The annual award show that recognizes the highest performing acts in music is back, and the nominations for the 2015 American Music Awards are more colorful than ever.

Fetty Wap, Nicki Minaj and The Weeknd have all grabbed major nominations at this year’s show for their massive chart-topping successes from December 1, 2014 until September 1 of this year. Those nominations include Artist of the Year, where Nicki and Abel will battle it out against the soulful Ariana Grande, Maroon 5, Taylor Swift and Sam Smith, just to name a few.

Mr. 1738 grabbed an easy New Artist of the Year nod for his infectious hits like "Trap Queen," and "My Way,” while also managing to nudge his way in between rap royalty Drake and Nicki for a Favorite Artist nomination.

Even though she hasn’t released any new solo material this year, Queen Bey is always relevant and has picked up a Favorite Female Aritst-Soul/R&B nom just because she holds the crown. Some other notable mentions include Wiz Khalifa, Chris Brown, Rihanna and D’Angelo in various other categories.

See some of the nominations below:

ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Luke Bryan

Ariana Grande

Maroon 5

Nicki Minaj

One Direction

Ed Sheeran

Sam Smith

Taylor Swift

Meghan Trainor

The Weeknd

NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR PRESENTED BY KOHL'S

Fetty Wap

Sam Hunt

Tove Lo

Walk the Moon

The Weeknd

SONG OF THE YEAR

Wiz Khalifa feat. Charlie Puth – "See You Again"

Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars – "Uptown Funk!"

Ed Sheeran – "Thinking Out Loud"

Taylor Swift – "Blank Space"

The Weeknd – "Can't Feel My Face"

FAVORITE ARTIST – RAP/HIP-HOP

Drake

Fetty Wap

Nicki Minaj

FAVORITE ALBUM – RAP/HIP-HOP

J. Cole – 2014 Forest Hills Drive

Drake – If You're Reading This It's Too Late

Nicki Minaj – The Pinkprint

FAVORITE MALE ARTIST – SOUL/R&B

Chris Brown

Trey Songz

The Weeknd

FAVORITE FEMALE ARTIST – SOUL/R&B

Beyoncé

Mary J. Blige

Rihanna

FAVORITE ALBUM – SOUL/R&B

Chris Brown – X

D'Angelo and The Vanguard – Black Messiah

The Weeknd – Beauty Behind the Madness

For a full list of nominees, click here.

BET.com is your No. 1 source for Black celebrity news, photos, exclusive videos and all the latest in the world of hip hop and R&B music.

(Photos from left: Gilbert Carrasquillo/FilmMagic,  Shareif Ziyadat/Getty Images, David Becker/Getty Images for iHeartMedia)