Courtney Barnett: Really glad – and definitely surprised – to see the Australian indie-rocker get nominated for best new artist.
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Rapper Kendrick Lamar on Monday received a near-record number of Grammy Award nominations, with pop superstar Taylor Swift leading for the most prestigious categories. Swift and the Weeknd are each nominated for seven awards.
But, word among Taylor’s circle is that Swift was shocked when the Grammy nominations list came out – and her pal Kendrick Lamar left her in the dust. Producer Max Martin – the guy everyone with a massive budget calls when they want a pop hit – has his mitts in everything from Swift’s to Adele’s latest, and he is up for six nominations this year, including the coveted Song of the Year trophy, a songwriter’s award that Martin might claim for his work on Swift’s “Blank Space”. And local singer and keyboardist PJ Morton, son of gospel vocalist and preacher Bishop Paul S. Morton of Greater St. Stephen Church, is nominated as a member of Maroon 5 in the best pop duo/group performance category for the song sugar. Lamar, the visceral rapper from Compton, steered the pack with 11 nods, followed by The Weeknd & Swift with seven every.
Charlie Wilson arrives at the BET Awards at the Microsoft Theater on Sunday, June 28, 2015, in Los Angeles. No host is announced yet. Chris Stapleton’s album, which became at white-hot success after he won three honors and performed alongside Justin Timberlake at the CMAs, is also up for Grammy album of the year – marking a return to top prize for country music after some time.
The nod for Stapleton is also a nod for Dave Cobb, who has produced the best country albums of the past few years. You can bet she’ll be all over the 2017 Grammys. To Pimp a Butterfly was hailed by critics of the genre, and has already been awarded album of the year on numerous year-end lists.
With that in mind, I had some thoughts on the 2016 nominations. Chris Stapleton continues to receive a deserved spotlight with his “Traveller” album, which can compete for album of the yr together with Lamar’s “To Pimp a Butterfly”, Swift’s “1989”, The Weeknd’s “Beauty Behind the Madness” & Alabama Shakes’ “Sound & Color”. And it’s cool to see five nods for Florence + The Machine as well as a smattering of nominations in the Rap/R&B/Urban Contemporary categories for Miguel, the Internet, Jeremih, Drake, Nicki Minaj, Jidenna, and Dr. Dre. Their four nominations include best alternative music album as well as best rock performance and song for “Don’t Wanna Fight”.
I don’t know why Kanye West’s “All Day” got nominated and I am amused that Drake’s diss track “Back to Black” scored one, too, but overall, I did not look at the rap categories and think, “What the hell is wrong with these old, white folks?”
Best dance recording: Above & Beyond featuring Zoë Johnston, “We’re All We Need”; The Chemical Brothers, “Go”; Flying Lotus featuring Kendrick Lamar, “Never Catch Me”; Galantis, “Runaway (U & I)”; Skrillex and Diplo With Justin Bieber, “Where Are Ü Now”.
The British singer/songwriter was completely shut-out of this year’s nominations, despite smashing records and garnering plenty of critical praise with her third album, 25, following its release on November 20.
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Home features two ragas, one of which is a creation of her late father Ravi Shankar.
