Kendrick Lamar, The Weeknd & (Shocker) Taylor Swift: Here Are Your 2016 Grammy Nominees
EntertainmentThis year’s Grammy nominees are out, and for the most part, it’s business as usual: a bunch of people who topped sales charts, a couple of wild cards and seemingly random choices (Meghan Trainor, Best New Artist?) and Taylor Swift.
Kendrick Lamar led with eleven nominations and Swifties will be glad to know she got seven, but the unexpected hits are the most interesting. Courtney Barnett was a surprise in Best New Artist; The Internet and Kehlani were both nominated for “Best Urban Contemporary Album” (and yet again we are forced to ask, what the fuck does “urban contemporary” mean).
Amy Poehler and Lisa Lampanelli both got nods for spoken word and comedy albums, respectively; Diplo was nominated for Producer of the Year; and if Hamilton doesn’t win for Best Musical Theater album, there is no god or America. Most of the main categories (and many of the confounding ones) are below; for the full list, for instance if you are dying to know which jams were nominated for Best Surround Sound Album, go here.
Record of the Year
D’Angelo and the Vanguard, “Really Love”
Mark Ronson f. Bruno Mars, “Uptown Funk”
Ed Sheeran, “Thinking Out Loud”
Taylor Swift, “Blank Space”
The Weeknd, “Can’t Feel My Face”
Album of the Year
Alabama Shakes, Sound & Color
Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp a Butterfly
Chris Stapleton, Traveller
Taylor Swift, 1989
The Weeknd, Beauty Behind the Madness
Song of the Year
Kendrick Lamar, “Alright”
Taylor Swift, “Blank Space”
Little Big Town, “Girl Crush”
Wiz Khalifa f. Charlie Puth, “See You Again”
Ed Sheeran, “Thinking Out Loud”
Best New Artist
Courtney Barnett
James Bay
Sam Hunt
Tori Kelly
Meghan Trainor
Best Pop Solo Performance
Kelly Clarkson, “Heartbeat Song”
Ellie Goulding, “Love Me Like You Do”
Ed Sheeran, “Thinking Out Loud”
Taylor Swift, “Blank Space”
The Weeknd, “I Can’t Feel My Face”
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance
Florence & the Machine, “Ship to Wreck”
Maroon 5, “Sugar”
Mark Ronson & Bruno Mars, “Uptown Funk”
Taylor Swift f. Kendrick Lamar, “Bad Blood”
Wiz Khalifa f. Charlie Puth, “See You Again”
Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album
Tony Bennett & Bill Charlap, The Silver Lining: The Songs of Jerome Kern
Bob Dylan, Shadows in the Night
Josh Grobham, Stages
Seth MacFarlane, No One Ever Tells You
Barry Manilow and nem, My Dream Duets
Best Pop Vocal Album
Kelly Clarkson, Piece by Piece
Florence & the Machine, How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful
Mark Ronson, Uptown Special
Taylor Swift, 1989
James Taylor, Before This World
Best Dance Recording
Above & Beyond f. Zoe Johnston, “We’re All We Need”
The Chemical Brothers, “Go”
Flying Lotus f. Kendrick Lamar, “Never Catch Me”
Galantis, “Runaway (U & I)”
Skrillex & Diplo f. Justin Bieber, “Where R Ü Now”
Best Dance/Electronic Album
Caribou, Our Love
The Chemical Brothers, Born in the Echoes
Disclosure, Caracal
Jamie xx, In Colour
Skrillex & Diplo Present Jack Ü
Best Rock Performance
Alabama Shakes, “Don’t Wanna Fight”
Florence + The Machine, “What Kind of Man”
Foo Fighters, “Something From Nothing”
Elle King, “Ex’s and Oh’s”
Wolf Alice, “Moaning Lisa Smile”
Best Metal Performance
August Burns Red, “Identity”
Ghost, “Cirice”
Lamb Of God, “512”
Sevendust, “Thank You”
Slipknot, “Custer”
Best Rock Album
James Bay, Chaos & the Calm
Death Cab For Cutie, Kintsugi
Highly Suspect, Mister Asylum
Muse, Drones
Slipknot, The Grey Chapter
Best Alternative Music Album
Alabama Shakes, Sound & Color
Björk, Vulnicura
My Morning Jacket, The Waterfall
Tame Impala, Currents
Wilco, Star Wars
Best R&B Performance
Tamar Braxton, “If I Don’t Have You”
Andra Day, “Rise Up”
Hiatus Kaiyote, “Breathing Underwater”
Jeremih Featuring J. Cole, “Planes”
The Weeknd, “Earned It”
Best Traditional R&B Performance
Faith Evans, “He Is”
Lalah Hathaway, “Little Ghetto Boy”
Jazmine Sullivan, “Let It Burn”
Tyrese, “Shame”
Charlie Wilson, “My Favorite Part of You”
Best R&B Song
Miguel, “Coffee”
The Weeknd, “Earned It”
Jazmine Sullivan, “Let It Burn”
D’Angelo And The Vanguard, “Really Love”
Tyrese, “Shame”
Best Urban Contemporary Album
The Internet, Ego Death
Kehlani, You Should Be Here
Lianne La Havas, Blood
Miguel, Wildheart
The Weeknd, Beauty Behind the Madness
Best R&B Album
Leon Bridges, Coming Home
D’Angelo And The Vanguard, Black Messiah
Andra Day, Cheers To the Fall
Jazmine Sullivan, Reality Show
Charlie Wilson, Forever Charlie
Best Rap Performance
J. Cole, “Apparently”
Drake, “Back to Back”
Fetty Wap, “Trap Queen”
Kendrick Lamar, “Alright”
Nicki Minaj Featuring Drake & Lil Wayne, “Truffle Butter”
Kanye West Featuring Theophilus London, Allan Kingdom & Paul McCartney, “All Day”
Best Rap/Sung Collaboration
Big Sean Featuring Kanye West & John Legend, “One Man Can Change the World”
Common & John Legend, “Glory”
Jidenna Featuring Roman GianArthur, “Classic Man”
Kendrick Lamar Featuring Bilal, Anna Wise & Thundercat, “These Walls”
Nicki Minaj Featuring Drake, Lil Wayne & Chris Brown, “Only”
Best Rap Song
Kanye West Featuring Theophilus London, Allan Kingdom & Paul McCartney, “All Day”
Kendrick Lamar, “Alright”
Drake, “Energy”
Common & John Legend, “Glory”
Fetty Wap, “Trap Queen”
Best Rap Album
J. Cole, 2014 Forest Hills Drive
Dr. Dre, Compton
Drake, If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late
Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp a Butterfly
Nicki Minaj, The Pinkprint
Best Country Album
Sam Hunt, Montevallo
Little Big Town, Pain Killer
Ashley Monroe, The Blade
Kacey Musgraves, Pageant Material
Chris Stapleton, Traveller
Best Latin Pop Album
Pablo Alborán, Terral
Alex Cuba, Healer
Ricky Martin, A Quien Quiera Escuchar
Alejandro Sanz, Sirope
Julieta Venegas, Algo Sucede
Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album
Bomba Estereo, Amanacer
La Cuneta Son Machín, Mondongo
Natalia Lafourcade, Hasta la Raíz
Monsieur Periné, Casa de Música
Pitbull, Dale
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