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Jet, Jan 21, 2002

Newcomers India.Arie and Alicia Keys and soul crooner Brian McKnight and rap duo Outkast led the list of nominees during this year's Grammy Awards.

Guitarist/singer/writer India.Arie virtually swept nominations with seven nods, including one in all four of the top categories: Album of the Year and Best New Artist, as well as Record of the Year and Song of the Year for the song Video, an anthem of self-love and a lesson in finding beauty in the ordinary. She also got nominations for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, Best R&B Song and Best R&B Album.

Classically trained pianist/singer/ writer Alicia Keys was close on Arie's heels in nominations with six. The soul phenom's hit song Fallin' earned her nods in the categories Record of the Year and Song of the Year. She also was nominated in the categories of Best New Artist, Best Female R&B Vocal, Best R&B Song and Best R&B Album.

Smooth singer/writer/musician/ Brian McKnight earned five nominations including Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for the tune Still and Best R&B Song for the tender melody Love of My Life. In addition he earned nods for Best R&B Vocal, Best Song Written For Movie or TV Win from Men of Honor, and Best Pop Collaboration.

The Atlanta rap duo Outkast also won five nominations, including Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Best Performance by A Duo or Group, Best Short Form MusicVideo and Best Rap Album.

Janet Jackson, Missy Elliott, Jay-Z and Ja Rule all earned three nominations.

Those earning two nods include Destiny's Child, Mary J. Blige, Sade, Eve, Ludacris, Kirk Whalum, Keb' Mo' and comedy great Richard Pryor. Acclaimed actor-singer Harry Belafonte, who worked for a decade on the compilation The Long Road to Freedom: An Anthology of Black Music, which chronicles Black music spanning some four centuries, also got two nods for the project. The late songbird Aaliyah, who died in a plane crash last year, also earned two nominations.

Marley brothers Damian and Ky-Mani, sons of reggae legend Bob Marley, were both nominated in the Best Reggae Album category.

Music legend Ike Turner & the King of Rhythm was nominated for Best Traditional Blues Album for Here and Now.

This year the Academy announced first-time nominees in the Best Rap/ Sung Collaboration category, a new category that will be introduced at this year's ceremony. The category, which honors a rap-vocal performance by artists who don't normally perform together, includes Eve featuring Gwen Stefani for Let Me Blow Ya Mind, Ja Rule featuring Case for Livin' It Up, Jagged Edge featuring Nelly for Where the Party At?, Ludacris featuring Nate Dog for Area Codes and Mystic & Planet Asia for W.

Other nominees included: Quincy Jones, Michael Jackson, Craig David, Shaggy, Lenny Kravitz, Lionel Richie, Nelly, P. Diddy, Jagged Edge, Afroman, Blu Cantrell, Jill Scott, Case, Maxwell, Musiq Soulchild, Usher, City High, Faith Evans and Carl Thomas, the Isley Brothers, 112, Erykah Badu, Regina Belle, Miki Howard, Gladys Knight, the O'Jays, The Queens of Comedy (Mo'Nique, Laura Hayes, Sommore and Adele Givens), CeCe Winans, Shirley Horn, Dianne Reeves, Marcus Miller, Lamont Dozier, Buddy Guy, Etta James, Yolanda Adams, Kim Burrell, Fred Hammond, Tramaine Hawkins, Angie Winans, Dottie Peoples, Richard Smallwood, the Blind Boys of Alabama, Shirley Caesar, John P. Kee, O'Landa Draper's Associates, Chicago Mass Choir, the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir, LFT Church Choir, The Potter's House Mass Choir, Kenny Barron, Regina Carter, Terence Blanchard, Sonny Rollins, Roy Haynes, Roy Hargrove, E-Smoove, Steve "Silk" Hurley, Dr. Dre and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.

The 44th Annual Grammy Awards will be held on Feb. 27 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.