Kendrick Lamar, Drake, Brandi Carlile and hit producer Boi-1Da led the nominees list for the 2019 Grammy Awards, which were announced this morning. Lamar leads with 8, Drake follows with 7, and Carlile and Drake/Cardi B/Jay-Z & Beyonce producer Boi-1Da have six each. While three of those nominees are not surprising, singer-songwriter Carlile is a left-field leader: She has nominations in the Roots and Americana categories, but is also up for three of the big four categories (Best Album, and Song and Record of the Year).
Not far behind with five are Cardi B, Childish Gambino, Lady Gaga, Maren Morris, and surprise multi-nominee H.E.R., who is up for both Album of the Year and Best New Artist, along with several R&B nominations; Kendrick Lamar/”Black Panther” producer Sounwave and mastering engineer Mike Bozzi also have five nominations.
The Recording Academy received heavy criticism in the wake of last year’s awards over a lack of diversity — much but not all of it justified — and it has responded with a list that is diverse both racially and in terms of gender. Looking at the four main categories, 5 out of 7 Album of the Year nominees are female artists (the 8th is the Lamar-helmed multi-artist “Black Panther” soundtrack); 6 of the 8 nominees for Best New Artist are female; 5 of the 8 nominees for Song of the Year are by female artists or co-billed with male artists; 5 of the 8 nominees for Record of the year have at least one female songwriter. And, as is blindingly obvious from the airplay and sales charts in recent years, hip-hop, R&B and pop are the dominant genres.
