Innholdsfortegnelse for December 22, 2018 i Billboard Magazine

As the Grammy Awards prepare to return to Los Angeles, the nominations for the 61st annual ceremony come at a time of forward motion for The Recording Academy, which is transforming to better reflect the music community it honors. The number of nominees jumps from five to eight in the four general categories, in one of the most sweeping changes since the awards’ introduction in 1959. A new voting cohort will help decide the 2019 winners; in June, The Recording Academy invited 900 new individuals — all of whom are female, people of color and/or under the age of 39 — to join its ranks and build a membership more representative of the creative community. The action was recommended by a 16-member task force established in May and charged…

BILLBOARD 2018 Women in Music – “Trailblazer” Award/50 BEST ALBUMS OF 2018 “Really, there was no record in 2018 more reflective of the conversations echoing through pop culture today.” NPR #1 Album of the Year NEW YORK TIMES Jon Pareles’ #1 ALBUM OF 2018 GLAMOUR 2018 Women of the Year BUZZFEED “JANELLE MONÁE WON 2018” ASSOCIATED PRESS #1 ALBUM OF 2018 MARIE CLAIRE Best Albums of 2018 ROLLING STONE 50 Best Albums of 2018 “It’s a sexy MF-ing masterpiece.” ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY 20 Best Albums of 2018 CONSEQUENCE OF SOUND 2018 ARTIST OF THE YEAR 50 Albums of 2018 “Dirty Computer is the most enjoyable album of 2018.” HOT NEW HIP HOP HOTTEST R&B Albums of 2018 COMPLEX Best Albums of 2018 TIME MAGAZINE 10 Best Albums of 2018 “It’s…

BEST URBAN CONTEMPORARY ALBUM Everything Is Love THE CARTERS An album about enduring love and weathering the hardships of marriage, Beyoncé and Jay-Z joined forces as The Carters for a project that was released as a surprise in June. The set feels like the final part of a trilogy that began with Beyoncé’s tales of marital strife on 2016 LP Lemonade, which won this category in 2017, and continued with Jay-Z’s reckoning on 4:44, with which he secured eight Grammy nominations (but no wins) in 2018. Everything Is Love finds Beyoncé showing off how easily she can alternate between singing and rapping alongside her superstar husband, and secured three nominations for the couple this year. The Kids Are Alright CHLOE X HALLE In the Netflix documentary Quincy, legendary producer…

BEST LATIN POP ALBUM Prometo PABLO ALBORÁN At a time when Latin pop has largely put melody and romance on the back burner, Spain’s Alborán wrote an album of ballads that are grandiose yet not pompous, and called it Prometo (I Promise) “as a promise to fans to make music until I die,” he told Billboard. Taking a page from his friend Alejandro Sanz, Alborán plays with piano, guitar and lots of atmospheric lines to create beautiful love songs that benefit from one of the finest voices in pop. There are nods to stronger rhythms here — reggaetón in “La llave,” a bit of tropical in “Vivir” — but this is overwhelmingly an album of love well lived, to be remembered and savored. Sincera CLAUDIA BRANT Brant started her…

IN LATE 2008, THEN-RISING STAR Adele was drawing solid sales and critical acclaim for her debut album, 19, which had been released in the United States that spring and had generated a modest radio hit with “Chasing Pavements.” The LP had already topped the Official U.K. Albums chart and had helped land Adele the inaugural Critics Choice Award at the U.K. equivalent of the Grammys, the BRIT Awards. The London-born 20-year-old got a big dose of American TV exposure when she performed on Saturday Night Live on Oct. 18, 2008, the same night that vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin made an appearance. The buzz from that episode helped propel 19 into the top 40 of the Billboard 200. The Recording Academy took notice, and that December, Adele received Grammy…

ANDERSON EAST Best American Roots Performance “All On My Mind” BRANDI CARLILE Album Of The Year by the way, I forgive you Record Of The Year “The Joke” Song Of The Year “The Joke” Best American Roots Performance “The Joke” Best American Roots Song “The Joke” Best Americana Album by the way, I forgive you FEVER 333 Best Rock Performance “MADE AN AMERICA” TRIVIUM Best Metal Performance “Betrayer” TWENTY ONE PILOTS Best Rock Song “Jumpsuit” Tyler Joseph, Songwriter Special congratulations to our friends and partners Dave Cobb and Shooter Jennings for their nominations…

WHEN THE GRAMMY AWARDS return to Los Angeles from New York on Feb. 10, the ceremony will signal a momentous occasion: the 30th anniversary of the first Grammy for best rap performance, won by DJ Jazzy Jeff and Will “The Fresh Prince” Smith for “Parents Just Don’t Understand.” From the beginning, the Grammys have struggled with giving hip-hop its proper due: Smith and DJ Jazzy Jeff boycotted the show when they learned their award presentation wouldn’t be televised. To address such criticisms, The Recording Academy has taken steps that include last year’s addition of a rap nomination review committee. The 2017 nominees and winners came closer to reflecting rap’s established and emerging players, but it’s now approaching 15 years since a rap release — OutKast’s 2003 double LP, Speakerboxxx/The…

CHLOE X HALLE Nearly five years before they released their 2018 debut album, The Kids Are Alright, Chloe Bailey and her younger sister Halle shared a fateful video on YouTube. The teen R&B duo’s cover of Beyoncé’s “Pretty Hurts” was posted in December 2013 and eventually garnered 15 million views after Queen Bey herself caught wind of the rendition and shared the clip on her Facebook page. Since then, Chloe x Halle have signed to Beyoncé’s Parkwood Entertainment label and released a series of EPs leading up to The Kids Are Alright. With sumptuous rhythms and features from Joey Bada$$, Goldlink and Kari Faux, the album demonstrates how the sisters have grown into nuanced yet powerful R&B vocalists since being discovered. GRETA VAN FLEET In a category that boasts…

SILK CITY Best Dance Recording PHARRELL WILLIAMS Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical BRING ME THE HORIZON Best Rock Song THE CARTERS Best Urban Contemporary Album Best Music Video Best R&B Performance DEADPOOL 2 (ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK) Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media LEON BRIDGES Best R&B Album Best Traditional R&B Performance CHLOE X HALLE Best New Artist Best Urban Contemporary Album JOHN LEGEND Best Musical Theater Album BARBRA STREISAND Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album “COLUMBIA” AND REG. U.S. PAT. & TM. OFF. MARCA REGISTRADA./© 2018 SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT, INC.…

BEST ROCK ALBUM MANIA FALL OUT BOY Fall Out Boy is up for a Grammy for the first time since its best new artist nom in 2005. The seventh LP from the Chicago rock mainstays became the group’s fourth Billboard 200 No. 1 and led to its first stadium-headlining gig, a hometown show at Wrigley Field. Though none of M A N I A’s singles cracked the Billboard Hot 100, heart-pounding arena rockers “Young and Menace,” “The Last of the Real Ones,” “Hold Me Tight or Don’t” and “Champion” (a Sia co-write) all streaked into the top 10 of the Hot Rock Songs tally. Prequelle GHOST The theatrical Swedish metal troupe continues to bedazzle Grammy voters: After an unexpected win for best metal performance in 2015, Ghost’s fourth studio…

BEST COUNTRY ALBUM Unapologetically KELSEA BALLERINI Two years after Ballerini received a best new artist nomination, the starlet is gearing up to headline arenas in 2019, a feat due in part to the success of her autobiographical sophomore album. The set spawned the singer’s fourth No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart, the fanciful lead single “Legends,” and notched Ballerini’s highest debut on Top Country Albums as well as her first top 10 on the Billboard 200. Unapologetically takes fans through the past few years of Ballerini’s life, documenting the heartbreak that preceded her happy marriage to fellow country star Morgan Evans. The album is a series of songs both heartfelt and upbeat that allow fans to apply their own story, whether they’re kissing a conceited ex goodbye or…

“INSTANTLY MEMORABLE… YET ANOTHER MILESTONE IN HIS FASCINATING AND UNPREDICTABLE CAREER”THE WALL STREET JOURNAL “A EUPHORIC BLAST… FRESH AND ESSENTIAL”ROLLING STONE ⋆⋆⋆⋆ “A BRIGHT AMALGAMATION OF THE MANY BECKS WE’VE MET OVER THE YEARS: FOLKY, HAPPY, PUNKY AND FUNKY”THE NEW YORK TIMES “COLORS PROVES THAT BECK IS STILL ONE OF ROCK’S MOST INTREPID INVENTORS” ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY PRODUCED AND WRITTEN BY BECK HANSEN AND GREG KURSTIN…

1 NOTORIOUS RBG: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF RUTH BADER GINSBURG 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd. The Skirball Cultural Center’s retrospective shows how the Supreme Court justice became an icon of feminism and fashion. (The lady can rock a crocheted collar!) 2 ROOFTOP CINEMA CLUB 6121 Sunset Blvd. Ditch the laptop (or hotel TV) for something better: a rooftop deck at NeueHouse, where throwback movies are projected under the Hollywood night sky. 3 CHINESE NEW YEAR PROGRAM 2301 N. Highland Ave. On Feb. 6 and 7, the L.A. Philharmonic will spotlight Pulitzer Prize-winning composer-performer Du Yu at the Hollywood Bowl. 4 LINDA VISTA 135 N. Grand Ave. Catch Pulitzer-winning writer Tracy Letts’ midlife crisis play at the Mark Taper Forum. 5 ASTAIRE DANCES II: FRED & GINGER 300 S. Grand…

BEST POP SOLO PERFORMANCE “Colors” BECK Following his surprise 2015 album of the year win with the meditative Morning Phase, Beck performed a sonic about-face for his radio-friendly 13th album, Colors, linking up with his band’s musical director, and go-to hitmaker, Greg Kurstin (Sia, P!nk, Kelly Clarkson). The LP’s title track recalls the electro-pop bent of Beck’s Guero hit “Girl” and peaked at No. 9 on Billboard’s Alternative airplay chart. “Colors” also received a high-art, choreography-heavy video, helmed by director Edgar Wright (Baby Driver) and starring Alison Brie (Mad Men, GLOW). “Havana (Live)” CAMILA CABELLO The Cuban-born, Miami-bred solo artist surprise-dropped a live version of her breezy pop hit after the Young Thug-featured original topped 1 billion streams on Spotify in under a year. While Cabello and her former…

BEST DANCE/ELECTRONIC ALBUM Singularity JON HOPKINS All great musical works begin with one note, and Jon Hopkins’ Singularity is an experiment in just how far one note can take an idea. The nine-track album begins and ends on a warm woodwind sound, exploring all manner of electronic highs and lows in between. The producer told Billboard he had conceived of the concept years ago but only recently felt he had mastered the skills necessary to pull it off. Lush ambient soundscapes are juxtaposed with club-ready rhythms as the tracks melt in and out of each other. Hopkins was partially inspired by his regular practice of Transcendental Meditation; listening may or may not induce astral projection. Woman Worldwide JUSTICE Ten years after the release of, Justice’s zeitgeist-capturing † debut album,…

On the night of their surprising best rock album win for A Deeper Understanding, THE WAR ON DRUGS posted a satisfied photo from New Zealand thanking The Recording Academy. “From our family to yours, thanks for all the love today,” wrote the band. “Even though we weren’t able to accept it in person, playing for our friends in New Zealand was the perfect celebration.” The triumphant moment marked the Philadelphia indie band’s first Grammy victory, an impressive feat in a category that also included rock veterans Mastodon, Metallica and Queens of the Stone Age.…

BEST RAP ALBUM Invasion of Privacy CARDI B Cardi B’s splashy arrival with 2017’s “Bodak Yellow (Money Moves)” was merely a warm-up to what would be a grand entrance this year. Her debut album, Invasion of Privacy, was filled with hits ranging from the Latin-tinged single “I Like It” to the cautionary tale “Be Careful.” Though crafting radio bops was a high priority, the Bronx bombshell made sure to also flex her lyrical muscles when opportunities arose. The intro, “Get Up 10,” served as a defiant rebuttal to her adversaries, while the Chance the Rapper-assisted “Best Life” highlighted her speedy flight to the top. It’s time for her to get comfortable there. Swimming MAC MILLER Before Miller’s sudden death in September, the 26-year-old crafted his most ambitious album to…

“The prestige of winning a Grammy is something you hope you get to experience as an artist your entire career,” LITTLE BIG TOWN, winner of the best country duo/group performance award in January, tells Billboard in a statement. “Performing ‘Better Man’ after finding out we had won was a euphoric, unforgettable moment. The song struck a nerve before anyone knew who wrote it, which was powerful, because it was by Taylor Swift. It’s proof that relatable songs have so much connection.”…

mackavenue.com RAUL MIDÓN with the Metropole Orkest If You Really Want — Best Jazz Vocal Album “Midón’s interpretation of his surroundings is borderless. He sings with the passion of the best classic soul singers, and his instrumental chops stand alongside the most accomplished jazz musicians.” — NPR Music raulmidon.com TIA FULLER Diamond Cut — Best Jazz Instrumental Album “’Diamond Cut’ shows that she is respected by the most impressive musicians in the music and that we should all respect her sound, her soul, and her vision.”—PopMatters tiafuller.com CÉCILE McLORIN SALVANT accompanied by Sullivan Fortner The Window — Best Jazz Vocal Album “…the most acclaimed jazz vocalist on the planet right now….” — Rolling Stone cecilemclorinsalvant.com JULIAN LAGE Modern Lore — Best Contemporary Instrumental Album “(Julian Lage) is…