Miguel rewarded with Grammy nominations

JONATHAN LANDRUM JR.

When Miguel didn’t receive any nominations for the Grammy Awards presented earlier this year, it surprised many people because he had last year’s most popular R&B song with Sure Thing.

But the apparent Grammy snub didn’t derail the 25-year-old singer from Los Angeles. He returned with more impressive work in 2012 and is now up for five awards, including song of the year for his crossover hit, Adorn.

“I think through that experience I learned, or I was reminded, that all of this is icing on the cake. The real blessing is that people are actually listening to the music,” he said. “I take it in stride and I feel really blessed and I’m incredibly humbled by it.”

Adorn hit the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop songs chart and is a Top 20 pop hit. It’s from his sophomore album, Kaleidoscope Dream, which debuted at No. 3 on Billboard’s Top 200 albums chart. It’s nominated for new category best urban contemporary album, pitting him against Frank Ocean’s channel ORANGE and Chris Brown’s Fortune.

“I just want to be one of those artists that are pushing those boundaries,” he said. “I want to lead people to discover sounds and ideas that they might not have discovered themselves.”

Miguel had success with his 2010 debut, All I Want Is You, which featured the R&B hits Sure Thing, Quickie and the title track. He was also known for his guest appearance on rapper Wale’s Lotus Flower Bomb, which he cowrote, and is nominated for best rap song.

Adorn is also nominated for best R&B performance and best R&B song, where the singer will compete with the two people he’s currently on tour with: Trey Songz and Elle Varner.

“I love it,” he said. “It says a lot about the tour, right?”