2022 Grammys

Trevor Noah Is Hosting The Grammy Awards In 2022, Too

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Earlier this year, Trevor Noah took the reigns as host of the Grammy Awards, and the Recording Academy was so pleased with the job he did that they’re bringing him back to host the 2022 ceremony, too.

Making the announcement, Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. says (as Deadline notes), “Trevor was amazing as our host for the 63rd Grammy Awards with praise from the music community, music fans and critics. We’re so excited to welcome Trevor back to the Grammys stage and feel fortunate to once again have him hosting what we believe will be an unforgettable evening.”

George Cheeks — President and CEO of CBS and Chief Content Officer, News & Sports of Paramount+ — also noted, “Trevor brought his trademark talent and versatility to last March’s Grammys, and we can’t wait for him to host the event on CBS and Paramount+ again this year.”

Noah shared the news with a video of a baby in a pool rhythmically and adorably moving its shoulders, followed by Noah doing the same. The video’s TikTok robot voice narration says, “When you get to tell the world you’re hosting the Grammys again this year.”

The 2022 Grammys are set to go down on January 31, so look forward to more Noah then and find the full list of nominees here.

Louis C.K. And Dave Chappelle Getting Grammy Nominations Is Making People Wonder If Maybe ‘Cancel Culture’ Isn’t Real

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It’s become fashionable, even profitable, to come out against what is known as “cancel culture.” Opponents to this practice, whose very existence is debatable, claim people, usually young progressives, destroy the lives of those who say or do things they problematic. Others argue it’s a fiction, invented by culture warlords to protect those who don’t want their controversial views called into question. So when Dave Chappelle, under fire for anti-trans comments, and Louis C.K., who confessed to multiple cases of sexual misconduct in 2017, wound up with Grammy nominations on Tuesday, some wondered if “cancel culture” was perhaps not as powerful, or as real, as some have claimed.

C.K., who’s been playing big shows again, wound up fêted with a Best Comedy Album nom for Sincerely Louis C.K. Meanwhile, fellow comic Chappelle received a nom not for comedy but for Best Spoken Word Album, for 8:46, which he released mid-pandemic, and which addressed the murder of George Floyd. That means he’ll be competing against no less than Barack Obama, for A Promised Land.

The two weren’t the only “cancelled” artists who wound up with Grammy nominations. Marilyn Manson, who’s facing sexual assault lawsuits from several women, wound up recognized for his work on Kanye West’s Donda. Kevin Hart, whose homophobic comments led to him withdrawing as host of the 2019 Oscars, will compete with C.K. for the comedy album Zero F***s Given.

Chappelle has not apologized for his anti-trans comments, which he’s made across numerous specials for Netflix. After his most recent controversial special, The Closer, dropped, he even told a roaring crowd, “If this is what being canceled is like, I love it.” Perhaps it was a joke on how “cancel culture” isn’t real, that it doesn’t destroy lives but make them stronger. Or perhaps he was just reveling in his infamy.

But when word broke out that C.K., Chappelle and other “cancelled” artists were being celebrated by a major awards body, some people on social media wondered if “cancel culture” was just a bunch of BS.

Some wondered why Chappelle was nominated but not Bo Burnham’s acclaimed Inside.

Others pointed to another “cancelled” celebrity who recently revealed good career news: alleged Lethal Weapon 5 director Mel Gibson.

Jon Batiste Has The Second-Most Grammy Nominations In A Single Year Ever And He’s Jazzed Up About It

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When watching the livestream of the 64th Annual Grammy Awards nominations being announced, some viewers noticed that they were hearing Jon Batiste’s name a heck of a lot. In fact, when all was said and done, Batiste actually had more nominations than anybody else, as he racked up an impressive 11 of them: Record Of The Year, Album Of The Year, Best Traditional R&B Performance, Best R&B Album, Best Improvised Jazz Solo, Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Best American Roots Performance, Best American Roots Song, Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media, Best Contemporary Classical Composition, and Best Music Video.

That’s a historic achievement, as it ties him for the second-most Grammy nominations in a single year. Michael Jackson had 12 nods in 1984 and Babyface had the same amount in 1997. Batiste is currently tied with Kendrick Lamar, who had 11 nominations in 2016. Also worth noting is the variety of the categories in which Batiste is nominated, as he’s up for consideration in R&B, jazz, American roots, soundtrack, contemporary classical, and visual categories.

After Batiste, this year’s leading nominees are Justin Bieber, Doja Cat, and HER, who all have eight nods each, followed by Billie Eilish and Olivia Rodrigo, who both got seven nominations.

Batiste is pretty psyched about the whole thing, as he tweeted today, WOW!! Thank you God!! I love EVERYBODY! I’m so grateful to my collaborators and to my ancestors [crying emojis] 11!”

Check out the categories in which Batiste is nominated below to see who he’s up against and find the full list of 2022 Grammy nominations here.

Record Of The Year
ABBA — “I Still Have Faith In You”
Jon Batiste — “Freedom”
Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga — “I Get A Kick Out Of You”
Justin Bieber — “Peaches” Feat. Daniel Caesar and Giveon
Brandi Carlile — “Right On Time”
Doja Cat — “Kiss Me More” Feat. SZA
Billie Eilish — “Happier Than Ever”
Lil Nas X — “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)”
Olivia Rodrigo — “Drivers License”
Silk Sonic — “Leave The Door Open”

Album Of The Year
Jon Batiste — We Are
Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga — Love For Sale
Justin Bieber — Justice (Triple Chucks Deluxe)
Doja Cat — Planet Her (Deluxe)
Billie Eilish — Happier Than Ever
HER — Back Of My Mind
Lil Nas X — Montero
Olivia Rodrigo — Sour
Taylor Swift — Evermore
Kanye West — Donda

Best Traditional R&B Performance
Jon Batiste — “I Need You”
BJ The Chicago Kid, PJ Morton and Kenyon Dixon — “Bring It on Home to Me” Feat. Charlie Bereal
Leon Bridges — “Born Again” Feat. Robert Glasper
HER — “Fight for You”
Lucky Daye — “How Much Can a Heart Take” Feat Yebba

Best R&B Album
Snoh Aalegra — Temporary Highs in the Violet Skies
Jon Batiste — We Are
Leon Bridges — Gold-Diggers Sound
HER — Back of My Mind
Jazmine Sullivan — Heaux Tales

Best Improvised Jazz Solo
“Sackodougou,” Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, soloist
“Kick Those Feet,” Kenny Barron, soloist
“Bigger Than Us,” Jon Batiste, soloist
“Absence,” Terence Blanchard, soloist
“Humpty Dumpty (Set 2),” Chick Corea, soloist

Best Jazz Instrumental Album
“Jazz Selections: Music From and Inspired by Soul,” Jon Batiste
“Absence,” Terence Blanchard featuring the E Collective and the Turtle Island Quartet
“Skyline,” Ron Carter, Jack DeJohnette and Gonzalo Rubalcaba
“Akoustic Band Live,” Chick Corea, John Patitucci and Dave Weckl
“Side-Eye NYC (V1.IV),” Pat Metheny

Best American Roots Performance
“Cry,” Jon Batiste
“Love and Regret,” Billy Strings
“I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free,” The Blind Boys of Alabama and Béla Fleck
“Same Devil,” Brandy Clark featuring Brandi Carlile
“Nightflyer,” Allison Russell

Best American Roots Song
“Avalon,” Rhiannon Giddens, Justin Robinson and Francesco Turrisi, songwriters (Rhiannon Giddens with Francesco Turrisi)
“Call Me a Fool,” Valerie June, songwriter (Valerie June featuring Carla Thomas)
“Cry,” Jon Batiste and Steve McEwan, songwriters (Jon Batiste)
“Diamond Studded Shoes,” Dan Auerbach, Natalie Hemby, Aaron Lee Tasjan and Yola, songwriters (Yola)
“Nightflyer,” Jeremy Lindsay and Allison Russell, songwriters (Allison Russell)

Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media
“Bridgerton,” Kris Bowers, composer
“Dune,” Hans Zimmer, composer
“The Mandalorian: Season 2 – Vol. 2 (Chapters 13-16),” Ludwig Göransson, composer
“The Queen’s Gambit,” Carlos Rafael Rivera, composer
“Soul,” Jon Batiste, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, composers

Best Contemporary Classical Composition
“Akiho: Seven Pillars,” Andy Akiho, composer. (Sandbox Percussion)
“Andriessen: The Only One,” Louis Andriessen, composer. (Esa-Pekka Salonen, Nora Fischer & Los Angeles Philharmonic)
“Assad, Clarice and Sérgio, Connors, Dillon, Martin and Skidmore: Archetypes,” Clarice Assad, Sérgio Assad, Sean Connors, Robert Dillon, Peter Martin and David Skidmore, composers. (Sérgio Assad, Clarice Assad and Third Coast Percussion)
“Batiste: Movement 11,” Jon Batiste, composer (Jon Batiste)
“Shaw: Narrow Sea,” Caroline Shaw, composer (Dawn Upshaw, Gilbert Kalish and Sō Percussion)

Best Music Video
“Shot in the Dark,” (AC/DC); David Mallet, video director; Dione Orrom, video producer.
“Freedom,” (Jon Batiste); Alan Ferguson, video director; Alex P. Willson, video producer.
“I Get a Kick Out of You,” (Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga); Jennifer Lebeau, video director; Danny Bennett, Bobby Campbell and Jennifer Lebeau, video producers.
“Peaches,” (Justin Bieber featuring Daniel Caesar and Giveon); Collin Tilley, video director.
“Happier Than Ever,” (Billie Eilish); Billie Eilish, video director; Michelle An, Chelsea Dodson and David Moore, video producers.
“Montero (Call Me By Your Name),” (Lil Nas X); Lil Nas X and Tanu Muino, video directors; Frank Borin, Ivanna Borin, Marco De Molina and Saul Levitz, video producers.
“Good 4 U,” (Olivia Rodrigo); Petra Collins, video director; Christiana Divona, Marissa Ramirez and Tiffany Suh, video producers.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Nominees For A Curiously Missing 2021 Grammy Category Were Finally Announced Today

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Last year’s Grammy Awards were miraculous to say the least. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, that even an awards ceremony — albeit a socially-distanced one — was able to go down, was a testament to the Recording Academy taking every possible measure to ensure that Beyoncé could surprise Megan Thee Stallion on stage as the pair claimed their Best Rap Song award for “Savage.”

But a lot goes into the awards process, including a number of committees meeting ahead of time to parse out the awards nominees for each of the then 84 categories, and now 86 overall. But given the unpredictability of the pandemic, one of these committees couldn’t meet and the 2021 nominees for Best Immersive Audio Album were not announced. So the award was pushed out to 2022. Here’s how a statement from the Grammy’s read last year explaining what happened:

“Due the COVID-19 pandemic, the Best Immersive Audio Album Craft Committee was unable to meet. The judging of the entries in this category has been postponed until such time that we are able to meet in a way that is appropriate to judge the many formats and configurations of the entries and is safe for the committee members. The nominations for the 63rd GRAMMYs will be announced next year in addition to (and separately from) the 64th GRAMMY nominations in the category.”

So that later date turned out to be today, along with the nominees for the 64th annual Grammy Awards as well. The Best Immersive Audio Album nominees for the 63rd annual awards can be seen, along with the full list of all nominees, here.

Megan Thee Stallion is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The Music World Reacts To The 2022 Grammys Nominations

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Today, the music world is focused on the list of nominees for The 64th Annual Grammy Awards, which was unveiled this morning. There’s a lot going on with this year’s list: Jon Batiste leads the pack with 11 total nominations, which is actually tied for the second-most in a single year ever. Tony Bennett became the oldest artist ever nominated for Album Of The Year. Barack Obama and Dave Chappelle are competing in the same category.

Across all categories, a lot of folks got nominated, and naturally, a lot of them have taken to social media to share their reactions to the news.

Batiste was pretty thrilled with his feat, writing, “WOW!! Thank you God!! I love EVERYBODY! I’m so grateful to my collaborators and to my ancestors [crying emojis] 11!”

Lil Nas X took a break from joking on Twitter to tweet, “don’t have to win a single award, truly thankful for all the insight this year has brought me. and thankful for the journey. love u guys.”

Japanese Breakfast, who was nominated for Best New Artist and Best Alternative Music Album, was floored, as she wrote simply, “WTF!!!!!!!!!”

Saweetie was also moved, as she tweeted, “I’m speechless I wish I had the words to express how I feel but I’m just so grateful!!! Being acknowledged for all the hard work me & my team have been doing feels AMAZINNNNNG thank you #TeamIcy for stickin with me through thick and thin y’all some real ride or dies IKDR!!”

Check out some more reactions below.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The Complete List Of 2022 Grammy Awards Nominations Features Cardi B, Lil Nas X, And More

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The 64th Annual Grammy Awards are not too far away now, as the 2022 ceremony is set to air on January 31 on CBS. Ahead of then, though, the Recording Academy has unveiled its list of nominees. (As a reminder, the eligibility window for the 2022 Grammys is from September 1, 2020 to September 30, 2021, so only works released during that period are eligible for recognition.)

Check out the full list of this year’s Grammy nominees below.

Best Dance/Electronic Recording
Afrojack and David Guetta — “Hero”
Ólafur Arnalds — “Loom” Feat. Bonobo
James Blake — “Before”
Bonobo and Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs — “Heartbreak”
Caribou — “You Can Do It”
Rüfüs Du Sol — “Alive”
Tiësto — “The Business”

Best Dance/Electronic Album
Black Coffee — Subconsciously
Illenium — Fallen Embers
Major Lazer — Music Is The Weapon (Reloaded)
Marshmello — Shockwave
Sylvan Esso — Free Love
Ten City — Judgement

Best Rap Performance
Baby Keem — “Family Ties” Feat. Kendrick Lamar
Cardi B — “Up”
J. Cole — “My Life” Feat. 21 Savage and Morray
Drake — “Way 2 Sexy” Feat. Future and Young Thug
Megan Thee Stallion — “Thot Sh*t”

Best Melodic Rap Performance
J. Cole — “Pride Is The Devil” Feat. Lil Baby
Doja Cat — “Need To Know”
Lil Nas X — “Industry Baby” Feat. Jack Harlow
Tyler The Creator — “Wusyaname” Feat. YoungBoy Never Broke Again and Ty Dolla Sign
Kanye West — “Hurricane” Feat. The Weeknd and Lil Baby

Best Rap Song
DMX — “Bath Salts” Feat. Jay-Z and Nas
Saweetie — “Best Friend” Feat. Doja Cat
Baby Keem — “Family Ties” Feat. Kendrick Lamar
Kanye West — “Jail” Feat. Jay-Z
J. Cole — “My Life” Feat. 21 Savage and Morray

Best New Age Album
Will Ackerman, Jeff Oster and Tom Eaton — Brothers
Stewart Copeland and Ricky Kej — Divine Tides
Wouter Kellerman and David Arkenstone — Pangaea
Opium Moon — Night + Day
Laura Sullivan — Pieces Of Forever

Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical
Cinema — Josh Conway, Marvin Figueroa, Josh Gudwin, Neal H Pogue and Ethan Shumaker, engineers; Joe LaPorta, mastering engineer (The Marías)
Dawn — Thomas Brenneck, Zach Brown, Elton “L10MixedIt” Chueng, Riccardo Damian, Tom Elmhirst, Jens Jungkurth, Todd Monfalcone, John Rooney and Smino, engineers; Randy Merrill, mastering engineer (Yebba)
Hey What — BJ Burton, engineer; BJ Burton, mastering engineer (Low)
Love For Sale — Dae Bennett, Josh Coleman and Billy Cumella, engineers; Greg Calbi and Steve Fallone, mastering engineers (Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga)

Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical
Jack Antonoff
Rogét Chahayed
Mike Elizondo
Hit-Boy
Ricky Reed

This post is being updated.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The Grammys Have Changed Their Rules About Album Of The Year Nominations

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After an especially rough year when it came to criticism, The Recording Academy is changing a number of things about the Grammys. They recently announced some changes, including the elimination of “secret committees” that decide on award nominees (The Weeknd is still boycotting regardless). Now, in the newly published rules and guidelines for next year’s 64th Annual Grammy Awards, the Academy has unveiled a number of other changes, including a significant one for the Album Of The Year category.

The “Rule Updates” section of the new rules and guidelines document notes that at this year’s 63rd Grammys, the “award credited artists, features artists, songwriters, producers, mixers, engineers with 33% playing time of the album.” Next year, though, the “33% playing time rule” has been removed, which means that more people who were involved in making an Album Of The Year winner will be recognized as Grammy winners.

For example, if these new rules had been in effect for the 2021 Grammys, Bon Iver would have won an Album Of The Year Grammy, as they were featured on “Exile” from Taylor Swift’s Folklore. Another historical example: In 2014, Pharrell Williams, Julian Casablancas, and Panda Bear also would have gotten Album Of The Year trophies for their work on Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories.

There are more changes than that for next year, including the establishment of two new categories: Best Global Music Performance and Best Música Urbana Album. Find the full revised rules and guidelines document here.