WHAT A YEAR! The past twelve months have been memorable to the say the least, especially when it comes to music. From Justin Bieber returning; Kendrick Lamar releasing one of the most important records of the year; Drake fooling everyone and surprise-releasing not one, but two new records; the rise of The Weeknd and the total world domination of Taylor Swift, it’s safe to say the industry’s heavyweights really put in the miles this year – and whether or not they had awards in sight, each of the aforementioned acts (and many more) have now picked up one of the industry’s most important nods.
The 58th annual Grammy awards are set to take place on February 15, 2016 at the Staples Centre in LA. Whether you have some grievances with the awards in the past or not (subtle racism, anyone?), there is no denying that these awards do indeed hold the most significance of awards – however much that may be.
Narrowing the past year down to just a few names on a shortlist would have been no easy feat, and whilst in the past there have been some questionable nominations (looking at you, Milli Vanilli), we can’t help but feel they really hit the nail on the head this year.
Kendrick Lamar has lead the charge with a whopping 11 nominations in nine categories, including Song of the Year and Album of the Year, with The Weekend coming in at 2nd place with seven nominations. Drake copped five nods, Florence & The Machine and Alabama Shakes tied for four, and Kanye West, Diplo and D’Angelo each scored three nominations individually.
What is perhaps most interesting is the fact that Australian exports Courtney Barnett, Tame Impala and Hiatus Kaiyote also each nabbed a nomination, for Best New Artist, Best Alternative Album and Best R&B Performance respectively. Australia continues to hold a special place in America’s heart, and this just goes to show just how much the Yanks are paying attention.
The nominees for Record of the Year are D’Angelo’s Really Love, Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars‘ Uptown Funk, Ed Sheeran‘s Thinking Out Loud, Taylor Swift‘s Blank Space, and the Weeknd’s Can’t Feel My Face; whilst the nominees for Album of the Year are slightly different (and better in our opinion) with Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly, Taylor Swift’s 1989, Alabama Shakes’ Sound & Color, Chris Stapleton’s Traveller, and the Weeknd’s Beauty Behind the Madness all receiving a nod.
Nicki Minaj, Jamie xx, Caribou, J. Cole, Wiz Khalifa and Björk also all received a nomination each, as well as The Chemical Brothers, Diplo & Skrillex and many more. Check out the full list here.