Beyonce, Jay-Z, Pharrell, Outkast among top Grammy nominees

Jet, Dec 22, 2003

Hip hop and R&B artists are dominating the music airwaves and the nominations for the upcoming 46th annual Grammy Awards with Beyonce, OutKast, Pharrell Williams and Jay-Z having received six nods each.

On their heels with five nominations are Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott, 50 Cent and Luther Vandross.

Beyonce's Crazy in Love featuring Jay-Z is nominated for Record of the Year along with Hey Ya! by OutKast and Where is the Love by The Black Eyed Peas.

Beyonce is also nominated for Best Female R&B Vocal Performer for Dangerously in Love; R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for The Closer I Get to You with Luther Vandross; Contemporary R&B Album for Dangerously in Love; Rap/ Sung Collaboration for Crazy in Love with Jay-Z and R&B Song for that same tune.

OutKast's other nominations are in the categories of Album of the Year and Rap Album for Speakerboxxx/The Love Below; Urban/Alternative Performance as well as Best Short-Form Video for Hey Ya!

In addition to his nods for Record of the Year, Rap/Sung Collaboration and R&B song of the year for his Crazy in Love efforts with Beyonce, Jay-Z also received nods in the Rap/Sung Collaboration category for Frontin with the Neptunes featuring Pharrell Williams and Rap Album for The Blueprint 2--The Gift & The Curse and Rap Song for Excuse Me Miss, his collaboration with Pharrell Williams.

Among Pharrell's other nominations are Rap/Sung Collaboration for Frontin and Rap Song for his efforts on two pieces--Beautiful with Calvin Broadus (aka Snoop Dogg) and Chad Hugo and Excuse Me Miss with Shawn Carter and Chad Hugo.

Vandross scored with Dance With My Father for Song of the Year and nods for Male R&B Vocalist, R&B Song and R&B Album of the Year.

Other Black nominees include recent "American Idol" winner Ruben Studdard, Lenny Kravitz, Aretha Franklin, Patti LaBelle, Brian McKnight, Tyrese, R. Kelly, Mary J. Blige, Ashanti, Heather Headley, Erykah Badu, the Isley Brothers, TLC, Lil' Kim, Da Brat, Queen Latifah, Ludacris, Earth, Wind & Fire, Kelly Price, the Blind Boys of Alabama, Ann Nesby, Kirk Whalum, Bishop T.D. Jakes, Donnie McClurkin, Aaron Neville, Vickie Winans, Nikki Giovanni, actor Don Cheadle, Etta James, Dianne Reeves, Sean Paul and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.

The Grammy Awards will be held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Feb. 8 and will be televised on CBS.