Drake, Cardi B lead American Music Awards

Rap has easily dominated the pop charts and on streaming services in the last few years, and that’s reflected at the 2018 American Music Awards.

Drake and Cardi B are the leaders with eight nominations each – earning bids in both the pop/rock and rap/hip-hop categories. Drake has the year’s top-selling album with

Scorpion and also scored three No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. He will compete for Artist of the Year alongside Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, Imagine Dragons and Post Malone.

In the rap/hip-hop and pop/rock categories, Drake earned nominations for Favourite Male Artist, Favourite Album and Favourite Song with

God’s Plan. Rapper XXX Tentacion, a streaming juggernaut before his death in June and afterward, earned nominations for New Artist Of The Year and Favourite Soul/R&B album.

While some of the nominees were expected, others turned heads and seemed outdated, though that’s because the nominees reflect albums and songs that were successful on radio, streaming services and the Billboard charts during the time period of mid-September 2017 through August 9, 2018. Some of the head-turners include Ed Sheeran’s Divide and Khalid’s American Teen, or Cardi B’s Bodak Yellow

(Money Moves) and SZA’s Ctrl. Luke Combs’s 2017 album, This One’s for You, is a country album nominee. Rihanna picked up a nomination for favourite soul/R&B female artist alongside SZA and newcomer Ella Mai, while Cardi B’s

Invasion of Privacy was surprisingly shut of the favorite rap/hip-hop album category. The AMAs will air live on October 9.