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The nominations for the 56th Grammy Awards were announced at the Nokia Theater last night, providing fans with a glimpse of just who may run away with that golden gramophone this coming January.
Jay-Z obviously received the most nominations for his massive album "Magna Carta Holy Grail." The hip-hop powerhouse is in the running for nine Grammys, including Best Rap Performance for "Tom Ford," but the aspiring sports agent has been shut out of the top three categories: Record of the Year, Album of the Year and Song of the Year. Also out of contention for the big prizes is Kanye West, whose self-proclaimed messianic album "Yeezus" got its fair share of recognition from the hip-hop categories, but was completely shut out of the top three.
Right away, two albums have dutifully occupied the "I thought that came out a long time ago?" spots: Macklemore and Ryan Lewis' "The Heist" earned seven nominations and Taylor Swift's "Red" was nominated for Album of the Year and Best Country Album, proving that 2012 can still be relevant in 2014.
New Zealand pop sensation Lorde, whose song "Royals" has dominated the charts for weeks, was curiously left out of the Best New Artist category. Instead, we have James Blake, who has been around since 2010. Lorde shouldn't worry about it too much, though: "Royals" was nominated for Record of the Year.
Most of the nominees for the three rock categories seem to have been picked straight from the dusty CD collection found in your dad's garage, with Anthrax, Black Sabbath, Dream Theater and Led Zeppelin vying for awards. With the exception of Alabama Shakes, the rock categories are seemingly devoid of new talent.
People reacting with a bit of schadenfreude at pop giants such as Miley Cyrus and Lady Gaga getting snubbed may want to hold in their laughter—Miley's album "Bangerz," as well as Gaga's "ARTPOP," dropped after the September 30 cut-off date and are eligible for consideration next year, when they will likely assume the "I thought that came out a long time ago?" spots.
A full list of the nominees can be found here. Who deserves to be there? Who got snubbed? (The answer to both of those questions is Janelle Monae).
