Hip-hop powerhouse Jay Z received nine Grammy nominations for his 2013 release, “Magna Carta Holy Grail.” He is the top honoree, while Drake lags behind with four nominations and Kanye West with three. Nonetheless, this is going to be a fierce award show.
Kendrick Lamar is being honored with nominations for Album of the Year and Best New Artist for his album “Good Kid, M.A.A.D City,” and longtime R&B prince Justin Timberlake has been nominated for his collaboration with Jay Z on “Suit & Tie” and for his album “The 20/20 Experience—The Complete Experience.”
The most interesting development is Tamar Braxton’s impressive three Grammy nominations for her debut single and album, both titled “Love and War.” She will be up for Best R&B Performance, Best R&B Song and Best Urban Contemporary Album.
Longtime honorees Eminem, super producer Pharrell Williams and CeeLo Green also gained nominations. Check out a complete list of R&B and hip-hop honorees for the 56th annual Grammy Awards!
Album of the Year:
- “The Blessed Unrest”—Sara Bareilles
- “Random Access Memories”—Daft Punk
- “Good Kid, M.A.A.D City”—Kendrick Lamar
- “The Heist”—Macklemore and Ryan Lewis
- “Red”—Taylor Swift
Record of the Year:
- “Get Lucky”—Daft Punk and Pharrell Williams
- “Radioactive”—Imagine Dragons
- “Royals”—Lorde
- “Locked Out of Heaven”—Bruno Mars
- “Blurred Lines”—Robin Thicke featuring T.I. and Pharrell Williams
Song of the Year:
- “Just Give Me A Reason”—Jeff Bhasker, Pink and Nate Ruess, songwriters (Pink featuring Nate Ruess)
- “Locked Out of Heaven”—Philip Lawrence, Ari Levine and Bruno Mars, songwriters (Bruno Mars)
- “Roar”—Lukasz Gottwald, Max Martin, Bonnie McKee, Katy Perry and Henry Walter, songwriters (Katy Perry)
- “Royals”—Joel Little and Ella Yelich O’Connor, songwriters (Lorde)
- “Same Love”—Ben Haggerty, Mary Lambert and Ryan Lewis, songwriters (Macklemore & Ryan Lewis featuring Mary Lambert)
Best New Artist:
- James Blake
- Kendrick Lamar
- Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
- Kacey Musgraves
- Ed Sheeran
Best R&B Performance:
- “Love and War”—Tamar Braxton
- “Best of Me”—Anthony Hamilton
- “Nakamarra”—Hiatus Kaiyote Featuring Q-Tip
- “How Many Drinks?”—Miguel Featuring Kendrick Lamar
- “Something”—Snarky Puppy with Lalah Hathaway
Best Urban Contemporary Album:
- “Love and War”—Tamar Braxton
- “Side Effects of You”—Fantasia
- “One: In the Chamber”—Salaam Remi
- “Unapologetic”—Rihanna
- “New York: A Love Story”—Mack Wilds
Best R&B Album:
- “R and B Divas”—Faith Evans
- “Girl on Fire”—Alicia Keys
- “Love In the Future”—John Legend
- “Better”—Chrisette Michele
- “Three Kings” — TGT
Best Traditional R&B Performance:
- “Please Come Home”—Gary Clark Jr.
- “Get It Right”—Fantasia
- “Quiet Fire”—Maysa
- “Hey Laura”—Gregory Porter
- “Yesterday”—Ryan Shaw
Best R&B Song (A Songwriters Award):
- “Best of Me”—Anthony Hamilton and Jairus Mozee, songwriters (Anthony Hamilton)
- “Love and War”—Tamar Braxton, Darhyl Camper Jr., LaShawn Daniels and Makeba Riddick, songwriters (Tamar Braxton)
- “Only One”—PJ Morton, songwriter (PJ Morton featuring Stevie Wonder)
- “Pusher Love Girl”—James Fauntleroy, Jerome Harmon, Timothy Mosley and Justin Timberlake, songwriters (Justin Timberlake)
- “Without Me”—Fantasia Barrino, Missy Elliott, Al Sherrod Lambert, Harmony Samuels and Kyle Stewart, songwriters (Fantasia featuring Kelly Rowland and Missy Elliot)
Best Rap Performance:
- Started From the Bottom”—Drake
- “Berzerk”—Eminem
- “Tom Ford”— Jay Z
- “Swimming Pools (Drank)”—Kendrick Lamar
- “Thrift Shop”—Macklemore & Ryan Lewis featuring Wanz
Best Rap/Sung Collaboration:
- “Power Trip”—J.Cole featuring Miguel
- “Part II (On the Run)”—Jay Z featuring Beyoncé
- “Holy Grail”—Jay Z featuring Justin Timberlake
- “Now or Never”—Kendrick Lamar featuring Mary J. Blige
- “Remember You”—Wiz Khalifa featuring The Weeknd
Best Rap Album:
- “Nothing was the Same”—Drake
- “Magna Carta…Holy Grail”—Jay Z
- “Good Kid, M.A.A.D City”—Kendrick Lamar
- “The Heist”—Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
- “Yeezus”—Kanye West
Best Rap Song:
- “F—n’ Problems”—Tauheed Epps, Aubrey Graham, Kendrick Lamar, Rakim Mayers and Noah Shebib, songwriters (ASAP Rocky featuring Drake, 2 Chainz and Kendrick Lamar)
- “Holy Grail”—Shawn Carter, Terius Nash, J. Harmon, Timothy Mosley, Justin Timberlake and Ernest Wilson; songwriters (Kurt Cobain, Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic, songwriters) (Jay Z featuring Justin Timberlake)
- “New Slaves”—Christopher Breaux, Ben Bronfman, Mike Dean, Louis Johnson, Malik Jones, Elon Rutberg, Sakiya Sandifer, Che Smith, Kanye West and Cydell Young; songwriters (Anna Adamis & Gabor Presser, songwriters) (Kanye West)
- “Started from the Bottom”—W. Coleman, Aubrey Graham and Noah Shebib; songwriters (Bruno Sanfilippo, songwriter) (Drake)
- “Thrift Shop”—Ben Haggerty and Ryan Lewis, songwriters (Macklemore & Ryan Lewis featuring Wanz)