The nominations for the 2018 Grammy Awards were announced
Tuesday morning. Now in its 60th year, the show is slated to air
January 28 on CBS.
The Grammy Awards has been honoring the best in all genres
of music for six decades now. Leading the pack in nominations this year is
Jay-Z, whose new album, ‘4:44,’ received a total of eight nods. Following close
behind are Kendrick Lamar with seven and Childish Gambino and Bruno Mars with
five each.
Vinyl Bay 777, Long Island’s music outlet, is taking a
closer look at some of this year’s Grammy nominees. From diversity to
posthumous awards and history-making nominations, here are six interesting
takeaways from this year’s list.
1.
Rap was very popular this year: In recent years,
the Grammys has been plagued by criticism over the lack of diversity in their
nominees. That gap decreases slightly this year, as hip-hop and R&B are finally
getting their due. As stated previously, Jay-Z,
Kendrick
Lamar, Childish
Gambino and Bruno Mars are all dominating the nominees list. Rap also fills
the New Artists category this year with Khalid, Lil Uzi Vert and SZA all vying
for the award.
2.
The lines of dance and alternative were blurred:
There are always a couple of head-scratchers when it comes to nominations. The
one that sticks out this year is the nomination of Gorillaz and LCD
Soundsystem for Best Dance Recording. While Gorillaz did make an album this
year with electronic leanings, both are a big surprise to find in this category.
Both are also nominated in the Best Alternative Album category as well, which
seems more understandable.
3.
Posthumous rock nods: The rock world lost a lot
of icons this year and the Grammys are recognizing a few of them. Leonard
Cohen, whose final album ‘You Want It Darker’ was released in October 2016,
three weeks after the eligibility cut-off for last year’s ceremony, is
nominated in the Best Rock Performance category this year for the album’s haunting
title track, as well as in Best American Roots Performance for the non-single “Steer
Your Way.” Late Soundgarden
frontman Chris Cornell is also nominated for Rock Performance, picking up a
solo nod for his one-off single “The Promise,” which was released as a charity
single benefiting the International Rescue Committee. Finally, Gregg
Allman is up for two awards: Best Americana Album for ‘Southern Blood’ and
Best American Roots Song for “My Only True Friend.”
4.
‘La La Land’ continues to shine: There is no
doubt that ‘La La Land’ was a huge success when it came out in December of
2016. The film won six of its 14 Oscar nods and dominated the Golden Globes.
Apparently the film is still riding high because it is nominated for four
awards, including all three Visual Media categories and a composition award for
Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals.
5.
“Despacito” is the first Latin track in a while
to be nominated for the big awards: It was very hard to escape the sound of “Despacito”
coming out of every speaker over the last year. The break-out crossover single
from Luis Fonsi was everywhere and the Grammys are giving it its due. The song is
nominated for Song of the Year and Record of the Year, as well as Pop Duo/Group
Performance. According to Billboard,
the last time a Latin crossover song took the English-speaking world like this
was in 2000 when Ricky
Martin’s “Living La Vida Loca” was blowing up.
6.
Kesha got her first Grammy nods: Over the last
seven years, Kesha has been a pop powerhouse with a handful of top 10 singles
and two top 10 albums to her name. But in all that time, she has never received
a Grammy nomination. That
is until now. Her latest album, ‘Rainbow,’ has produced two nominations for
her, one for Best Pop Vocal Album and one for Best Pop Solo Performance for the
beautiful and powerful “Praying.”
With the announcement of the 2018 Grammy nominees this morning,
the Recording Academy continues to honor some of the best music of the year. Honoring
a more diverse group of artists this year, as well as artists who truly had
banner years in their careers, the award show’s 60th year is looking
to be a good one.
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Find award-winning music from these artists and more at Long Island’s top new independent record shop, Vinyl Bay 777. We have thousands
of titles to choose from in a wide variety of genres. Browse our selection of
new and used vinyl records, CDs, cassettes, music DVDs and memorabilia in store
at our Plainview location or shop online at vinylbay777.com. With more titles
being added to our selection all the time, you never know what you might find
at Vinyl Bay 777.
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