Lady Gaga and Kendrick Lamar lead the nominees for the 2026 Grammy Awards, which will be held in February 2026. For the second year in a row, Compton rapper Lamar has the most nominations—nine in total—including a coveted Album of the Year nod for his project, GNX.
Lady Gaga is also up for the main prize for her album, Mayhem, which marks a return to her electro-pop roots. She secured seven nominations overall.
A Historic Moment for Rap
This year’s nominations set a major precedent for hip-hop:
- It is the first time in Grammy history that three rap albums have made the shortlist for the Album of the Year category:
- Kendrick Lamar – GNX
- Tyler, The Creator – Chromakopia
- Clipse – Let God Sort Em Out (the duo’s first release since 2009).
Lamar is currently the early frontrunner, building on the success of his razor-sharp diss track “Not Like Us,” which won multiple awards at the 2025 Grammys. If he wins Album of the Year next February, GNX would become the first rap album to secure the night’s main prize since Outkast’s Speakerboxxx/The Love Below in 2004.
K-Pop Breaks Into Song of the Year
The global landscape of music is further reflected in the major categories, with K-Pop breaking into the Song of the Year category for the first time.
Two K-Pop-related songs were shortlisted:
- Rosé and Bruno Mars’ frothy pop hit, “APT.”
- Huntr/x’s “Golden,” the breakout hit from Netflix’s animated film K-Pop Demon Hunters.
Both Lady Gaga and Kendrick Lamar have five previous nominations for Album of the Year, but neither has ever won the coveted gold gramophone in that category.
Source: BBC
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