Rapper Kendrick Lamar tops Grammy nods, Taylor Swift leads in main categories

New York: Rapper Kendrick Lamar on Monday received the most nominations for the Grammy Awards, with pop superstar Taylor Swift leading nods in the most prestigious categories. Lamar - who has won wide critical acclaim for his politically charged latest album To Pimp a Butterfly - earned 11 nominations for the music industry’s biggest awards, which will be announced at 15 February gala in Los Angeles. [caption id=“attachment_2536466” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Kendrick Lamar. AP[/caption] Swift and The Weeknd, the rising Canadian R&B star, followed Lamar with seven nominations each. But Swift was ahead in the four most-watched categories, with nominations in all of them except Best New Artist. She enjoyed nods for Album of the Year for her blockbuster 1989 and Record of the Year as well as Song of the Year, which recognizes songwriting, for her hit “Blank Space.” Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly was also up for Album of the Year, as well as The Weeknd’s Beauty Behind the Madness. English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran’s viral ballad Thinking Out Loud was also nominated for both Record of the Year and Song of the Year. Here is the list of the nominees: Album of the year: “Sound & Color,” Alabama Shakes; “To Pimp a Butterfly,” Kendrick Lamar; “Traveller,” Chris Stapleton; “1989,” Taylor Swift; “Beauty Behind the Madness,” The Weeknd. Record of the year: “Really Love,” D’Angelo and The Vanguard; “Uptown Funk,” Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars; “Thinking Out Loud,” Ed Sheeran; “Blank Space,” Taylor Swift; “Can’t Feel My Face,” The Weeknd. Song of the year (songwriter’s award): “Alright,” Kendrick Duckworth, Mark Anthony Spears and Pharrell Williams; “Blank Space,” Max Martin, Shellback and Taylor Swift; “Girl Crush,” Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna and Liz Rose; “See You Again,” Andrew Cedar, Justin Franks, Charles Puth and Cameron Thomaz; “Thinking Out Loud,” Ed Sheeran and Amy Wadge. Best new artist: Courtney Barnett, James Bay, Sam Hunt, Tori Kelly, Meghan Trainor. Best pop vocal album: “Piece by Piece,” Kelly Clarkson; “How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful,” Florence + The Machine; “Uptown Special,” Mark Ronson; “1989,” Taylor Swift; “Before This World,” James Taylor. Best pop solo performance: “Heartbeat Song,” Kelly Clarkson; “Love Me Like You Do,” Ellie Goulding; “Thinking Out Loud,” Ed Sheeran; “Blank Space,” Taylor Swift; “Can’t Feel My Face,” The Weeknd. Best pop duo/group performance: “Ship to Wreck,” Florence + The Machine; “Sugar,” Maroon 5; “Uptown Funk,” Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars; “Bad Blood,” Taylor Swift featuring Kendrick Lamar; “See You Again,” Wiz Khalifa featuring Charlie Puth. Best rock album: “Chaos and the Calm,” James Bay; “Kintsugi,” Death Cab for Cutie; “Mister Asylum,” Highly Suspect; “Drones,” Muse; “.5: The Gray Chapter,” Slipknot. Best alternative music album: “Sound & Color,” Alabama Shakes; “Vulnicura,” Bjork; “The Waterfall,” My Morning Jacket; “Currents,” Tame Impala; “Star Wars,” Wilco. Best urban contemporary album: “Ego Death,” The Internet; “You Should Be Here,” Kehlani; “Blood,” Lianne La Havas; “Wildheart,” Miguel; “Beauty Behind the Madness,” The Weeknd. Best R&B album: “Coming Home,” Leon Bridges; “Black Messiah,” D’Angelo and The Vanguard; “Cheers to the Fall,” Andra Day; “Reality Show,” Jazmine Sullivan; “Forever Charlie,” Charlie Wilson. Best rap album: “2014 Forest Hills Drive,” J. Cole; “Compton,” Dr. Dre; “If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late,” Drake; “To Pimp a Butterfly,” Kendrick Lamar; “The Pinkprint,” Nicki Minaj. Best country album: “Montevallo,” Sam Hunt; “Pain Killer,” Little Big Town; “The Blade,” Ashley Monroe; “Pageant Material,” Kacey Musgraves; “Traveller,” Chris Stapleton. With inputs from AP and AFP