Muni Long Leads Grammy R&B Field With 4 Nominations
SZA, Chris Brown, Coco Jones, Lucky Daye, Kehlani and Lalah Hathaway received nods as well.
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Muni Long now has a chance to bring home a second Grammy for best R&B performance. The singer-songwriter received a second nod in that category during the Recording Academy’s unveiling Friday (Nov. 8) of its nominee slate for the 67th Grammy Awards — this time for the live rendition of her hit song “Made for Me (Live on BET).”
Long also leads this year’s slate of R&B Grammy nominees, scoring three additional nods: best traditional R&B performance (“Make Me Forget”), best R&B song (“Ruined Me”) and best R&B album (Revenge). She received her first Grammy win at the 65th awards ceremony for her vocal work on her hit “Hrs and Hrs.”
After Long, these R&B stars are tied at two nominations apiece in the R&B categories: Chris Brown, Coco Jones, SZA, Lucky Daye, Kehlani and Lalah Hathaway. Also receiving nods were Jhené Aiko and Childish Gambino.
It’s a strong Grammy showing for Brown this time around. In addition to nods for best R&B performance (“Residuals”) and best R&B album ( 11:11 [Deluxe]), he also picked up a third nomination in the best African music performance category for “Sensational,” also featuring Davido and Lojay. Tems, one of the other four artists vying against Brown in that category (with “Love Me Jeje”), is also up for best R&B song (“Burning”).
Continuing a comeback heightened by this year’s Super Bowl halftime performance and tour, Usher garnered a best R&B album nomination for his first solo project since 2016, Coming Home. Also of note is Marsha Ambrosius’ nod for best traditional R&B performance for the song “Wet,” giving the singer-songwriter her 10th Grammy nomination. The track is featured on Casablanco, executive produced by Dr. Dre and Ambrosius’ first new studio album since 2018.
SZA continues to reign with hit “Saturn,” which received nods for best R&B song and best R&B performance. Also gaining key recognition this year: Kehlani for best R&B song (“After Hours”) and best progressive R&B album (Crash); Lucky Daye for best traditional R&B performance (“That’s You”) and best R&B album (Algorithm) plus Coco Jones for best R&B song and best R&B performance (both for “Here We Go (Uh Oh).” Jones won her first Grammy for best R&B performance for “ICU” this past February. Kehlani is also the featured guest on Jordan Adetunji’s breakout hit “Kehlani,” which is nominated in the best melodic rap category.
In the category of unexpected nominations are such names as longtime indie favorite Avery*Sunshine (So Glad to Know You) and buzzing artist Durand Bernarr (En Route), both for best progressive R&B album. Among the unexpected snubs: Bryson Tiller, 4batz, PartyNextDoor and Tyla, though THR reported that the singer’s self-titled debut album had been moved from best R&B album to the best pop vocal album category.
The 67th Grammy Awards are set to air Feb. 2 on CBS.
