Kendrick Lamar and Lady Gaga will face off for the Grammys’ biggest awards

by

At the 68th Grammy Awards, Kendrick Lamar and Lady Gaga are competing for Album of the Year. This marks the first time these two major artists have gone head-to-head for the award, despite both being nominated four times before without a win. It’s a historic moment for both, as neither has yet received the Recording Academy’s highest honor.

Lamar is the frontrunner for next year’s awards, receiving nine nominations, as revealed by the academy on Friday. Gaga, Cirkut, and Jack Antonoff each earned seven nominations, while Bad Bunny, Sabrina Carpenter, and Leon Thomas each received six. Other artists with multiple nominations include Doechii, Clipse, Tyler, the Creator, Sounwave, Andrew Watt, Turnstile, and Serban Ghenea.

The 68th Grammys will take place Feb. 1 at Crypto.com Arena in downtown Angeles.

As a huge music fan, I was so excited to see Kendrick Lamar nominated for Album of the Year! It’s incredible considering “GNX” basically dropped out of nowhere last November. And after absolutely killing it at the Grammys with “Not Like Us” – which he even performed at the Super Bowl! – this nomination makes history. He’s the first solo artist ever to be up for that award with five albums in a row. It’s a testament to his consistent brilliance, honestly.

Lamar is once again up for awards for both Record of the Year and Song of the Year, thanks to his heartfelt duet, “Luther,” featuring SZA. The song beautifully samples classic tracks by Luther Vandross and Cheryl Lynn, specifically their hit “If This World Were Mine.”

Music

The rapper from Compton surprised fans with his new album, which was released on Friday, shortly after a highly publicized conflict with Drake.

Lady Gaga’s nomination for Album of the Year is for “Mayhem,” her popular return to upbeat dance-pop. The album was followed by a highly successful concert tour that began at Coachella in April. Gaga will also compete against Kendrick Lamar for Record and Song of the Year with her single “Abracadabra.” This is the fourth time she’s been nominated for Record of the Year and the fifth for Song of the Year, and she hasn’t won either award yet.

Several albums are also competing for the top prize – album of the year, which is like the Best Picture award at the Grammys. The nominees include ‘Man’s Best Friend’ by Carpenter, ‘Debí Tirar Más Fotos’ by Bad Bunny, ‘Let God Sort Em Out’ by Clipse, ‘Mutt’ by Thomas, ‘Chromakopia’ by Tyler, and ‘Swag’ by Justin Bieber.

For the first time ever, three rap albums are up for album of the year at the same awards show. This exciting milestone comes shortly after Billboard noted that, for the first time since 1990, no rap songs appeared in the top 40 of its Hot 100 chart.

Rosé, of the group Blackpink, has earned Grammy nominations for both Record and Song of the Year with her track “Apt.”, which she created with Bruno Mars. Additionally, “Golden” from the popular Netflix movie “KPop Demon Hunters” is also up for Song of the Year. These nominations mark the first time artists from the K-pop world have been recognized in major Grammy categories.

The final contenders for Record of the Year are Bad Bunny’s “DtMF,” Carpenter’s “Manchild,” Billie Eilish’s “Wildflower,” Chappell Roan’s “The Subway,” and Doechii’s “Anxiety.” Doechii’s song notably includes a sample from Gotye and Kimbra’s “Somebody That I Used to Know,” which won the same award in 2011.

Alongside those already mentioned, “Anxiety,” “DtMF,” “Manchild,” and “Wildflower” are also up for song of the year. It’s important to note that the ‘record of the year’ award goes to the artists and producers, while the ‘song of the year’ award honors the songwriters. Billie Eilish’s nomination for “Wildflower,” co-written with her brother Finneas O’Connell, marks her sixth time being nominated in the song category, putting her alongside music legends Paul McCartney and Lionel Richie.

Music

The pop superstar’s new surprise LP is his latest embrace of the R&B music he’s always loved.

The success of hip-hop, K-pop, and Latin pop – highlighted by the album “Debí Tirar Más Fotos” being only the second Spanish-language LP nominated for Album of the Year (following Bad Bunny’s “Un Verano Sin Ti” in 2023) – likely reflects the Recording Academy’s recent push for greater diversity. This month, the Academy announced the addition of 3,800 new members, with half being under 40, 58% being people of color, and 35% identifying as women.

The main Grammy categories were more open this year because popular, frequent winners like Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, and Adele didn’t release any music that qualified for the February ceremony. The eligibility period ran from August 31, 2024, to August 30, 2025 – shortly before Taylor Swift released her highly anticipated album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” which is expected to receive many nominations at the 69th Grammy Awards.

This year, the academy received over 23,000 submissions across 95 different categories. The competition includes an audiobook category where a collection of meditations led by the Dalai Lama is nominated alongside the memoir of Fab Morvan, formerly of Milli Vanilli. Around 15,000 industry experts determined the nominees, and they will vote again starting December 12th to choose the winners.

I’m so excited for Thomas to be nominated for Best New Artist! What’s really cool is that he also got nominated in another major category, which doesn’t happen often. Usually, the Grammys give those ‘big four’ nominations – Best New Artist, Album, Song, and Record – to up-and-comers like Carpenter, Roan, Billie Eilish, Lizzo, and Olivia Rodrigo. But this year, it’s Thomas alongside Olivia Dean, Katseye, the Marías, Addison Rae, Sombr, Alex Warren, and Lola Young who are all competing for Best New Artist. I’m really hoping he takes it home!

Toward the end of the ballot, several rap albums will compete for the award, including releases from GNX, Chromakopia, Let God Sort Em Out, GloRilla (“Glorious”), and JID (“God Does Like Ugly”). The rock album nominees are Deftones (“Private Music”), Haim (“I Quit”), Linkin Park (“From Zero”), Turnstile (“Never Enough”), and Yungblud (“Idols”).

After Beyoncé won a country album award at February’s ceremony for “Cowboy Carter” (and it was also named album of the year), the academy decided to create two separate country album awards: one for traditional country music and one for contemporary country. Some people have criticized this change, arguing that it unfairly tries to limit who can be considered country artists.

Music

The somber and powerful song remains number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the sixth consecutive week. Warren’s first full album will be released on Friday.

The nominees for Traditional Country Album of the Year are Charley Crockett’s “Dollar a Day,” Margo Price’s “Hard Headed Woman,” Zach Top’s “Ain’t In It for My Health,” and albums from Willie Nelson (“Oh What a Beautiful World”) and his son, Lukas Nelson (“American Romance”). The Contemporary Country Album nominees include Kelsea Ballerini’s “Patterns,” Tyler Childers’ “Snipe Hunter,” Eric Church’s “Evangeline vs. the Machine,” Jelly Roll’s “Beautifully Broken,” and Miranda Lambert’s “Postcards from Texas.”

Morgan Wallen’s album “I’m the Problem” – the second most popular album of the year, only behind Taylor Swift’s – wasn’t up for a Grammy because Wallen chose not to submit it. He’s one of several artists, including Frank Ocean and Zach Bryan, who have recently decided not to participate in the Grammys, signaling their dissatisfaction with what they see as an outdated and limiting awards process.

The Weeknd, who previously boycotted the Grammys, made a comeback performance at the latest show, introduced by Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. Despite this, his album “Dawn FM” wasn’t nominated for any awards at next year’s ceremony.

After 50 years, the 68th Grammy Awards will be the last broadcast on CBS, which has aired the show since 1973. Starting in 2027, ABC – owned by Disney – will become the new home for the Grammys under a 10-year agreement.

Read More

2025-11-07 19:32