Lizzo is the top nominee for the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards, with eight nominations. This marks the first time that a new artist has been the year’s leading contender since 2004, when Kanye West was that year’s top nominee, with 10 noms. In the nominations announced on Wednesday morning (Nov. 20), Lizzo is followed on the leaderboard by Billie Eilish and Lil Nas X, with six noms each; and Ariana Grande, H.E.R. and Finneas O’Connell (Eilish’s older brother), with five noms each.

Lil Nas X, improbably, is this year’s top male nominee. His record of the year nomination for “Old Town Road” (featuring Billy Ray Cyrus), which famously set a new record for most weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 (19 weeks), was hardly a surprise, but his album of the year nom for his EP 7 was a bit unexpected.

For the first time in Grammy history, two artists are nominated in each of the “Big Four” categories (album, record and song of the year, plus best new artist) in the same year. Lizzo is nominated for the deluxe edition of her third album, Cuz I Love You, and for her smash “Truth Hurts.” Eilish is nominated for her first-full length album, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, and her smash hit “bad guy.”

H.E.R. and Finneas each received nominations for album, record and song of the year. H.E.R. scored with her compilation I Used to Know Her and soul ballad “Hard Place” (which she performed on last year’s Grammy telecast). Finneas scored with Eilish’s album, which he produced, and her hit “bad guy,” which he produced and co-wrote.

Eilish, 17, is the youngest artist to be nominated in each of the Big Four categories in the same year. That record was formerly held by Mariah Carey, who was 20 when was nominated in all four categories in 1990.

Eilish set other age-related records. She is the youngest artist in Grammy history to receive an album of the year nomination. The old record was held by Taylor Swift, who was 19 when the nominations for the 2009 awards were announced. Eilish is the youngest best new artist nominee since Justin Bieber, who was 16 when he was a 2010 nominee.

Women did exceptionally well in this year’s nominations. Female solo artists grabbed five of the eight slots for album of the year for the second year in a row. They also took five of the eight slots for best new artist for the second year in a row.

Here’s a closer look at five key categories on this year’s Grammy ballot:

Album of the year: Joining Lizzo, Eilish, H.E.R. and Lil Nas X are Bon Iver‘s I,I, Lana Del Rey‘s Norman F***ing Rockwell!, Grande’s Thank U, Next and Vampire Weekend‘s Father of the Bride. This is the first nomination in this category for all of these artists except H.E.R., who was nominated last year for her compilation, H.E.R.

H.E.R., 22, is just the third artist in Grammy history to amass two album of the year nominations at such a tender age. She follows Barbra Streisand (The Barbra Streisand Album, 1963, and People, 1964) and Karen Carpenter (Close to You, 1970, and Carpenters, 1971).

7, which clocks in at a brief 18:44, is one of the shortest album of the year nominees in history.

I,I and Father of the Bride are both also nominated for best alternative music album. It’s the first time that two alternative albums have been nominated for album of the year since 2000, when Beck‘s Midnite Vultures and Radiohead‘s Kid A were both nominated.

Norman F***ing Rockwell! isn’t the first title that includes what people used to call “the F word” to be nominated in a marquee category. Cee Lo Green‘s “F*** You” was nominated for record and song of the year for 2010.

Among the albums that were passed over in this category: Swift’s Lover, Maren Morris‘ Girl, Beyoncé‘s Homecoming: The Live Album, Ed Sheeran‘s No. 6 Collaborations Project, Khalid‘s Free Spirit, Bruce Springsteen‘s Western Stars, Tyler, the Creator‘s IGOR and Gary Clark Jr.‘s This Land. Swift was also passed over in this category with her previous album, reputation. This marks the first time she has missed out in this category with back-to-back studio albums.

Record of the year: Joining Lizzo, Eilish, H.E.R. and the Lil Nas X/Cyrus collab are Bon Iver’s “Hey Ma,” Grande’s “7 Rings,” Khalid’s “Talk” and Post Malone & Swae Lee‘s “Sunflower.”

This is the first nomination in this category for all of these artists except Cyrus (who was nominated in 1992 for “Achy Breaky Heart), Bon Iver (which was nominated in 2011 for “Holocene”) and Post Malone (who was nominated last year for “Rockstar,” featuring 21 Savage).

“Old Town Road” is this year’s only hit to receive nominations for both record of the year and best music video. Childish Gambino‘s “This Is America,” a vastly different work, won in both categories last year.

“7 Rings” interpolates Rodgers & Hammerstein’s “My Favorite Things” from The Sound of Music. That Julie Andrews-led soundtrack was a 1965 album of the year nominee.

Among the singles or tracks that were passed over in this category: Halsey‘s “Without Me,” Jonas Brothers‘ “Sucker,” Sheeran & Khalid’s “Beautiful People,” Swift’s “You Need to Calm Down,” Cardi B & Bruno Mars‘ “Please Me,” Sam Smith & Normani’s “Dancing with a Stranger” and Maren Morris’ “Girl.”

Song of the year: Joining “Bad Guy,” “Truth Hurts” and “Hard Place” are “Always Remember Us This Way” from A Star Is Born, “Bring My Flowers Now” from Tanya Tucker‘s comeback album While I’m Livin’, Lewis Capaldi‘s smash ballad “Someone You Loved” and the title songs from the Swift and Del Rey albums.

This is Swift’s fourth song of the year nomination, following “You Belong with Me,” “Shake It Off” and “Blank Space.” Swift is just the second female songwriter to amass four song of the year noms, following Marilyn Bergman, who co-wrote four song of the year nominees with her husband Alan Bergman.

Swift is the first songwriter to land a song of the year nomination for a song written without a collaborator since Mike Posner, who was nominated three years ago for “I Took a Pill in Ibiza.” She’s the first female songwriter to accomplish this feat since Sara Bareilles, who was nominated 11 years ago for “Love Song.”

“Always Remember Us This Way” is the second song from A Star Is Born to receive a song of the year nom, following “Shallow” last year. A Star Is Born is only the second soundtrack in Grammy history to yield two song of the year nominees. The first was The Lion King (1994), which spawned “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” and “Circle of Life.”

Among the songs that were passed over in this category: Morris’ “Girl,” Clark Jr.’s “This Land,” Halsey’s “Without Me,” Post Malone & Swae Lee’s “Sunflower,” Maggie Rogers‘ “Light On,” 21 Savage’s “a lot” (featuring J. Cole), Khalid’s “Talk” and JoBros’ “Sucker.”

Best new artist: Joining Eilish, Lizzo, Lil Nas X and Rogers are Black Pumas, Rosalía, Yola and a nine-member New Orleans group, Tank and the Bangas.

Rosalía is the first artist to be nominated for best new artist at the both the Grammys and the Latin Grammys. She was nominated in this category at the Latin Grammys two years ago. She is also the first artist to be nominated for best new artist with a foreign-language album (El mal querer). She is not, however, the first Latin artist to be nominated for best new artist. José Feliciano won in 1968. But he had a hit English-language album, Feliciano!, which included his soulful reinvention of the Doors’ “Light My Fire.”

Among the artists who were passed over in this category: Megan Thee Stallion, Summer Walker, Juice WRLD, Capaldi, Morgan Wallen, Blanco Brown and Carly Pearce.

Producer of the year (non-classical): Dan Auerbach, John Hill and Ricky Reed each received their second nominations in this category. Jack Antonoff and Finneas are first-time nominees in the category.

Finneas is nominated in each of the Big Three categories for his work with Eilish. Reed is nominated for record and album of the year for his work with Lizzo. Antonoff is nominated for album and song of the year for his work with Del Rey.

Happy Birthday

Keyboardist Leroy “Lonnie” Jordan (War) 71

Singer Chauncy Black (Blackstreet) 51

Singer Tyrone Triggs

Singer/songerwriter/producer David Porter 78

This song is the property of Geffen Records.

Wrecks-N-Effect is an American New Jack Swing group from Harlem, New York City remembered for their 1992 hit “Rump Shaker.” On June 25, 2019, The New York Times Magazine listed Wrecks-N-Effect among hundreds of artists whose material was reportedly destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.

This song is the property of Warner Urban Music.

Ashford & Simpson are an American husband-wife songwriting-production team. They’re also recording artists in their own right. The duo began their careers in the mid-1960s, writing songs for such artists as the 5th Dimension, Aretha Franklin and Ray Charles. Their work with Charles brought them to the attention of Motown Records founder Berry Gordy. Upon joining the Motown staff in 1966, they were paired with Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, for whom they wrote and produced “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”, “Your Precious Love”, “Ain’t Nothing Like The Real Thing” and “You’re All I Need To Get By.” They also produced three albums for singer Diana Ross, including her self titled debut solo album, “Surrender” and “The Boss.” All three albums were critically acclaimed. As performers, their careers began in the early 1960s as part of the gospel group The Followers, with whom they recorded the album “Gospel Meeting”, and later released the album “Meeting The Followers.” In 1964, they recorded “I’ll Find You” as Valerie & Nick. Simpson went on to record the albums “Valerie Simpson Exposed” and “Valerie Simpson” for Motown, while Ashford (along with Frank Wilson) produced “I’m Gonna Make You Love Me” for Diana Ross & The Supremes, a collaboration with The Temptations. In 1973, they left  Motown after the albums Simpson recorded received poor promotion and the company refused to release an album of the duo recording a collection of their most famous songs by other artists. In 1974, Ashford & Simpson married and resumed their careers as a duo with the Warner Bros. album “Gimme Something Real.” 1977 saw the release of the albums “So So Satisfied” and “Send It.” They charted with such singles as “Don’t Cost You Nothing”, “Send It”, “It Seems To Hang On” and “Found A Cure” among others. Additionally, they were special guest vocalists on the Quincy Jones hit “Stuff Like That.” Nick Ashford died on August 22, 2011, four days before Valerie Simpson’s 65th birthday, of complications from throat cancer. They released the albums “Gimme Something Real” (1973), “I Wanna Be Selfish” (1974), “Come As You Are” (1976), “So So Satisfied” (1977), “Send It” (1977), “Is It Still Good To Ya” (1978), “Stay Free” (1979), “A Musical Affair” (1980), “Street Opera” (1982), “High-Rise” (1983), “Solid” (1984), “Real Love” (1986), “Love Or Physical” (1989) and “Been Found” (1996).

 

After much speculation and several singles, rapper Stormzy confirmed that his sophomore effort, “Heavy Is The Head”, will be released on Dec. 13 via #Merky Records/Atlantic. The album cover art features the rapper looking down on  a backpack with his homeland England’s flag painted on it. The album’s abbreviated letters, “HITH”, make a gold crown around his head. Stormzy also unveiled the album’s track list, which includes the previously released singles “Crown”, “Wiley Flow” and “Vossi Bop.” It also includes special guest appearances by Ed Sheeran, H.E.R. and Yebba. “Heavy Is The Head” is the followup to his 2017 debut, “Gang Signs & Prayer.” See the track list below.

Track Listing

1. Big Michael
2. Audacity (feat. Headie One)
3. Crown
4. Rainfall (feat. Tiana Major9)
5. Rachael’s Little Brother
6. Handsome
7. Do Better
8. Don’t Forget to Breathe (feat. Yebba) (Interlude)
9. One Second (feat. H.E.R.)
10. Pop Boy (feat. Aitch)
11. Own It (feat. Ed Sheeran & Burna Boy)
12. Wiley Flow
13. Bronze
14. Super Heroes
15. Lessons
16. Vossi Bop

 

This song is the property of Atlantic Records.

Tyquian Terrel Bowman, known professionally as Quando Rondo, is an American rapper/singer from Savannah, GA. In January 2018, Bowman released the single “I Remember”, a duet with fellow rapper Lil Baby. He followed that up with the singles “Motivation ” and “Paradise.” The videos for all three singles accumulated  millions of views on You Tube. On April 17, 2018, he released his debut mixtape, “Life B4 Fame.” The album featured the single “ABG.” It accumulated 1 million streams on MyMixtapez in it’s first two days of release. In June 2018, Bowman released the single “Kiccin Shit.” Later that month, it was announced that he had been signed to rapper YoungBoy Never Broke Again’s Never Broke Again, LLC. On September 24, 2018, Bowman released the mixtape “Life After Fame.”

This song is the property of G2 Productions LLC.

Jonquia Rose is an American singer/songwriter from Jackson, Mississippi. “I Found Love” is take from the first installment of her two-part autobiographical EP “Single Mom.”

Happy Birthday

Singer/songwriter Alicia Myers 62

Remembering singer John “J Blackfoot” Colbert (November 20, 1946-November 30, 2011-The Soul Children)

Louisiana-born, Huntsville, AL based R&B singer Wade Brown just released the soul-stirring album, “Food At The House Vol. 1.” Dubbed “Free Love. Free Chill. Free Food”, the 13-song project is an eclectic gumbo of soulful tracks, featuring lush melodies and hypnotizing vocals from the singer/songwriter. In 2011, Brown appeared as a contestant on Season 10 of “American Idol”, where he advanced to the Top 50. A year later, he appeared on Season 2 of “The Voice” as a member of Ceelo Green’s  team. He released his debut EP “Coffee” in December 2016. After collaborating with Summer Walker on her single “Come Thru”, which draws inspiration from his hit “You Make Me Wanna”, R&B veteran Usher returns with another collaboration. This time around, he joins forces with breakout R&B star Ella Mai on the heartfelt single “Don’t Waste My Time”, which samples the Hi-Five classic “I Like The Way (The Kissing Game).” On the track, which was produced by Jermaine Dupri and Bryan Michael Cox with lyrics contributed by Vedo, Usher and Ella deliver blissful and heart-tugging vocals perfect for cuffing season. Their chemistry is undeniable. Usher is preparing his next studio effort, “Confessions 2”, the followup to “Confessions.” Rising R&B star Bouji Bailey steps into the spotlight with her latest single, “It Ain’t Over”, a collaboration with up and coming rapper Tonii Boii. On the track, the songstress refuses to back down from heartbreak. Bouji Bailey began her career singing in an elementary school choir. She grew up listening to Earth, Wind & Fire, Beyonce, Chris Brown and Michael Jackson. She has collaborated with Atlanta rapper Jitt and now Tonii Boii. Toronto-based singer Staasia Daniels just released the single, “FBGS (Fall Back Game Strong)”, a song that finds the singer tackling relationship hiccups. “FBGS” begins a new era of music for Staasia, which includes a forthcoming collection of tales of love and other situationships.

A week after surviving a near fatal shooting in his hometown Chicago, rapper Lil Reese returns with a song that chronicles the danger all around. “Come Inside” was reportedly recorded before the rapper (born Tavares Taylor) was shot in the neck in an unsolved shooting on Nov. 11 at the busy intersection of Country Club Hills, a Southern suburban Chicago neighborhood. The track contains a spare beat and piano refrain. Taylor was listed in critical condition after the incident and discharged over the weekend, sharing his good fortune with fans yesterday.  Listen to “Come Outside” below.

This song is the property of Lil Reese.