Jay-Z leads Grammy race with eight nods

JAY-Z led the Grammy race with eight nominations, followed closely by fellow rapper Kendrick Lamar with seven, in a striking embrace of hip-hop for the music industry’s top prizes.

Jay-Z ( right), who has won an impressive 21 Grammys in his career but has never before been nominated in a major category as a solo artiste, is up for album of the year for his 4:44 as well as for record and song of the year.

4:44 marked a return to music by the 47-year-old multi-millionaire after years focused on business ventures.

Lamar’s seven nominations came for DAMN., an album which switched back to a more traditional hip-hop style after the 30-year-old Los Angeles native’s experiments with jazz, electronica and spoken word.

Bruno Mars ( above, far right), the fun-loving funk revivalist, also fared well with six nods including album of the year for his 24K Magic.

Despacito, the viral hit that tied for the most weeks ever on top of the US singles chart despite being in Spanish, was nominated both for record of the year, which recognises the overall performance, and song of the year, which honours the songwriter.

If it triumphs, Despacito would again make history as the first song in a language other than English to win in either category since Italian songwriter Domenico Modugno’s Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu – popularly known as Volare after its chorus – at the very first Grammys in 1959.

This time round, 10-time Grammy winner Taylor Swift was only nominated in two side categories – for best song written for visual media for her Fifty Shades collaboration with Zayn, I Don’t Wanna Live Forever, and for best country song as writer of Little Big Town’s heartbreaking hit Better Man.

Her chart-topping new album, Reputation, came out too late for consideration for album of the year.

Lorde is the only woman in contention for album of the year with Melodrama, the 21-year-old New Zealander’s sophomore work, a dancepop exploration of the challenges of adulthood.

The contenders for best new artiste include the quickly-emerging young singers Alessia Cara and Khalid, who are also nominated for song of the year for the anti-suicide track, 1-800-2738255 (the title refers to a US telephone helpline).

Also up for best new artiste are the fast-charging rapper Lil Uzi Vert, prolific songwriter-turned-breakout pop star Julia Michaels and the innovative R&B singer SZA.

The Recording Academy, which consists of more than 13,000 music professionals, will vote to decide the winners who will be unveiled at the annual Grammys gala on Jan 28 next year.

The ceremony will take place in New York, Jay-Z’s hometown, to mark the awards’ 60th edition after 14 years in Los Angeles. – AFP