This time of the year has artistes and music enthusiasts alike, on edge. With the imminent Grammys Awards just around the corner, nominations have eagerly been anticipated however, our anxieties have been put to rest as the 2018 nominations have been announced, needless to say, the music community, the colored ratio in particular, is well pleased.

Ever since the inception of the annual musical award ceremony, nomination of country and pop acts for the awards have become the norm, neglecting artistes of other backgrounds, majority being black. We had it bad last year with Frank Ocean’s blatant call out via tumblr openly stating that he was too good for the Grammys anyways, succeeded by  Solange’s “Wuddup Frank” via twitter (a not-so-subtle shade), indicating that she would be boycotting the 2018 Grammy Awards following Beyonce’s “Lemonade” loss to Adele’s “25” for Album of the year.

wuddup frankhttps://t.co/CVth1vwgNb

— solange knowles (@solangeknowles) February 13, 2017

Hiphop OG, Jay-Z, leads the black pack with 8 Grammy Nominations

2018 Grammys Nominee, rapper, Kendrick Lamar- Image C/O Billboard

 Nonetheless, the Grammys team seems to be trying to make up for last year (rightfully so) with the 2018 nominations  and it looks like we’ll be having the black grammys we’ve always wanted. Finally, black artistes are getting the recognition they deserve and their impacts are finally being felt. With hiphop OG, Jay Z in the lead with 8 nominations for his revelatory album 4:44 including Album of the Year, Record of the Year (“The Story of O.J.”) and Song of the Year (“4:44”),  rapper Kendrick Lamar, is fast on his heels with 7 nominations.

Most Nominated Female Act for the 2018 Grammys, SZA

2018 Grammys Nominee, Cardi B

Enter music’s fave girl of the moment, SZA who scored big being the most-nominated female with five nods to her riveting debut album- CTRL, then there’s Cardi B who had a huge moment this year with her hit single “Bodak Yellow” who has been nominated for Best Rap Performance and Best Rap song categories. That’s not all – there’s a plethora of others such as Childish Gambino, The Weeknd, Daniel Caesar, 6lack, Khalid, Rapsody amongst others, who have been nominated in their respective categories.

While we’re all wild with excitement, here’s the real kicker- not a single white man was nominated for Album of the Year- Take. That. Black talents are finally getting the recognition they deserve after the work the continuously put it in and we’re finally getting the black Grammys award show we all deserve to witness.

Hats off to all the nominees.