It only took 60 years!
The nominees for AOTY are Jay-Z for 4:44, Lamar for DAMN, Childish Gambino for Awaken, My Love!, Bruno Mars for 24K Magic, and Lorde for Melodrama.
A black artist hasn't won a Grammy for AOTY in 10 years. The last person to do so was jazz pianist Herbie Hancock for his tribute album to Joni Mitchell. Having two hip-hop albums nominated for the prestigious category is also a big deal.
While the obvious Grammy prediction would be Bruno Mars, it would be a shame not to see a rap album win the award. It's been 14 years since Outkast took home the award for Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. Lamar has been nominated twice before and lost both times and Jay-Z, whose two-decade career has produced 14 number-one albums, has also never won the award.
Other songs nominated this year include: "The Story Of O.J." by Jay-Z, “HUMBLE.” by Kendrick Lamar, “24K Magic” by Bruno Mars, and "Redbone" by Childish Gambino. Bruno Mars is one of two men of color who has taken the award home in the past decade, the other is Pharrell. If Mars wins again, he'll join the small list of artists who have received the award twice.
Other Best New Artist nominees include Alessia Cara and Julia Michaels, making it the second top category not to include any white male nominees in a very long time.