Jay Z will be the man to beat at this year's Grammys, landing nine nominations Friday (Dec. 6). Hovito earned placement in many of the big categories including Best Rap Song ("Holy Grail"), Best Rap Collaboration ("Holy Grail" and "Part II On the Run") and Best Rap Album, where he will go up against Drake, Kanye West, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, and Kendrick Lamar.

K. Dot, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Justin Timberlake and Pharrell Williams all tied for second place with seven nominations, while Drake earned five, followed by Bruno Mars and newcomer Lorde with four nominations apiece. Lamar's nods are especially noteworthy given the Compton rapper's solid year and platinum-selling album, good kid m.A.A.d city. He snagged space in the coveted Album of the Year and Best New Artist categories, where he will once again go up against Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. The Seattle duo also landed a spot in the Song of the Year category for "Same Love," a single about homophobia.  

"It feels awesome," Lewis told BET.com of the nominations, adding, "There's no greater award than the Grammy…to be here tonight, to be nominated for anything, is pretty mind blowing." 

Also grabbing multiple nods were Rihanna, Tamar Braxton, Fantasia, Miguel and Robin Thicke, all of whom snagged three nominations, narrowly trumping T.I. and West at two each. "I'm just glad Pharrell invited me to the party," Tip told us.  

The Hustle Gang leader is nominated along with Pharrell and Thicke for "Blurred Lines," which held the No. 1 spot on the Billboard singles chart for a record 12 weeks. "It's kind of bitter sweet because both of our nominations [are up against] Pharrell [and] Daft Punk," the Atlanta rapper pointed out. Williams is nominated twice in the Record of the Year category for "Blurred Lines" and "Get Lucky," both of which he co-wrote while being featured on the hooks. "I wanna win with Pharrell, but I don't wanna beat Pharrell at the same time," he joked. 

Find out who wins big at the 56th annual Grammy Awards on Jan 26.

See the complete list of nominations here.      

BET.com is your #1 source for Black celebrity news, photos, exclusive videos and all the latest in the world of hip hop and R&B music.

Click here to subscribe to our newsletter.