FILE PHOTO: Drake performs during the iHeartRadio Music Festival at The T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., September 23, 2016. REUTERS/Steve Marcus
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Rappers Kendrick Lamar and Drake led Grammy Award nominations on Friday, with eight and seven nods, respectively.
Drake and Lamar were also nominated in the top category – album of the year – along with rappers Cardi B and Post Malone, R&B singer Janelle Monae, folk singer Brandi Carlile, country star Kacey Musgraves, R&B artist H.E.R. and the “Black Panther” movie soundtrack.
The Grammy Awards, chosen by members of the Recording Academy, will be handed out at a ceremony in Los Angeles on Feb. 10.
Grammy organizers said in June they would expand to eight from five the number of nominees in the top four categories – record, song and album of the year, and best new artist – to allow a more diverse line-up. Five artists had been nominated in each category since the Grammys were first awarded in 1959.
Hip hop and R&B surpassed rock for the first time in 2017 as the biggest music genre in the United States, according to a Nielsen Music report.
Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Franklin Paul and Bernadette Baum
