The nominations for the 53rd Grammy Awards were announced yesterday and some of R&B and Hip Hop’s biggest stars were nominated. Eminem takes the title with 10 nominations, Jay Z with 6, John Legend has 5, and Rihanna and Drake with 4 each. Above, Monica, who is nominated for Best R&B Album and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, shared with MTV News what it was like to be nominated for the first time since 1999.




Category Nominations

Record Of The Year
B.O.B. feat. Bruno Mars “Nothin On’ You”
Eminem feat. Rihanna “Love The Way You Lie”
Cee Lo Green “F*** You”
Jay-Z & Alicia Keys “Empire State Of Mind”
Lady Antebellum “Need You Now”

Album Of The Year
Arcade Fire “The Suburbs”
Eminem “Recovery"
Lady Antebellum “Need You Now”
Lady Gaga “The Fame Monster”
Katy Perry “Teenage Dream”

Song Of The Year
(Awarded to the songwriter, listed in parenthesis)
Ray LaMontagne & The Pariah Dogs “Beg Steal Or Borrow” (Ray LaMontagne)
Cee Lo Green “F*** You” (Cee Lo Green, Philip Lawrence, Bruno Mars)
Miranda Lambert “The House That Built Me” (Tom Douglas & Allen Shamblin)
Eminem and Rihanna “Love The Way You Lie” (Alexander Grant, Holly Hafferman, Marshall Mathers)
Lady Antebellum “Need You Now” (Dave Haywood, Josh Kear, Charles Kelley, Hillary Scott)

Best New Artist
Justin Bieber
Drake
Florence & The Machine
Mumford & Sons
Esperanza Spalding

Best Female Pop Vocal Performance
Sara Bareilles “King Of Anything”
Beyonce “Halo” (Live)
Norah Jones “Chasing Pirates”
Lady Gaga “Bad Romance”
Katy Perry “Teenage Dream”

Best Male Pop Vocal Performance
Michael Bublé “Haven’t Met You Yet”
Michael Jackson “This Is It”
Adam Lambert “Whataya Want From Me”
Bruno Mars “Just The Way You Are”
John Mayer “Half Of My Heart”

Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals
Glee Cast “Don’t Stop Believin’” (Regionals Version)
Maroon 5 “Misery”
Paramore “The Only Exception”
Sade “Babyfather”
Train “Hey, Soul Sister” (Live)

Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals
B.o.B, Eminem, Hayley Williams “Airplanes Pt II”
Herbie Hancock, Pink, India.Arie, Seal, Konono No 1, Jeff Beck & Oumou Sangare “Imagine”
Elton John & Leon Russell “If It Wasn’t For Bad”
Lady Gaga & Beyoncé “Telephone”
Katy Perry & Snoop Dogg “California Girls”

Best Female R&B Vocal Performance
Faitih Evans “Gone Already”
Fantasia “Bittersweet”
Monica “Everything To Me”
Kelly Price “Tired”
Jazmine Sullivan “Holding You Down (Going In Circles)”

Best Male R&B Vocal Performance
El DeBarge “Second Chance”
Jaheim “Finding My Way Back”
Kem “Why Would You Stay”
Kirk Whalum feat. Musiq Soulchild “We’re Still Friends”
Usher “There Goes My Baby”

Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals
Chuck Brown, Jill Scott & Marcus MIller “Love”
Chris Brown & Tank “Take My Time”
Ronald Isley & Aretha Franklin “You’ve Got A Friend”
John Legend & The Roots “Shine”
Sade “Soldier Of Love”

Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance
R. Kelly “When A Woman Loves”
John Legend & The Roots “Hang On In There”
Calvin Richardson “You’re So Amazing”
Ryan Shaw “In Between”
Betty Wright “Go” (Live)

Best Urban/Alternative Performance
Bilal “Little One”
Cee Lo Green “F*** You”
Carolyn Malachi “Orion”
Janelle Monae & Big Boi “Tightrope”
Eric Roberson “Still”

Best R&B Song
(Awarded to the songwriter, listed in parenthesis)
Fantasia “Bittersweet” (Charles Harmon & Claude Kelly)
Jaheim “Finding My Way Back” (Ivan Barias, Curt Chambers, Carvin Haggins, Jaheim Hoagland, Miguel Jontel)
El DeBarge “Second Chance” (E. Debarge & Mischke)John Legend & The Roots “Shine” (John Stephens)
Kem “Why Would You Stay” (K. Owens)

Best R&B Album
Raheem DeVaughn “The Love & War Masterpeacce”
Fantasia “Back To Me”
Jaheim “Another Round”
John Legend & The Roots “Wake Up!”
Monica “Still Standing”

Best Contemporary R&B Album
Chris Brown “Graffiti”
R. Kelly “Untitled”
Ryan Leslie “Transition”
Janelle Monae “The ArchAndroid”
Usher “Raymond V Raymond”

Best Rap Solo Performance
Drake “Over”
Eminem “Not Afraid”
Ludacris “How Low”
T.I. “I’m Back”
Kanye West “Power”

Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group
Big Boi & Cutti “Shutterbugg”
Drake, T.I. & Swizz Beatz “Fancy”
Jay-Z & Swizz Beatz “On To The Next One”
Ludacris & Nicki Minaj “My Chick Bad”
Young Jeezy & Plies “Lose My Mind”

Best Rap/Sung Collaboration
B.O.B & Bruno Mars “Nothin On You”
Chris Brown, Tyga & Kevin McCall “Deuces”
Eminem & Rihanna “Love The Way You Lie”
Jay-Z & Alicia Keys “Empire State Of Mind”
John Legend, The Roots, Melanie Fiona, Common “Wake Up Everybody”

Best Rap Song
(Awarded to the songwriter, listed in parenthesis)
Jay-Z & Alicia Keys “Empire State Of Mind” (Shawn Carter, Angela Hunte, Burt Keyes, Alicia Keys, Jane’t “Jnay” Sewell-Ulepic& Alexander Shuckburgh, Sylvia Robinson)
Eminem & Rihanna “Love The Way You Lie” (Alexander Grant, Holly Hafferman & Marshall Mathers)
Eminem “Not Afraid” (M. Burnett, J. Evans, Marshall Mathers, L. Resto & M. Samuels)
B.O.B. & Bruno Mars “Nothin’ On You” (Philip Lawrence, Ari Levine, Bruno Mars & Bobby Simmons Jr)
Jay-Z & Swizz Beatz “On To The Next One” (Shawn Carter, J. Chaton & K. Dean, G. Auge, X. De Rosnay)

Best Rap Album
B.o.B “The Adventures Of Bobby Ray”
Drake “Thank Me Later”
Eminem “Recovery”
Jay-Z “The Blueprint 3″
The Roots “How I Got Over”

Best Short Form Music Video
Johnny Cash “Ain’t No Grave / The Johnny Cash Project”
Eminem & Rihanna “Love The Way You Lie”
Gorillaz, Mos Def & Bobby Womack “Stylo”
Cee Lo Green “F*** You”
Lady Gaga “Bad Romance”