GRAMMY AWARD NOMINATIONS 2018

NEW YORK (AP) — Jay-Z is the leader of the 2018 Grammy Award nominations in a year where the top four categories are heavily dominated by rap and R&B artists, giving the often overlooked genres a strong chance of winning big.
The Recording Academy announced Tuesday that Jay-Z is nominated for eight honors, including album, song, and record of the year. Bruno Mars is also nominated for the big three, while Kendrick Lamar — who earned seven nominations — and Childish Gambino are also up for major awards.

"Despacito" is also nominated for song of the year — a songwriter's award — along with Mars' No. 1 hit, "That's What I Like"; the title track from Jay-Z's "4:44"; rapper Logic's suicide prevention anthem, "1-800-273-8255"; and "Issues" by Julia Michaels, the singer who has written hits for Bieber, Selena Gomez and other pop stars.

No rock or country acts were nominated in the top four categories. The rap- and R&B-heavy nominations, which include numerous black and Latino artists, come after the Grammys were criticized earlier this year when some felt Beyonce's multi-genre "Lemonade" album should have won album of the year over Adele's "25." Adele also expressed that Beyonce should have received the prize.

The win for Adele, though, marked another year when the Grammys awarded its biggest prizes to an artist outside of the rap or R&B genre. Kanye West, Eminem, Mariah Carey and others have also lost in the top categories over the years to pop, rock and country acts despite owning the year in music, critically and commercially.

Despacito the biggest worldwide hit song of the year will be performed with Justin Bieber at the 60th Grammy Awards live from New York's Madison Square Garden January 28th.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/music/grammy/jay-z-bruno-mars-lead-grammy-noms-in-top-categories/ar-BBFSiOK?li=BBnb7Kz

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