Confirming his standing as a groundbreaking producer and an artist whose appeal transcends the hip-hop genre, Chicago native Kanye West led the pack yesterday with eight nods when the nominations for the 50th Annual Grammy Awards were announced in Hollywood.
West will be vying for album of the year and best rap album honors for his third disc “Graduation” as well as for best rap solo performance (“Stronger”), best rap song (“Can’t Tell Me Nothin’” and “Good Life”), best rap collaboration (“Good Life”) and best rap performance by a duo or group (“Better Than I’ve Ever Been” with Nas, Rakim and KRS-One and “Southside” with fellow Chicagoan Common).
Common, another Chicago-bred rapper who scored the bestselling album of his career with “Finding Forever,” earned a total of three Grammy nods, with best rap solo performance (“The People”) and best rap album joining the nomination for his collaboration with West.
Honored with a nod for the key category of song of the year was “Hey There Delilah” from the fourth album by Chicago shopping-mall punks and Fall Out Boy proteges the Plain White T’s. The same tune earned the good-looking quintet a second nod for best pop performance by a duo or group with vocals.
In addition to these hometown heroes, the list of multiple nominees includes the troubled retro chanteuse Amy Winehouse, who claimed six Grammy nods.
Alternative rockers the Foo Fighters, rap legends Jay-Z and Timbaland, dance-pop star Justin Timberlake and hip-hop favorite T-Pain earned five nods each, while rapper Akon, country stars Dierks Bentley and Tim McGraw, former American Idol contestant Chris Daughtry, indie-pop crooner Feist, R&B singers Ne-Yo and Rihanna and long-running rock icon Bruce Springsteen received four each.
In the prestigious album of the year category, West’s “Graduation” will be competing with “Back to Black” by Winehouse, “Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace” by the Foo Fighters, “These Days” by Vince Gill and “River: The Joni Letters,” jazz man Herbie Hancock’s tribute to Joni Mitchell.
Contenders for record the year (which honors the artist) are “Irreplaceable” by Beyonce, “The Pretender” by the Foo Fighters, “Umbrella” by Rihanna and Jay-Z, “What Goes Around... Comes Around” by Timberlake and “Rehab” by Winehouse. In addition to the Plain White T’s, the nominees for song of the year (which is awarded to the songwriters) are “Before He Cheats” performed by Carrie Underwood, “Like A Star” by Corinne Bailey Rae, “Rehab” by Amy Winehouse and “Umbrella,” the hugely popular single by Rihanna.
In the last of Grammy’s “big four” categories, the nominations for best new artist are Feist, the genteel crooner who’s become ubiquitous on television commercials for the iPod; New Orleans R&B singer Ledisi Anibade; the Tennessee-based, emo-influenced pop-rock band Paramore; country singer-songwriter Taylor Swift and Winehouse, the beehive-sporting English soul singer who broke through in the U.S. with the hit “Rehab,” a sad irony given that she has since become as well known for her failed attempts to battle drug and alcohol abuse as she is for her music.
Other Chicago artists who scored Grammy nominations include Wilco, (best rock album for "Sky Blue Sky") and controversial R&B superstar R. Kelly (best R&B performance by a duo or group for “Same Girl” with Usher and best long form music video for “Trapped in the Closet Chapters 13-22”).
The Grammys will be handed out at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Feb. 10 during a ceremony that will be telecast live on WBBM-TV (Ch. 2) starting at 7 p.m.
source: http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/derogatis/684582,120607grammydero.article
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