Frank Ocean was among the leading nominees for the 55th Annual Grammy Awards, which were announced last night in Nashville. Ocean received 6 nominations, including Album of the Year and Best New Artist. Other big contenders include Mumford & Sons, The Black Keys, Jay-Z and Kanye West.
Rap album will be a heated category, with “Take Care,” – Drake, “Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album, Pt. 1,” – Lupe Fiasco, “Life Is Good,”— Nas, “Undun,”— The Roots, “God Forgives, I Don’t,”— Rick Ross, and “Based on a T.R.U. Story,” – Chainz all nominated
Nicki Minaj, queen of the Twitter feud, was snubbed for Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded.
Jay-Z and Kanye seem likely to win most of the other rap categories, each grabbing nominations for “Best Rap/Sung Collaboration” and “Best Rap Performance.”
Two of this year’s top selling acts, Justin Bieber and One Direction, were also snubbed entirely. While this may seem like a surprise, the Grammy committee is made of seasoned industry voters, and is known for passing over young pop acts.
This year’s top nominees include:
Album of the Year:
El Camino – The Black Keys
Some Nights– FUN.
Babel – Mumford & Sons
Channel Orange – Frank Ocean
Blunderbuss – Jack White
Record of the Year:
Lonely Boy – The Black Keys
Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You) – Kelly Clarkson
We Are Young – FUN. featuring Janelle Monáe
Somebody That I Used To Know – Gotye Featuring Kimbra
Thinkin Bout You – Frank Ocean
We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together – Taylor Swift
Best New Artist:
Alabama Shakes
FUN
Hunter Hayes
The Lumineers
Frank Ocean
Song Of The Year:
“The A Team” – Ed Sheeran, songwriter (Ed Sheeran)
“Adorn” – Miguel Pimentel, songwriter (Miguel)
“Call Me Maybe” – Tavish Crowe, Carly Rae Jepsen & Josh Ramsay, songwriters (Carly Rae Jepsen)
“Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)” – Jörgen Elofsson, David Gamson, Greg Kurstin & Ali Tamposi, songwriters (Kelly Clarkson)
“We Are Young” – Jack Antonoff, Jeff Bhasker, Andrew Dost & Nate Ruess, songwriters (FUN. featuring Janelle Monáe)
The Grammys will air Feb. 10 at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.