The Grammy Awards have released nominations for the this year's best albums, songs and performances. After years of criticism for not embracing the greatness of black culture, the Grammys 2018 nods have Childish Gambino, Kendrick Lamar and Jay Z leading the pack.

Photo: Damn

For Album of the Year, Childish Gambino's "Awaken, My Love!," "4:44" from Jay-Z and Kendrick Lamar's "Damn." are the big dogs in that category. It can be said that the Record of the Year category is also stacked because these three have three of the most popular songs of the year with "Redbone," "The Story of O.J." and "Humble."

Photo: Bodak Yellow

But look out for Cardi B whose hit single "Bodak Yellow" is nominated for Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song of the Year. Cardi B is right alongside Jay Z and Kendrick Lamar in that category.

Photo: CTRL

When it comes to R&B, SZA is getting the recognition she deserves. She is nominated for Best R&B Performance and for New Artist of the Year.

It looks like Jay Z with eight nods and Kendrick Lamar are the two big names to beat. Check out the rest of the nominations below and see if your faves made the cut:

R&B performance

"Get You" — Daniel Caesar featuring Kali Uchis
"Distraction" — Kehlani
"High" — Ledisi
"That's What I Like" — Bruno Mars
"The Weekend" — SZA

Traditional R&B performance

"Laugh and Move On" — the Baylor Project
"Redbone" — Childish Gambino
"What I'm Feelin'" — Anthony Hamilton featuring the Hamiltones
"All the Way" — Ledisi
"Still" — Mali Music

Song of the year

"Despacito" — Ramón Ayala, Justin Bieber, Jason "Poo Bear" Boyd, Erika Ender, Luis Fonsi & Marty James Garton, songwriters (Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee Featuring Justin Bieber)
"4:44" — Shawn Carter & Dion Wilson, songwriters (Jay-Z)
"Issues" — Benny Blanco, Mikkel Storleer Eriksen, Tor Erik Hermansen, Julia Michaels & Justin Drew Tranter, songwriters (Julia Michaels)
"1-800-273-8255" — Alessia Caracciolo, Sir Robert Bryson Hall II, Arjun Ivatury & Khalid Robinson, songwriters (Logic Featuring Alessia Cara & Khalid)
"That's What I Like" — Christopher Brody Brown, James Fauntleroy, Philip Lawrence, Bruno Mars, Ray Charles McCullough II, Jeremy Reeves, Ray Romulus & Jonathan Yip, songwriters (Bruno Mars)

Rap performance

"Bounce Back" — Big Sean
"Bodak Yellow" — Cardi B
"4:44" — Jay-Z
"Humble." — Kendrick Lamar
"Bad and Boujee" — Migos featuring Lil Uzi Vert

Rap/sung performance

"Prblms" — 6lack
"Crew" — Goldlink featuring Brent Faiyaz & Shy Glizzy
"Family Feud" — Jay-Z featuring Beyoncé
"Loyalty." — Kendrick Lamar featuring Rihanna
"Love Galore" — SZA featuring Travis Scott

R&B song

"First Began" — PJ Morton, songwriter (PJ Morton)
"Location" — Alfredo Gonzalez, Olatunji Ige, Samuel David Jiminez, Christopher McClenney, Khalid Robinson & Joshua Scruggs, songwriters (Khalid)
"Redbone" — Donald Glover & Ludwig Goransson, songwriters (Childish Gambino)
"Supermodel" — Tyran Donaldson, Terrence Henderson, Greg Landfair Jr., Solana Rowe & Pharrell Williams, songwriters (SZA)
"That's What I Like" — Christopher Brody Brown, James Fauntleroy, Philip Lawrence, Bruno Mars, Ray Charles McCullough II, Jeremy Reeves, Ray Romulus & Jonathan Yip, songwriters (Bruno Mars)

Rap song

"Bodak Yellow" — Dieuson Octave, Klenord Raphael, Shaftizm, Jordan Thorpe, Washpoppin & J White, songwriters (Cardi B)
"Chase Me" — Judah Bauer, Brian Burton, Hector Delgado, Jaime Meline, Antwan Patton, Michael Render, Russell Simins & Jon Spencer, songwriters (Danger Mouse featuring Run the Jewels & Big Boi)
"Humble." — K. Duckworth, Asheton Hogan & M. Williams II, songwriters (Kendrick Lamar)
"Sassy" — E. Gabouer & M. Evans, songwriters (Rapsody)
"The Story of O.J." — Shawn Carter & Dion Wilson, songwriters (Jay-Z)

Best Urban Contemporary Album

"Free 6LACK" — 6LACK
“Awaken, My Love!” — Childish Gambino
"American Teen" — Khalid
"Ctrl" — SZA
"Starboy" — The Weeknd

Rap album

"4:44" — Jay-Z
"Damn." — Kendrick Lamar
"Culture" — Migos
"Laila's Wisdom" — Rapsody
"Flower Boy" — Tyler, the Creator

New artist

Alessia Cara
Khalid
Lil Uzi Vert
Julia Michaels
SZA

The 60th annual Grammy awards ceremony will take place at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Sunday, January 28, 2018. The telecast will broadcast live on CBS at 7:30pm ET.

Childish Gambino, Donald Glover, Awaken, My Love!,

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