SZA, Victoria Monét lead female-dominated Grammy nominations
The 66th annual Grammy Awards will air next year on CBS.
Black women are dominating the Grammy nominations this year. SZA, Victoria Monét and more are all over the list of nominations for the upcoming 66th annual ceremony celebrating the year in music.
The nominations for the 2024 Grammy Awards were announced on Friday, giving fans a glimpse at what the Recording Academy deemed the biggest acts in music over the past year. To no surprise, topping the list of nominations was SZA, whose album “SOS” broke various records and skyrocketed the singer-songwriter into a new level of superstardom this year.
SZA earned nine nominations in total for next year’s ceremony, including nods for the big three: Album of the Year (“SOS”), Song of the Year and Record of the Year (“Kill Bill”). Her single, “Kill Bill,” earned her first No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in May of this year after spending 17 weeks in the charts’ coveted Top 10.
“SOS,” the singer’s long-awaited sophomore album, spent 10 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, the most weeks “at No. 1 for an R&B/hip-hop album by a woman, or an R&B album by a woman,” since singer Mariah Carey’s debut 1991 album, per Billboard. SZA has also earned nods for Best Traditional R&B Performance (“Love Language”), Best R&B Song (“Snooze”), Best Melodic Rap Performance (“Low”), and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance (“Ghost in the Machine”), as theGrio previously reported.
Monét is another Black woman with major recognition from the Recording Academy this year earning seven nominations, tying with alternative music act Phoebe Bridgers and outpacing industry heavyweights like Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus, who earned six nominations respectively.
Monét, who spent years sharpening her pen writing for pop acts like her frequent collaborator and friend Ariana Grande, Chloe x Halle, Brandy and more, took to center stage with her two projects, 2020’s “Jaguar” and her follow-up album, 2023’s “Jaguar II.”
“On My Mama,” her viral single off “Jaguar II,” earned Record of the Year and Best R&B Song nominations, while she also earned nominations for Best R&B Album (“Jaguar II”), Best R&B Performance (“How Does It Make You Feel”), and Best Traditional R&B Performance (“Hollywood”).
The “Party Girls” singer also earned a nomination for Best New Artist. Coco Jones, Ice Spice, and more join her in the coveted Grammys category, an award that has gone to the likes of Megan Thee Stallion, John Legend, Alicia Keys and Toni Braxton. Janelle Monáe’s “The Age of Pleasure” joins “SOS” in the Album of the Year category, alongside “World Music Radio” by Jon Batiste, Taylor Swift’s “Midnights” and others.
As theGrio previously reported, the Grammys also launched three new categories: Best Pop Dance Recording, Best African Music Performance and Best Alternative Jazz Album. The Best African Music Performance category includes many first-time nominees, including Asake & Olamide, Davido featuring Musa Keys, Ayra Starr and Tyla.
The “biggest night in music” is set to air Feb. 4 live on CBS and Paramount+ from the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
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