he will be now.

Best urban contemporary album: “Ego Death”, The Internet; “You Should Be Here”, Kehlani; “Blood”, Lianne La Havas; “Wildheart”, Miguel; “Beauty Behind the Madness”, The Weeknd.