If you haven’t already, it’s officially time to trade in your silver and chrome outfits for chaps, lassos and rustic cowboy hats. On Friday (March 29), Beyoncé finally shared her highly anticipated Cowboy Carter album with the world.
Born out of “an experience that [she] had years ago where [she] did not feel welcomed,” Beyoncé’s latest record is a jaw-dropping ode to the breadth of regional and musical subcultures of the American South. From a fierce reimagining of Dolly Parton‘s classic “Jolene” to mind-blowing hybrids of country and house (“Riiverdance”), somehow, Cowboy Carter finds Beyoncé more experimental and more fearless than ever before.
Although the road to Cowboy Carter began with Queen Bey’s upbringing in Houston, TX and reached an inflection point during the 2016 CMA Awards, the Grammy winner formally kicked off the album campaign during the 2024 Super Bowl with the dual release of “16 Carriages” and “Texas Hold ‘Em.” The former provided a gorgeous preview of the LP’s slower, more introspective moments, while the latter etched its name in the Billboard history books almost immediately. With “Texas Hold ‘Em,” Beyoncé became both the first Black woman to top Hot Country Songs and the first Black woman to send a country song to the top of the Billboard Hot 100. Moreover, other Black women in country — including Reyna Roberts, Linda Martell and Tanner Adell — experienced streaming boosts thanks to “Texas.”
Both Martell and Adell appear on Cowboy Carter, alongside a star-studded list of collaborators that includes Miley Cyrus. Parton, Willie Nelson, Post Malone, Shaboozey, Willie Jones, The-Dream, Raphael Saadiq, Pharrell Williams and more. Presented as both the official follow-up to and “a continuation of” her Grammy-winning Billboard 200-topping Renaissance album, Cowboy Carter is just the latest in a decade-long string of projects that prove that Beyoncé is one of the all-time greats.
From the rousing “II Hands II Heaven” to the shape-shifting “Sweet ★ Honey ★ Buckiin,” here are all 27 tracks on Cowboy Carter ranked.
The annual awards show went down at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California on Sunday night (June 25), which proved to be another eventful night as cultural icons were celebrated, emerging legends were coronated and, in Quavo and Offset’s case, brotherhood was restored.
Beyoncé and SZA were this year’s biggest winners with three awards each. Queen Bey’s Renaissance was crowned Album of the Year, while her “Break My Soul” music video took home the Viewer’s Choice and BET Her awards.
SZA’s record-breaking SOS also won Album of the Year in a rare tie in the standout category, while her “Kill Bill” mini-movie claimed Video of the Year.
The TDE songstress was also crowned Best Female R&B/Pop Artist, fending off stiff competition from Beyoncé, Lizzo, Ari Lennox, Tems, H.E.R. and Coco Jones — the latter of whom was named Best New Artist.
As for Drake, the 6 God trailed closely behind with two wins: Best Group alongside his Her Loss cohort 21 Savage and Best Collaboration for his appearance on Future’s chart-topping hit “Wait For U,” which also featured Tems.
Elsewhere, Kendrick Lamar won Best Male Hip Hop Artist for a second year running, Chris Brown and Usher were jointly named Best Male R&B/Pop Artist and Latto beat out Nicki Minaj, Cardi B, Ice Spice, GloRilla, Megan Thee Stallion and Coi Leray to the Best Female Hip Hop Artist award.
During her televised acceptance speech, the “Big Energy” hitmaker saluted both her peers and the pioneers who paved the way, while also showing love to the female MCs who missed out on a nomination in the category.
“I’m not gon’ cry this year,” Latto began, referencing her tearful Best New Artist victory at last year’s BET Awards. “Shout out to God. He be doing his big one on me! Shout out to all the other women in the category, all the women who paved the way for this to be even be possible, this category is going crazy this year.
“Oh, shout out to some women who I think should have been in the category: Doechii — I love you, baby — Maiya The Don, Flo Milli, Mello Buckzz, TiaCorine. Shout out to all the women, we killin’ it. This is the year of the female, year of women. Hopefully we gon’ see an all-female tour very soon, you feel me?”
“Momma, I love you. And my man, thank you to my man,” she added with a wry smile and sexually suggestive gesture, referencing the long-running speculation surrounding her love life.
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
GloRilla — Anyways, Life’s Great
Chris Brown — Breezy
DJ Khaled — God Did
Drake & 21 Savage — Her Loss
Kendrick Lamar — Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers Beyoncé — Renaissance — WINNER (Tie) SZA — SOS — WINNER (Tie)
BEST FEMALE R&B/POP ARTIST
Ari Lennox
Beyoncé
Coco Jones
H.E.R.
Lizzo SZA — WINNER
Tems
BEST MALE R&B/POP ARTIST
Blxst
Brent Faiyaz
Burna Boy Chris Brown — WINNER (Tie)
Drake
The Weeknd Usher — WINNER (Tie)
BEST GROUP
City Girls Drake & 21 Savage — WINNER
Dvsn
FLO
Maverick City Music & Kirk Franklin
Quavo & TakeOff
Wanmor
BEST COLLABORATION
Latto & Mariah Carey f. DJ Khaled — “Big Energy (Remix)”
Pinkpantheress & Ice Spice — “Boy’s A Liar Pt. 2”
Chris Brown f. Wizkid — “Call Me Every Day”
King Combs f. Kodak Black — “Can’t Stop Won’t Stop”
Metro Boomin, The Weeknd & 21 Savage — “Creepin’”
Hitkidd & GloRilla — “F.N.F. (Let’s Go)”
GloRilla & Cardi B — “Tomorrow 2” Future f. Drake & Tems — “Wait For U” — WINNER
BEST FEMALE HIP HOP ARTIST
Cardi B
Coi Leray
GloRilla
Ice Spice Latto — WINNER
Megan Thee Stallion
Nicki Minaj
BEST MALE HIP HOP ARTIST
21 Savage
Drake
Future
J. Cole
Jack Harlow Kendrick Lamar — WINNER
Lil Baby
VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Chris Brown — “We (Warm Embrace)”
Peezy, Jeezy & Real Boston Richey f. Rob49 — “2 Million Up”
Lizzo — “About Damn Time”
Steve Lacy — “Bad Habit”
Jack Harlow — “First Class” SZA — “Kill Bill” — WINNER
GloRilla & Cardi B — “Tomorrow 2”
VIDEO DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR
A$AP Rocky for AWGE
Benny Boom
Burna Boy
Cole Bennett
Dave Free & Kendrick Lamar
Director X Teyana “Spike Tey” Taylor — WINNER
BEST NEW ARTIST
Ambré Coco Jones — WINNER
Doechii
FLO
GloRilla
Ice Spice
Lola Brooke
DR. BOBBY JONES BEST GOSPEL/INSPIRATIONAL AWARD Maverick City Music & Kirk Franklin — “Bless Me” — WINNER
Tamela Mann — “Finished (Live)”
CeCe Winans — “I’ve Got Joy”
Maverick City Music & Kirk Franklin f. Naomi Raine & Chandler Moore — “Kingdom”
Tye Tribbett — “New”
Yolanda Adams — “One Moment From Glory”
PJ Morton f. Lisa Knowles-Smith, Le’andria Johnson, Keke Wyatt, Kierra Sheard & Tasha Cobbs Leonard — “The Better Benediction (Pt. 2)”
VIEWER’S CHOICE AWARD
Lizzo — “About Damn Time” Beyoncé — “Break My Soul” — WINNER
Jack Harlow — “First Class”
Drake f. 21 Savage — “Jimmy Cooks”
SZA — “Kill Bill”
Burna Boy — “Last Last”
Nicki Minaj — “Super Freaky Girl”
Future f. Drake & Tems — “Wait For U”
BEST INTERNATIONAL ACT
Aya Nakamura (France)
Ayra Starr (Nigeria) Burna Boy (Nigeria) — WINNER
Central Cee (UK)
Ella Mai (UK)
Ko (South Africa)
L7nnon (Brazil)
Stormzy (UK)
Tiakola (France)
Uncle Waffles (Swaziland)
VIEWER’S CHOICE: BEST NEW INTERNATIONAL ACT
Asake (Nigeria)
Camidoh (Ghana)
Flo (UK) Libianca (Cameroon) — WINNER
Maureen (France)
MC Ryan SP (Brazil)
Pabi Cooper (South Africa)
Raye (UK)
Werenoi (France)
BET HER
Lizzo — “About Damn Time”
Pinkpantheress & Ice Spice — “Boy’s A Liar Pt. 2” Beyoncé — “Break My Soul” — WINNER
Megan Thee Stallion — “Her”
Rihanna & Ludwig Göransson — “Lift Me Up”
Coi Leray — “Players”
Lizzo — “Special”
BEST MOVIE Black Panther: Wakanda Forever — WINNER
Creed III
Emancipation
Nope
The Woman King
Till
Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody
BEST ACTOR
Amin Joseph
Brian Tyree Henry Damson Idris — WINNER
Daniel Kaluuya
Demetrius “Lil Meech” Flenory Jr.
Donald Glover
Michael B. Jordan
BEST ACTRESS Angela Bassett — WINNER
Coco Jones
Janelle James
Janelle Monáe
Keke Palmer
Viola Davis
Zendaya
YOUNGSTARS AWARD
Akira Akbar
Alaya High
Demi Singleton
Genesis Denise Marsai Martin — WINNER
Thaddeus J. Mixson
Young Dylan
SPORTSWOMAN OF THE YEAR AWARD
Alexis Morris
Allyson Felix Angel Reese — WINNER
Candace Parker
Naomi Osaka
Serena Williams
Sha’Carri Richardson
SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR AWARD
Aaron Judge
Bubba Wallace
Gervonta Davis Jalen Hurts — WINNER
LeBron James
Patrick Mahomes
Steph Curry
On Thursday (June 8), the official nomination list was released to the public. The 6 God’s nods include Best Male Hip Hop artist, Best Male R&B/Pop Artist, Best Group with 21 Savage, and Album of the Year for Her Loss with 21 Savage.
Similarly, Big Glo nominations include Best Female Hip Hop Artist, Best New Artist, and Album of the Year for Anyways, Life’s Great…, Video of the Year for “Tomorrow 2” with Cardi B, and two nominations for best collaboration (“F.N.F. Let’s Go” and “Tomorrow 2”).
Last year, GloRilla took home the award for Best Breakthrough Hip Hop Artist Of The Year at BET’s Hip Hop Awards.
Check out the complete nomination list below:
Album of the Year
Anyways, Life’s Great – GloRilla
Breezy – Chris Brown
GOD DID – DJ Khaled
Her Loss – Drake & 21 Savage
Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers – Kendrick Lamar
Renaissance – Beyoncé
SOS – SZA
Best Female R&B/Pop Artist
Ari Lennox
Beyoncé
Coco Jones
H.E.R.
Lizzo
SZA
Tems
Best Male R&B/Pop Artist
Blxst
Brent Faiyaz
Burna Boy
Chris Brown
Drake
The Weeknd
Usher
Best Group
City Girls
Drake & 21 Savage
DVSN
FLO
Maverick City Music & Kirk Franklin
Quavo & Takeoff
Wanmor
Best Collaboration
“Big Energy (Remix)” – Latto & Mariah Carey feat. DJ Khaled
“Boy’s A Liar Pt. 2” – Pinkpantheress & Ice Spice
“Call Me Every Day” – Chris Brown feat. Wizkid
“Can’t Stop Won’t Stop” – King Combs feat. Kodak Black
“Creepin’” – Metro Boomin, The Weeknd & 21 Savage
“F.N.F. (Let’s Go)” – Hitkidd & GloRilla
“Tomorrow 2” – GloRilla & Cardi B
“Wait For U” – Future feat. Drake & Tems
Best Female Hip Hop Artist
Cardi B
Coi Leray
GloRilla
Ice Spice
Latto
Megan Thee Stallion
Nicki Minaj
Best Male Hip Hop Artist
21 Savage
Drake
Future
J. Cole
Jack Harlow
Kendrick Lamar
Lil Baby
The 2023 Grammy nominations have been announced. The Recording Academy unveiled the full list of nominees on Tuesday (November 15) ahead of the 65th Annual Grammy Awards, which take place at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California on February 5, 2023.
Beyoncé leads all artist with nine nominations, followed by Kendrick Lamar with eight. Adele trails with seven nods, while Future, Lizzo and Mary J. Blige each have six.
In the rap categories, Kendrick Lamar’s Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, Pusha T’s It’s Almost Dry, Future’s I Never Liked You, DJ Khaled’s God Did and Jack Harlow’s Come Home the Kids Miss You will battle it out for Best Rap Album, while the award for Best Rap Song will be decided between Kendrick Lamar’s “The Heart Part 5,” Future’s “Wait For U,” Gunna’s “Pushin P,” DJ Khaled’s “God Did” and Jack Harlow’s “Churchill Downs.”
Breakout stars GloRilla and Latto both earn their first-ever Grammy nominations for Best Rap Performance (“F.N.F. (Let’s Go)”) and Best Melodic Rap Performance (“Big Energy (Live)”), respectively, while veterans JAY-Z, Lil Wayne and Rick Ross are also in the mix.
Beyoncé’s nine nominations pushes her career total to 88, making her the most nominated artist in Grammys history — tied with her husband JAY-Z, who adds another three nods to his name thanks to his show-stealing verse on DJ Khaled’s “God Did.” With just four wins, Queen Bey could become the most awarded artist in Grammys history.
Fans may notice several big names missing from this year’s nominees. Prior to the nominations being announced, Drake, The Weeknd and Silk Sonic (Anderson .Paak and Bruno Mars) all declined to submit their respective solo material for Grammys consideration.
Drizzy and Abel didn’t give a reason for their snubs, but the Canadian superstars have both been vocal critics of the Grammys in the past. Silk Sonic “respectfully” bowed out after previously stealing the spotlight at the 2022 Grammys, where “Leave the Door Open” won Record of the Year and Song of the Year.
“We truly put our all on this record, but Silk Sonic would like to gracefully, humbly and most importantly, sexually, bow out of submitting our album this year,” Bruno Mars said in a statement. “We hope we can celebrate with everyone on a great year of music and partake in the party. Thank you for letting Silk Sonic thrive.”
He added: “Andy and I, and everyone that worked on this project, won the moment the world responded to ‘Leave the Door Open.’ Everything else was just icing on the cake. We thank the Grammys for allowing us to perform on their platform — not once but twice — and awarding us at last year’s ceremony. We’d be crazy to ask for anything more.”
Check out the list of 2023 Grammy nominations below:
Best Rap Album
• DJ Khaled — God Did
• Future — I Never Liked You
• Jack Harlow — Come Home the Kids Miss You
• Kendrick Lamar — Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers
• Pusha T — It’s Almost Dry
Best Rap Song
• Jack Harlow f. Drake — “Churchill Downs”
• DJ Khaled f. JAY-Z, Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, John Legend & Fridayy — “God Did”
• Kendrick Lamar — “The Heart Part 5”
• Gunna & Future f. Young Thug — “Pushin P”
• Future f. Drake & Tems — “Wait For U”
Best Rap Performance
• DJ Khaled f. JAY-Z, Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, John Legend & Fridayy — “God Did”
• Doja Cat — “Vegas”
• Gunna & Future f. Young Thug — “Pushin P”
• GloRilla & Hitkidd — “F.N.F. (Let’s Go)”
• Kendrick Lamar — “The Heart Part 5”
Best Melodic Rap Performance
• DJ Khaled f. Futue & SZA — “Beautiful”
• Future f. Drake & Tems — “Wait For U”
• Jack Harlow — “First Class”
• Kendrick Lamar f. Blxst & Amanda Reifer — “Die Hard”
• Latto — “Big Energy (Live)”
Album of the Year
• ABBA — Voyage
• Adele — 30
• Bad Bunny — Un Verano Sin Ti
• Beyoncé — Renaissance
• Mary J. Blige — Good Morning Gorgeous
• Brandi Carlile — In These Silent Days
• Coldplay — Music of the Spheres
• Kendrick Lamar — Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers
• Lizzo — Special
• Harry Styles — Harry’s House
Record of the Year
• Harry Styles — “As It Was”
• Adele — “Easy On Me”
• ABBA — “Don’t Shut Me Down”
• Beyoncé — “Break My Soul”
• Mary J. Blige — “Good Morning Gorgeous”
• Brandi Carlile & Lucius — “You and Me on the Rock”
• Doja Cat — “Woman”
• Lizzo — “About Damn Time”
• Steve Lacy — “Bad Habit”
• Kendrick Lamar — “The Heart Part 5”
Song of the Year
• Harry Styles — “As It Was”
• Taylor Swift — “All Too Well (10 Minute Version)”
• Gayle — “abcedfu”
• Lizzo — “About Damn Time”
• Adele — “Easy On Me”
• Steve Lacy — “Bad Habit”
• Kendrick Lamar — “The Heart Part 5”
• DJ Khaled f. JAY-Z, Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, John Legend & Fridayy — “God Did”
• Beyoncé — “Break My Soul”
• Bonnie Raitt — “Just Like That”
Best New Artist
• Anitta
• Omar Apollo
• DOMi & JD Beck
• Samara Joy
• Muni Long
• Latto
• Måneskin
• Tobe Nwigwe
• Molly Tuttle
• Wet Leg
More information & Full list:
https://hiphopdx.com/news/grammy-nominations-2023-full-list
