Kendrick Lamar, Bad Bunny, Lady Gaga face off at Grammy Awards

Superstars Kendrick Lamar, Bad Bunny and Lady Gaga are primed to make history on Sunday in Los Angeles at the 68th Grammy Awards, honoring the best in music.

All three are angling to add to their trophy cabinets by taking home the gala's most coveted award, Album of the Year, for the first time.

Lamar, the Pulitzer Prize-winning rapper who won five gramophones last year, has nine nominations this time around -- the most of any artist -- including for Record and Song of the year.

Pop chameleon Lady Gaga and Puerto Rico's Bad Bunny also are competing in all three categories.

Also nominated for the top album prize are: pop princess Sabrina Carpenter; R&B singer-songwriter Leon Thomas; Tyler, the Creator; hip-hop duo Clipse (Pusha T and Malice); and pop superstar Justin Bieber -- with his first studio effort in four years.

Lamar is nominated this year for his album "GNX," which includes the single "Luther" featuring R&B artist SZA. The 38-year-old has won 22 Grammys during his career.

Lady Gaga, Bieber and Carpenter are set to perform, with more acts expected to be confirmed before Sunday.

- Bad Bunny's hot streak -

Standing in Lamar's way for Album of the Year is Bad Bunny, who is currently on a world tour in support of his album "Debi Tirar Mas Fotos" (I Should Have Taken More Photos).

"It was a very exciting album," musicologist Lauron Kehrer told AFP. "It touched on so much in terms of thematic material and musical material," Kehrer said, pointing to the allusions to decolonization and use of traditional Puerto Rican rhythms.

The 31-year-old Latin megastar, born Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio, will headline the Super Bowl halftime show a week after the Grammys, where he is up for six awards.

Last year, he completed a three-month residency in his native Puerto Rico and hosted the season opener of "Saturday Night Live."

His "Un verano sin ti" (2022) was the first Spanish-language album nominated for Album of the Year honors. A win on Sunday would give Bad Bunny another mention in the history books.

Lady Gaga, 39, made a splashy comeback to touring with "Mayhem," her collection of pop bangers with a dark edge that embraces her dramatic side. She has seven nominations.

She has 14 Grammys to her name, but a win for Album of the Year would complete her hat trick of top awards.

She took Record and Song of the Year honors seven years ago for the soundtrack hit "Shallow," from "A Star is Born" -- which also earned her an Oscar.

This time around, Song of the Year -- which honors songwriting -- is a crowded category that includes Carpenter's "Manchild" and "Golden" from the Netflix animated smash hit "KPop Demon Hunters."

Many pundits believe the energetic K-pop hit will triumph.

Up for best new artist are Alex Warren, girl group Katseye, Britain's Olivia Dean, TikTok dancer-turned-singer Addison Rae, The Marias, sombr, Lola Young and Thomas -- who was already a Grammy winner two years ago for producing a song by SZA.

- 'Reactionary' -

For musicologist Kehrer, the infusion of rap, reggaeton and K-pop in the top Grammy categories reflects changes in the composition of the Recording Academy's voting group.

More than 3,800 new members have been admitted. Half of those new members are age 39 or younger, and 58 percent of them are people of color, the academy says.

Invitations were also offered to all members of the Latin Recording Academy.

"The Grammys are more reactionary than anything else," said Kehrer.

"These artists winning those major awards is more of an indication of climate, rather than trying to move or change the climate."

The Grammy Awards will once again be hosted by comedian Trevor Noah.

The main broadcast begins at 5:00 pm (0100 GMT Monday), but many of the 95 awards will be handed out at a pre-gala event.

Key nominees

Here is a list of nominees in the major categories for the 68th annual Grammy Awards, which will be handed out on Sunday in Los Angeles.

Rapper Kendrick Lamar leads all nominees with nine, followed by Lady Gaga with seven, and a trio of artists tied at six -- Bad Bunny, pop princess Sabrina Carpenter and R&B singer-songwriter Leon Thomas.

- Album of the Year -

"Debi Tirar Mas Fotos" - Bad Bunny

"Swag" - Justin Bieber

"Man's Best Friend" - Sabrina Carpenter

"Let God Sort Em Out" - Clipse (Pusha T & Malice)

"Mayhem" - Lady Gaga

"GNX" - Kendrick Lamar

"Mutt" - Leon Thomas

"Chromakopia" - Tyler, The Creator

- Record of the Year, recognizing overall performance on a song -

"DtMF" - Bad Bunny

"Manchild" - Sabrina Carpenter

"Anxiety" - Doechii

"Wildflower" - Billie Eilish

"Abracadabra" - Lady Gaga

"luther" - Kendrick Lamar with SZA

"The Subway" - Chappell Roan

"APT." - Rose and Bruno Mars

- Song of the Year, recognizing songwriting -

"Abracadabra" - Lady Gaga, Henry Walter & Andrew Watt, songwriters (Lady Gaga)

"Anxiety" - Jaylah Hickmon, songwriter (Doechii)

"APT." - Amy Allen, Christopher Brody Brown, Roget Chahayed, Omer Fedi, Philip Lawrence, Bruno Mars, Chae Young Park, Theron Thomas & Henry Walter, songwriters (Rose, Bruno Mars)

"DtMF" - Marco Daniel Borrero, Scott Dittrich, Benjamin Falik, Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, Hugo Rene Sencion Sanabria, Tyler Thomas Spry & Roberto Jose Rosado Torres, songwriters (Bad Bunny)

"Golden [From 'KPop Demon Hunters']" - EJAE & Mark Sonnenblick, songwriters (HUNTR/X: EJAE, Audrey Nuna, REI AMI)

"luther" - Jack Antonoff, Roshwita Larisha Bacha, Matthew Bernard, Scott Bridgeway, Sam Dew, Ink, Kendrick Lamar, Solana Rowe, Mark Anthony Spears & Kamasi Washington, songwriters (Kendrick Lamar with SZA)

"Manchild" - Amy Allen, Jack Antonoff & Sabrina Carpenter, songwriters (Sabrina Carpenter)

"Wildflower" – Billie Eilish O'Connell & Finneas O'Connell, songwriters (Billie Eilish)

- Best New Artist -

Olivia Dean

KATSEYE

The Marias

Addison Rae

sombr

Leon Thomas

Alex Warren

Lola Young

- Best Pop Solo Performance -

"Daisies" - Justin Bieber

"Manchild" - Sabrina Carpenter

"Disease" - Lady Gaga

"The Subway" - Chappell Roan

"Messy" - Lola Young

- Best Pop Duo/Group Performance -

"Defying Gravity" - Cynthia Erivo & Ariana Grande

"Golden [From 'KPop Demon Hunters']” - HUNTR/X: EJAE, Audrey Nuna, REI AMI

"Gabriela" - KATSEYE

"APT." - Rose, Bruno Mars

"30 For 30" - SZA with Kendrick Lamar

- Best Pop Vocal Album -

"Swag" - Justin Bieber

"Man's Best Friend" - Sabrina Carpenter

"Something Beautiful" - Miley Cyrus

"Mayhem" - Lady Gaga

"I've Tried Everything but Therapy (Part 2)" - Teddy Swims

- Best Rap Album -

"Let God Sort Em Out" - Clipse (Pusha T & Malice)

"Glorious" - GloRilla

"God Does Like Ugly" - JID

"GNX" - Kendrick Lamar

"Chromakopia" - Tyler, The Creator

- Best Rap Performance -

"Outside" - Cardi B

"Chains & Whips" - Clipse (Pusha T & Malice), featuring Kendrick Lamar & Pharrell Williams

"Anxiety" - Doechii

"tv off" - Kendrick Lamar featuring Lefty Gunplay

"Darling, I" - Tyler, The Creator Featuring Teezo Touchdown

- Best Music Video -

"Manchild" - Sabrina Carpenter

"So Be It" - Clipse

"Anxiety" - Doechii

"Love" - OK Go

"Young Lion" - Sade

- Best Global Music Album -

"Sounds Of Kumbha" - Siddhant Bhatia

"No Sign of Weakness" - Burna Boy

"Eclairer le monde - Light the World" - Youssou N'Dour

"Mind Explosion (50th Anniversary Tour Live)" - Shakti

"Chapter III: We Return to Light" - Anoushka Shankar featuring Alam Khan & Sarathy Korwar

"Caetano e Bethania Ao Vivo" - Caetano Veloso and Maria Bethania

- Artists with Most Nominations -

Kendrick Lamar - 9

Lady Gaga - 7

Bad Bunny - 6

Leon Thomas - 6

Sabrina Carpenter - 6