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Will the Grammys have the hashtag #SoColored this year? No white men are nominated in album of the year. This year’s nominees are Jay-Z’s “4:44,” “Awaken, My Love!” by Childish Gambino, “DAMN” by Kendrick Lamar, “Melodrama” by Lorde and “24K Magic” by Bruno Mars. Not a white guy in sight! This hasn’t happen since 1999! That year the nominees were “The Globe Sessions” by Sheryl Crow, “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” by Lauryn Hill, “Ray of Light” by Madonna, “Come on Over” by Shania Twain and “Version 2.0” by the band Garbage whose lead singer was the woman, Shirley Manson. Lauryn Hill took home the Grammy.
Also this year “Despacito” became the first Spanish-language song to be nominated for Record of the Year. So as you can imagine some people are very upset about this turn of events but Recording Academy President and CEO Neil Portnow told Billboard Magazine that he was pleased and called the nominations “a wonderful reflection on our organization and how relevant and in touch and savvy our voting members are.”
This should be interesting. Maybe the Oscars will take a hint. Hummmm