Lamar leads Grammy nominations

After the year of consistency and radio ubiquity that he’s achieved – and nominations for Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song for “Trap Queen” – how is Fetty Wap not nominated for Best New Artist?

Intentionally or not, among some of the highly anticipated awardees vying for the trophies are Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar, Ed Sheeran, Justin Bieber, Meghan Trainor, and The Weeknd to name a few.

Best pop vocal album: “Piece by Piece”, Kelly Clarkson; “How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful”, Florence + The Machine; “Uptown Special”, Mark Ronson; “1989”, Taylor Swift; “Before This World”, James Taylor.

The coveted Album of the Year spot finds him up against the Weeknd, Taylor Swift, Alabama Shakes and Chris Stapleton. After writing dozens of songs recorded by the likes of Kenny Chesney, George Strait, Luke Bryan and Brad Paisley, Stapleton finally stepped up to the front of the stage with his debut album, “Traveller”, which, not surprisingly, yielded a slate of tradition-minded, stone-cold country hits.

For country fans – and fans of most genres, let’s be real – the annual release of the Grammy nominations does not confirm or deny anything you didn’t already know.

This year’s best country album contenders include Little Big Town’s “Pain Killer”, Kacey Musgraves’ “Pageant Material”, Ashley Monroe’s “The Blade” and “Montevallo” by singer-songwriter Sam Hunt, who is also nominated for best new artist. How else do you explain TPAB as the lone hip-hop record in the big three pop categories?

— “Up for a Grammy with these guys thanks to everyone who has been a part of this fantastic musical transition”, best dance recording nominee Justin Bieber, via Instagram, along with a photo of himself with Diplo and Skrillex, who all worked on the hit song, “Where Are U Now”. The 58th Grammys will air live on February 15, 2016, from the Staples Center in Los Angeles. In a ideal world, the Recording Academy’s newfound enthusiasm would result in Lamar getting the top prize of the night, the Album of the Year Grammy, but, as Lamar’s work so often reminds listeners, this is not a flawless world.

Another notable nominee is the is the rock band Alabama Shakes. The band has four nominations this this year.

As expected, rapper Kendrick Lamar, alternative R&B hitmaker The Weeknd, and country sweetheart turned pop superstar Taylor Swift amassed the most nominations. “That’s all I can really ask for”.

The Grammy Awards are voted by members of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, and it includes a total of 83 categories.

Lamar and Swift also share a nomination for their collaboration on Swift’s Bad Blood, which featured the rapper, but will go head to head with Swift in the “Song of the Year” category, where his Alright competes with Swift’s Blank Space to be named the best track of 2015.

Grammys voters tend to cast their ballots for music that feels comfortingly familiar, unabashedly populist, socially righteous and commercially successful – and fans have heard complex combinations of all of those things in both 1989 and To Pimp A Butterfly. If you would like to discuss another topic, look for a relevant article. To report spam or abuse, click the “X” in the upper right corner of the comment box.