LIFE’S A STREAM
CHANCE THE RAPPER MAKES GRAMMY HISTORY
When the 2017 Grammy Awards are handed out on Feb. 12, Chicago artists will be among those vying for some of the music industry’s top prizes.
Kanye West has scored eight nominations this year ( tied with Drake and Rihanna; Beyonce had nine), including best rap album (“The Life of Pablo”). West also will compete with himself in three categories: best rap song, rap performance and rap/ sung performance.
In the biggest breakthrough, Chance the Rapper scored seven nominations including best new artist, best rap performance, (“No Problem,” featuring Lil Wayne and 2Chainz), as a writer on Kanye’s “Famous” and “Ultralight Beam,” best rap/ sung performance for “Ultralight Beam” and in a history- making nod, best rap album for his streamed- only release of “Coloring Book.” Released in May, the 13- song project became the first streaming- only album to debut in the Top 10 of the Billboard 200 albums chart, with nearly 60 million streams in its first week. A rule change for the Grammys this year allowed streaming- only recordings — released on paid- subscription platforms like Spotify, Apple Music and Tidal, but not for sale on iTunes — to be eligible for nominations.
BJ the Chicago Kid is nominated for best R& B performance for “Turnin’ Me Up,” best traditional R& B performance for “Woman’s World” and best R& B album for “In My Mind.”
The Broadway cast recording of “The Color Purple,” starring Chicago’s Jennifer Hudson, is nominated for best musical theater album.
On the classical music front, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus are featured on two nominated works by producer David Frost, the Schoenberg “Kol Nidre”/ Shostakovich “Suite On Verses Of Michelangelo Buonarroti,” both conducted by Riccardo Muti. Third Coast Percussion’s “Steve Reich,” Spektral Quartet’s “Serious Business” and Lincoln Trio’s “Trios From Our Homeland” albums are each nominated in the best chamber music/ small ensemble performance category.
Chicago blues legend Lurrie Bell is nominated for best traditional blues album for “Can’t Shake This Feeling,” alongside longtime Chicago resident and Muddy Waters protegé Bobby Rush, nominated for his album, “Porcupine Meat.” Lalah Hathaway is nominated for best R& B album for her release “Lalah Hathaway Live” and best traditional R& B performance for “Angel.” Chicago folk music icon Robbie Fulks received two nominations, for best American roots song (“Alabama at Night”) and best folk album “Upland Stories.”
Chicago’s Alligator Records snagged two nominations for the album “God Don’t Never Change: The Songs Of Blind Willie Johnson” — for best roots gospel album, and for the single “Mother’s Children Have A Hard Time” ( performed by The Blind Boys Of Alabama, with Jason Isbell on guitar) nominated in the best American roots performance category.