R&B Nominees Represent Soul's Past, Present And Future
The nominees in the R&B Field for the 55th Annual GRAMMY Awards represent the past, present and future of soul music.
One exciting story from this year's nominations is the first-time nods garnered by R&B artists in the General Field. Frank Ocean walked away with nominations for Record Of The Year for "Thinkin Bout You," Album Of The Year for Channel Orange and Best New Artist. In the Song Of The Year category, Miguel grabbed a nomination for his catchy commercial smash "Adorn."
These two young artists didn't stop there, however, also making a bold showing in the R&B Field. Miguel collected three more nominations for Best R&B Performance, Best R&B Song and Best Urban Contemporary Album. The latter category finds Miguel competing against Frank Ocean and GRAMMY winner Chris Brown. That's a hard three-man race to call but the competition is healthy in other categories as well.
GRAMMY winner Usher is also up for Best R&B Performance for his hit song "Climax," on which he experimented with new sounds, a gamble that paid off handsomely. Also up for the award are first-time honoree Luke James for his soulful debut song "I Want You," GRAMMY winner Estelle ("Thank You") and previous GRAMMY nominees the Robert Glasper Experiment featuring Ledisi ("Gonna Be Alright [F.T.B.])."
The Robert Glasper Experiment also snagged a Best R&B Album nod for Black Radio. Collecting his 25th nomination is GRAMMY winner R. Kelly for Write Me Back. Fellow repeat nominee Tyrese received his third GRAMMY nomination for the album Open Invitation. Rounding out the nominees for Best R&B Album are Tamia for Beautiful Surprise and Anthony Hamilton for Back To Love.
Tamia and Hamilton also have songs going head-to-head in the Best R&B Song category. Other R&B song nominations go to songs performed by Miguel, Trey Songz and Elle Varner. (The GRAMMY in this category goes to the songwriter.)
The Best Traditional R&B Performance category includes GRAMMY winners Anita Baker and Melanie Fiona. (Fiona who took this award home last year for "Fool For You," her collaboration with Cee Lo Green.) GRAMMY nominees SWV, who celebrated the 20th anniversary of the release of their debut album this year, garnered a nomination for "If Only You Knew"; jazz-tinged singer Gregory Porter appeared for "Real Good Hands"; and multiple GRAMMY winner Beyoncé joined her fellow nominees with her bubbly anthem "Love On Top."
The nominated R&B artists are an impressive cross section of the best in soul music in all its varieties. See who gets the ultimate prize on the 55th Annual GRAMMY Awards on Feb. 10.
