the grammys

And the 2013 Grammy Nominees Are …

Enthusiastic nomination show hosts Taylor Swift and LL Cool J.

Enjoyed and/or made it through Taylor Swift’s and LL Cool J’s banter and musical shenanigans? Good. Let’s get to the nominees for the 55th annual Grammy Awards, set to go down February 10, 2013. (And check out our thoughts on the Grammy nominations here. Apparently, it’s hard out there for a teen.) Frank Ocean, Kanye West, Jay-Z, Mumford & Sons, fun., and the Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach all scored six. Album of the Year is secretly a contest for rock LP of the year with Ocean’s Channel ORANGE thrown in to make it that much nicer when he wins. Best New Artist is a semi-stunner — carefully monitor your neighborhood for livid Carly Rae Jepsen and One Direction fans. And there are tons of first-timers in high places, such as 2 Chainz: Grammy nominee. Here’s a long list selected from the 81 categories announced. (Only releases that fell between October 1, 2011 and September 30, 2012 were eligible.)

Album of the Year
The Black Keys — El Camino
fun. — Some Nights
Mumford & Sons — Babel
Frank Ocean — Channel ORANGE
Jack White — Blunderbuss

Best New Artist
Alabama Shakes
fun.
Hunter Hayes 
The Lumineers 
Frank Ocean

Record of the Year
The Black Keys — “Lonely Boy”
Kelly Clarkson — “Stronger”
fun. — “We Are Young” feat. Janelle Monae
Gotye — “Somebody That I Used to Know”
Frank Ocean — “Thinkin Bout You”
Taylor Swift — “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together”

Song of the Year
Ed Sheeran — “The A Team” 
Miguel — “Adorn”
Carly Rae Jepsen — “Call Me Maybe”
Kelly Clarkson — “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)”
fun. — “We Are Young”

Best Pop Vocal Album
Kelly Clarkson — Stronger
Florence + The Machine — Ceremonials
fun. — Some Nights
Maroon 5 — Overexposed
Pink — The Truth About Love

Best Pop Solo Performance
Adele — “Set Fire to the Rain” [Live]
Kelly Clarkson — “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)”
Carly Rae Jepsen — “Call Me Maybe”
Katy Perry — “Wide Awake”
Rihanna — “Where Have You Been”

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance
Florence + the Machine — “Shake It Out”
fun. — “We Are Young” feat. Janelle Monae
Gotye — “Somebody That I Used to Know” feat. Kimbra
LMFAO — “Sexy and I Know It”
Maroon 5 — “Payphone” feat. Wiz Khalifa

Best Alternative Music Album
Fiona Apple — The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do
Björk — Biophilia
Gotye — Making Mirrors
M83 — Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
Tom Waits — Bad As Me

Best Rap Album
Drake — Take Care
Lupe Fiasco — Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album, Pt. 1
Nas — Life Is Good
The Roots — Undun
Rick Ross — God Forgives, I Don’t
2 Chainz — Based on a T.R.U. Story

Best Rap Song
Nas — “Daughters”
Wale feat. Miguel — “Lotus Flower Bomb”
Kanye West feat. Big Sean, Pusha T, and 2 Chainz — “Mercy”
Drake feat. Lil Wayne — “The Motto”
Jay-Z and Kanye West — “Niggas in Paris”
Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa feat. Bruno Mars — “Young, Wild & Free”

Best Rap/Sung Collaboration
Flo Rida feat. Sia — “Wild Ones”
Jay-Z and Kanye West feat. Frank Ocean and The-Dream — “No Church in the Wild”
John Legend feat. Ludacris — “Tonight (Best You Ever Had)”
Nas feat. Amy Winehouse — “Cherry Wine”
Rihanna feat. Jay-Z — “Talk That Talk”

Best Rap Performance
Drake feat. Lil Wayne — “HYFR (Hell Ya Fucking Right)”
Jay-Z and Kanye West — “Niggas In Paris”
Nas — “Daughters”
Kanye West feat. Big Sean, Pusha T & 2 Chainz — “Mercy”
Young Jeezy feat. Jay-Z and André 3000 — “I Do”

Best Urban Contemporary Album
Chris Brown — Fortune
Miguel — Kaleidoscope Dream
Frank Ocean — Channel ORANGE

Best Traditional R&B Performance
Anita Baker — “Lately”
Beyoncé — “Love on Top”
Melanie Fiona — “Wrong Side of a Love Song”
Gregory Porter — “Real Good Hands”
SWV — “If Only You Knew”

Best R&B Song
Miguel — “Adorn”
Tamia — “Beautiful Surprise”
Trey Songz — “Heart Attack”
Anthony Hamilton — “Pray for Me”
Elle Varner — “Refill”

Best R&B Album 
Robert Glasper Experiment — Black Radio
Anthony Hamilton — Back to Love
R. Kelly — Write Me Back
Tamia — Beautiful Surprise
Tyrese — Open Invitation

Best Rock Album
The Black Keys — El Camino
Coldplay — Mylo Xyloto
Muse — The 2nd Law
Bruce Springsteen — Wrecking Ball
Jack White — Blunderbuss

Best Rock Performance
Alabama Shakes — “Hold On”
The Black Keys — “Lonely Boy”
Coldplay — “Charlie Brown”
Mumford & Sons — “I Will Wait”
Bruce Springsteen — “We Take Care of Our Own”

Best Dance Recording 
Avicii — “Levels”
Calvin Harris — “Let’s Go” feat. Ne-Yo
Skrillex — “Bangarang” feat. Sirah
Swedish House Mafia — “Don’t You Worry Child” feat. John Martin
Al Walser — “I Can’t Live Without You”

Best Dance/Electronica Album
Steve Aoki — Wonderland
The Chemical Brothers — Don’t Think
Deadmau5 — > Album Title Goes Here <
Kaskade — Fire & Ice
Skrillex — Bangarang

Best Country Solo Performance
Dierks Bentley — “Home” 
Eric Church — “Springsteen” 
Ronnie Dunn — “Cost of Livin’” 
Hunter Hayes — “Wanted” 
Blake Shelton— “Over” 
Carrie Underwood — “Blown Away”

Best Country Album
Zac Brown Band — Uncaged
Hunter Hayes — Hunter Hayes
Jamey Johnson — Living for a Song: A Tribute to Hank Cochran
Miranda Lambert — Four the Record
The Time Jumpers — The Time Jumpers

Best Spoken Word Album:
Scott Cresswell and Dan Zitt — American Grown (Michelle Obama)
Bill Clinton — Back to Work: Why We Need Smart Government for a Strong Economy
Rachel Maddow — Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power
Ellen DeGeneres — Seriously … I’m Kidding
Janis Ian — Society’s Child: My Autobiography

Best Comedy Album
Jimmy Fallon — Blow Your Pants Off
Margaret Cho — Cho Dependent (Live in Concert)
Lewis Black — In God We Rust
Kathy Griffin — Kathy Griffin: Seaman 1st Class
Jim Gaffigan — Mr. Universe
Tenacious D — Rize of the Fenix

And the 2013 Grammy Nominees Are …