Even with the dominance of acts like Burna Boy who snatched four nominations and Sza with nine nods, there is a long list of artists who were nominated for the first time at the 2024 annual Grammy awards on Friday. Among them are several African artists and Greek Jamaican restaurateur turned music producer Alexx Antaeus who is expressing gratitude, after being nominated for Best Reggae Album with his Julian Marley project “Colors Of Royal.” The album is the only album by a member of the Marley family to be nominated at 66th Annual Grammy Awards.
“We worked hard, we explored fresh approaches to Reggae and we were rewarded with a Grammy nomination,” he told WMV on Friday evening. “Colors of Royal” was released on March 24, 2023 on Alexx’s Monom Records.
Alexx explained how a chance encounter at his Kingston hotspot that was located at the hisotric Devon House became the meeting place that turned into a Grammy nominated reggae album with the son of Bob Marley. “One night Julian was at Friday’s at the Devon, we were having Appleton Reserve, and I invited him in the studio which was at the restaurant. I played him one of the Riddims, he loved it and a couple days later he came and recorded it at Devon House,” Antaeus explained.
“One thing led to the next, we decided to do an album together and I told him we were gonna do reggae from a different perspective and we took reggae into a whole new genre within the reggae genre. We explored new possibilities for reggae music,” Alexx said.
Nigerian artists dominated the inaugural Best African Music Performance category with singers like Ayra Starr, Asake, Olamide, and Davido all scoring nods in the category.
ASAKE earned his first nomination for Amapiano in the Best African Music Performance ft fellow Nigerian Olamide.
Ayra Starr got her first Grammy nomination with Rush for Best African Music Performance becoming the youngest Nigerian to earn a Grammy nomination at age 21.
In other categories boygenius, the supergroup consisting of Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus, secured an impressive six nominations, including nods for Album of the Year and Record of the Year. Bridgers adds a seventh nomination for her collaboration with SZA, while Sarah Tudzin of Illuminati Hotties earns her first three career nominations for her contributions to boygenius.
In the realm of indie rock, Alvvays, recognized as darlings in 2022’s year-end lists, finds their track “Belinda Says” nominated for Best Alternative Music Performance. Neutral Milk Hotel enters the mix with a nomination for Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package for “The Collected Works Of Neutral Milk Hotel,” a category that also marks Dry Cleaning’s inaugural nomination.
The Best New Artist category features breakout stars Gracie Abrams, Ice Spice, Noah Kahan, and Jelly Roll alongside more established acts like Troye Sivan, Anne-Marie, Romy, Lainey Wilson, and Davido, all receiving their first Grammy nominations.
Davido got three nominations for Best Global Performance – Feel, Best Global Music Album – Timeless and Best African Music Performance – Unavailable ft Musa Keys.
Additionally, artists such as Danny L Harle, Laufey, Madison Beer, Coco Jones, Eryn Allen Kane, Flowdan, Coi Leray, the Arcs, and others are recognized for the first time.
Tyla got a nomination in the Best African Music Performance category for her US Billboard Afrobeats Chart topper “Water” and Fireboy DML got a nod by way of Jon Baptiste’s “World Music Radio” in the Best Music Album category.
Ryan Gosling earns his first nomination for his Barbie power ballad “I’m Just Ken.” Aqua also claims two nominations for being sampled on Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice’s “Barbie World.”
Here is a list of first-time nominees at the 66th annual Grammy awards written alphabetically.
- Alexx Antaeus
- Alvvays
- Anne-Marie
- Aqua
- Ayra Starr
- Boygenius
- Coco Jones
- Coi Leray
- Danny L Harle
- Davido
- Dry Cleaning
- Eryn Allen Kane
- Fireboy DML
- Flowdan
- Gracie Abrams
- Ice Spice
- Jelly Roll
- Lainey Wilson
- Laufey
- Madison Beer
- Neutral Milk Hotel
- Noah Kahan
- Olamide
- Peso Pluma
- Romy
- Ryan Gosling
- Sarah Tudzin (Illuminati Hotties)
- Spiritbox
- The Arcs
- The War And Treaty
- Troye Sivan
