Award season has kicked off with GUSTO, I tell you. We've barely had time to process yesterday's Golden Globe nominations before the Grammys came in hot with its own list of the all the artists up for accolades in 2019. Some names we had been hoping for appeared on the nomination list, including Janelle Monae and SZA, but there were also a few unexpected choices made this year that prove you can never predict what the Recording Academy has up its sleeve.
First, they decided to welcome even more nominees to their general categories. Record Of The Year, Album Of The Year, Song Of The Year, and Best New Artist all had eight slots to fill instead of their normal five, and they were filled with some pleasant surprises. H.E.R. debuted in 2016, and we've been fans of her ever since, but we didn't expect the Grammys to give such a relatively new artist so many props. She's up for both Album Of The Year and Best New Artist.
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Post Malone nabbed four different nominations, including Record and Album of The Year. Sure, Post Malone has been constantly in the charts, but he's never been praised by critics, so it's interesting to see him alongside people like Monae who have been praised by the industry pretty much exclusively.
Another surprise? Drake. The artist has been outspoken about his disappointment that he's rarely nominated outside hip-hop categories, but this year the Academy listened. He is up for Album Of The Year, Record Of The Year, and Song Of The Year — as well as Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song.
Of course, there are a whole bunch of snubs this year, including Ariana Grande and Taylor Swift, both of whom were contenders for Album Of The Year with Sweetener and Reputation. Check out the full list of nominations over here.