LOS ANGELES, November 24 (Saudi Arabia): John Baptiste might be the Grammy’s biggest surprise: The multi-genre artist and recent Academy Award winner made such an impression with voters that he scored the most nominations with 11 on Tuesday.
Battisti earned the nod for Album of the Year for “We Are” along with the record for the year with “Freedom,” a feel-good poem about New Orleans. His nominations spanned several genres including R&B, jazz, American roots music, and classical and music video.
“Oh my God. I’m still in awe and shock,” Batiste told The Associated Press moments after learning of the nominations. “I’m really happy that we were able to make something with complete artistic integrity and it was recognized.”
Justin Bieber, Doga Cat and Hare came in second with eight nominations by the time the Recording Academy finished announcing the nominees for its January 31 show. Billie Eilish and Olivia Rodrigo each got seven nods, the Associated Press reported.
Besides Batiste’s sudden dominance, another shocker was The Weeknd, who took three nominations after the pop star claimed he wouldn’t allow his company to offer his music. Earlier this year, he angrily blasted the Grammys as “corrupt” after they received no nominations despite their biggest single of 2020, “Blinding Lights”.
Although The Weeknd has said he will boycott the Grammys in the future, he is still a candidate for work on album of the year projects, including Doja Cat’s Planet Her deluxe release and Kanye West’s Donda. His third nomination was for his appearance on the West Hurricane single, which also features Lil Baby.
“What I love is the fact that no one thinks about what came before, what the controversy is, what the hype is, or where this artist has been making music last year,” said Harvey Mason Jr., chief executive of the Recording Academy. He said voters focused on the “music franchise” with nominees like Batiste and Casey Musgraves in mind, whose work is also moving into different categories.
“The voters really value the music and don’t get caught up in the reputation of any other outside noise or any history of the artists,” he continued. “With that in mind, I think they vote for things that they recognize as a privilege.”
Mason said he was pleased with the new peer-driven voting system after seeing the slate of candidates. He launched the 10-3 initiative – which allows more than 11,000 members of the academy to vote for up to 10 categories in three genres. All voters can vote for the first four prizes.
The new system replaced the Anonymous Nominations Review Committee – a group that identified contenders for the main awards. Some committee members claimed that they favored projects based on personal relationships and promoted and worked on projects they favored.
Harvey knows that the new voting system may not be perfect at first, but he believes the initiative will produce fair results in the long run.
“I know we don’t get everyone perfect,” Harvey said. “I know there are going to be some people who feel left out or that we’ve lost a nomination here or there. It makes me sad because I don’t want anyone to feel that way. But I feel like we’re heading in the right direction. I’m happy with the way our constituents have done the job.”
Baptiste credited the changes to his nominations: “I really want to give props to the Grammy. This year they tried to make the process more inclusive and be about music first. The other creators listened to the music and decided to give me these nominations and I’m very grateful for that.”
For the first time, the Academy expanded the number of nominees in the general field categories from eight to 10. The change affected categories such as Recording, Album, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist.
Harvey said the academy has increased its chances in the general field categories after seeing an increase in voting participation over the past year along with accepting new membership invitations and a slew of more than 21,730 entries submitted to the Grammys.
“We thought the timing was right,” he said. “We saw an opportunity to do what the Academy does – which is to shine a spotlight on music, shine a spotlight on the industry, and highlight excellence in a bigger way. With the change in our voting structure, we don’t have a nomination review committee. That gives our voters a chance to have their voices heard, but it also gives them a chance To have a bigger pool to cash in when it’s time for the winner to take home a Grammy.”
Other nominees for this year include: Bieber’s Justice (Triple Chucks Deluxe), Eilish’s Happier Than Ever, West Donda, Tony Bennett, Lady Gaga’s Love for Sale, Olivia Rodrigo’s “Sour”, Taylor Swift’s “Forever” and Montero’s Night X people.
Baptiste, the leader of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” received a bid for Best Sound Recording in the Visual Media category for his work on Pixar’s “Soul,” which won an Academy Award for Best Score earlier this year. By Tuesday, he had three Grammy Award nominations but had yet to win.
Batiste will compete for a record of the year against a host of nominees including Bennett and Gaga’s “I Get a Kick Out of You,” ABBA’s “I Still Have Faith in You,” and Bieber’s Peaches featuring Daniel Kaiser, Jevon and Brandi Carlile’s Just in Time , “Kiss Me More” by Doja Cat with SZA, Lil Nas X’s “MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)”, “Driving License” by Rodrigo, “Happier than Ever” by Eilish, “Leave The Door Open” by Silk Sonic – The super duo of Bruno Mars and Anderson.
Jay-Z, who was nominated for three Grammy Awards on Tuesday, now has the most nominations ever with 83. 23-time Grammy Award-winning rapper has surpassed Quincy Jones, who has been nominated 80 times.