Grammys nominations show more diversity than ever

The 2017 Grammy nominations were announced on Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2017. The traditional categories like Album of the Year and Song of the Year have brought many mixed reactions from Twitter as the nominees are more diverse than in years past.

Four out of five nominees for Album of the Year and Song of the Year came from people of color, as did all five tracks nominated for Record of the Year. R&B and Hip Hop dominated in this year’s nominations, with hip-hop artist Jay-Z coming through first with 8 nominations, followed by rapper Kendrick Lamar with 7 and R&B singer Bruno Mars with 6.

Recording Academy President Neil Portnow said the nominations were “a wonderful reflection on our organization and how relevant and in touch and savvy our voting members are.”

The list includes Jay-Z’s 4:44, Childish Gambino’s Awaken, My Love!, DAMN by Kendrick Lamar, 24k Magic by Bruno Mars, and Lorde’s Melodrama. Popular hip-hop artists, Cardi B and Migos, also received nominations for Best Hip Hop performances.

When asked for an opinion on the prominence of POC in the nominations, Humanities freshman Jada Barksdale said, “The people on there are popular artists so they deserve to be on there.”

Humanities freshman Kennedy Robinson disagrees: “It’s a trend to have diversity. It doesn’t seem genuine that people want change. [Representation is] important but award shows must do it for the right reasons. It can’t just be about increasing ratings or viewership. It has to be because those people earned the nomination.”

The category Album of the Year has not been like this since the 41st Grammys in 1999. The artists nominated for this category that year were Sheryl Crow, Madonna, Shania Twain, Lauryn Hill, and the band Garage, whose lead singer was female.

The 60th Grammy Awards will be broadcast on January 28, 2018 at 4:30 PM EST on CBS.