Rap, R&B dominate Grammy nominees
Jay-Z, Lamar lead picks — Sheeran snubbed as Academy diversifies
Rappers Jay-Z and Kendrick Lamar notched up the most nominations for the 60th annual Grammy Awards, announced Tuesday, Nov. 28, signaling that even fogyish institutions like the Recording Academy are trying to step away from a whitewashed vision of America.
The British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran, who in previous years would have seemed like a shoo-in for the big four categories, on the other hand, came away almost empty-handed.
With major pop stars like Adele and Beyoncé out of the running, it was clear from the outset that the list of nominees for the 2018 Grammys would diversify, but few could have predicted it would lean so heavily on rap and R&B artists, especially in the most prestigious categories.
For the first time in Grammy’s six-decade history, no white men were nominated for the night’s biggest prize.
Jay-Z, who gets personal on his latest release, “4:44,” is nominated for eight honors, including album, song and record of the year. Lamar’s politically charged “Damn” brought in seven nominations,
including album, record and best rap performance of the year for his single “Humble,” while Bruno Mars’ 1990s-inspired “24K Magic” earned him six nods, including placement in the big three races.
Childish Gambino, the alter ego of Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning actor Donald Glover, meanwhile, continues to move toward becoming dominant in every category of pop entertainment. He scored five nominations, including album of the year, with “Awaken, My Love!” Other acts who earned five nominations include the breakout R&B singers SZA and Khalid, as well as Jay-Z producer No I.D.
Lorde’s “Melodrama” also got an album of the year nod, ensuring that if the prize didn’t go to a person of color it would at least go to a woman.
The contenders were revealed by Andra Day live on “CBS This Morning,” with the complete list of nominees appearing shortly afterward at www.grammy.com.
The nominations come after the 2017 Grammys received heavy criticism for picking Adele’s “25” over Beyoncé’s evocative “Lemonade” for album of the year. The year before that it was Taylor Swift’s “1989” beating out Lamar’s “To Pimp a Butterfly,” and before that, Beck’s “Morning Phase” triumphing over Beyoncé’s selftitled album, and so on. This year’s picks better reflect the diversity represented on the charts and music streaming services.
No rock or country acts — for the first time in 14 years — were nominated in the top four categories.
It’s no coincidence that the Grammys opened up online voting for the first time this year.
Sheeran, whose latest album, “Divide,” is the second-biggest selling release of 2017 behind Taylor Swift’s “Reputation” (which was released after the Sept. 30 cutoff date for eligibility), was snubbed in almost all of the major fields.
A familiar face to Grammy voters, Sheeran walked away with only two nominations, one for best pop vocal album, while his No. 1 single off that record, “Shape of You,” is up for best pop solo performance.
Lady Gaga also failed to clinch any major nominations with her latest album “Joanne,” despite a high-profile halftime show at this year’s Super Bowl. She’s up for best pop vocal album and best pop solo performance for her hit “Million Reasons.”
Kelly Clarkson’s “Love So Soft,” Kesha’s “Praying” and Pink’s “What About Us” also appear in the best pop solo performance category.
Latin pop sensation Luis Fonsi is up for record of the year, song of the year and best pop duo/group performance for the Spanish-sung “Despacito,” his collaboration with Daddy Yankee and Justin Bieber. The hit single already got the song of the year prize at the Latin Grammys.
Joining Khalid and SZA in the best new artist category are Alessia Cara, Lil Uzi Vert and Julia Michaels.
Locally, Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony earned a nomination for best orchestral performance for “Debussy: Images; Jeux & La Plus Que Lente,” while Nicholas Phan is up for best classical solo vocal album with “Gods & Monsters.”
Metallica got nods for best rock album and best rock song with its latest, “Hardwired … to Self-Destruct,” Stanford alum and rapper K. Flay got a nomination for best rock song for “Blood in the Cut,” and the Grateful Dead’s “Long Strange Trip,” directed by Amir Bar-Lev, is in the running for best music film.
The 60th Grammy Awards will be held at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Jan. 28 and broadcast live by CBS. Aidin Vaziri is The San Francisco Chronicle’s pop music critic. Email: avaziri@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @MusicSF