André 3000, Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar Among 12 Black Artists Leading 2025 Grammy Nominations
With Grammy nominations abound for Black artists across R&B, hip-hop, jazz, and country music, we’re positive that some of our favorite artists are going home with some trophies. To honor these acts with less than a month left until the 67th Annual Grammy Awards, we’re celebrating those with multiple nods.
While we know Beyoncé, André 3000, and Chris Brown for holding down R&B, rap, and pop, they’re shuffling genres this year, with new recognition in country, jazz and Afrobeats. Making their jump into the Grammys scene are newcomers Doechii and Shaboozey. At the same time, we have our fingers crossed for Grammy-nominated veterans who’ve yet to win an award, Kehlani and Metro Boomin.
Below, get familiar with some categories and revisit 2024 albums and songs that could receive Grammy wins during the telecast on Sunday, February 2, beginning at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on CBS and Paramount+.
André 3000
After a hiatus, 9-time Grammy winner and former Outkast member André 3000 has gotten Grammy love from categories outside of rap. This year, the rapper-turned-instrumentalist returns with his first solo LP, “New Blue Sun,” as an Album of the Year nominee–just 21 years after Outkast's “Speakerboxxx/The Love Below” won in the category. “New Blue Sun” also has a Best Alternative Jazz nod, and album track “I Swear, I Really Wanted To Make A "Rap" Album But This Is Literally The Way The Wind Blew Me This Time,” is in the running for Best Instrumental Composition.
Beyoncé
Already the most-decorated artist in Grammy history, at this year’s awards ceremony, Beyoncé’s poised to nab the country music crown. With her eighth album, “Cowboy Carter,” the singer is almost exclusively in country music categories, with 11 nominations across Best Country Album, Best Country Solo Performance (“16 Carriages”), and Best Country Song (“Texas Hold ‘Em”). Beyoncé will also hold down the ‘Big Three’ nominations: Album of the Year, Record of the Year and Song of the Year, the latter two for “Texas Hold ‘Em.”
Chris Brown
While he has one Grammy win, Chris Brown is back for more in his fourteenth year as a nominee. The Virginia native is up for Best R&B Album (“11:11 (Deluxe))” and Best R&B Performance (“Residuals”), but with his crossover single “Sensational” featuring Davido and Lojay, Brown is also nominated for Best African Music Performance. If he wins in the latter category, Brown will succeed Tyla, who won for her breakthrough single “Water” last year.
Doechii
Although she’s a Grammy-nominee first timer, 2025 could be the year of Doechii, as the rapper has three nominations for Best Rap Album (“Alligator Bites Never Heal”), Best Rap Performance (“Nissan Altima”) and Best New Artist. In her introductory Grammy year, Doechii’s gifted fans and new listeners a fleshed-out campaign with special performances on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts and Genius, while the Best Rap Album nomination also makes her the only woman to be recognized in the category this year.
Future & Metro Boomin
Igniting one of rap’s biggest beefs with their collaborative album, “We Don’t Trust You,” it’s Future and Metro Boomin’s turn to be recognized at the 2025 Grammys. The Southern artists are nominated for Best Rap Album, Best Melodic Rap Performance for “We Still Don’t Trust You” featuring The Weeknd, while “Like That,” the Kendrick Lamar-assisted single that provoked his months-long feud with Drake, has nominations for Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance.
Kaytranada
Considered a GOAT among rising electronic producers and SoundCloud enthusiasts, Kaytranada proves that he’s “Timeless” with Grammy nominations for his third album. Having already won for Best Dance/Electronic Album (“Bubba”) in 2021, “Timeless” is nominated in the same category this year, while the Childish Gambino-featured “Witchy” and Kaytra’s remix of Doechii and JT’s “Alter Ego” have nods for Best Dance/Electronic Recording and Best Remixed Recording, respectively.
Kehlani
Among one of the first Grammy nominees for a mixtape is Kehlani, who’s officially racked up a total of five nominations. Eight years following their last Grammy nod, Kehlani has returned to claim a golden gramophone for Best R&B Song (“After Hours”), Best Melodic Rap Performance for their appearance on Jordan Adetunji's “Kehlani” remix and Best Progressive R&B Album for their fourth album, “Crash.”
Kendrick Lamar
17-time Grammy winner Kendrick Lamar didn’t let up on Drake all 2024, and he’s equally putting pressure on seven categories this year. Along with his nods for the aforementioned feature on Future and Metro Boomin’s “Like That,” Kendrick’s groundbreaking summertime single “Not Like Us”–which was so widely popular that Drake filed two lawsuits involving it”–is up for Song of the Year and Record of the Year.
Muni Long
Singer-songwriter Muni Long knows that “Revenge” is sweet. Instead of wallowing away in post-separation blues, the Grammy winner turned her pain into art, and it’s being acknowledged in four R&B categories, including Best R&B Album and Best R&B Song (“Ruined Me”).
Shaboozey
He might’ve been disrespected at the 2024 CMA Awards, but Shaboozey has bigger trophies in his reach with five Grammy nominations in his debut year at the awards ceremony. With two ‘Big Three’ noms for Best New Artist and Song of the Year (“A Bar Song (Tipsy)”), the historic chart-topping single is also nominated for Best Country Solo Performance and Best Country Solo Performance, while Shaboozey’s part on Beyoncé’s “Spaghetii” is in the running for Best Melodic Rap Performance.
Tems
Although she has a Grammy for her sample on Future and Drake collaboration "Wait for U," Tems is long overdue for her own. At the 2025 Grammys, she's a strong contender for Best Global Music Album ("Born in the Wild"), Best African Music Performance ("Love Me JeJe") and Best R&B Song ("Burning").