Grace Jones, BEAM Nominated For ‘Album Of The Year’ At Grammy Awards 2023
Jamaican fashion icon and singer Grace Jones and Papa San’s eldest son BEAM are among those nominated for Album Of The Year (AOTY) at the upcoming 65th Annual Grammy Awards.
Jones and BEAM were both featured on tracks from Beyoncé’s Renaissance album, which was announced on Tuesday, as one of the contenders for the Album of the Year at the 2023 Grammy Awards.
In 2021, the Recording Academy announced a rule change which stipulated that all featured artists, songwriters of new material, producers, recording engineers, mixers and mastering engineers, who worked on an album, are now eligible for Album Of The Year nominations. Previously, these music professionals had to be credited with at least 33 percent of an album’s playing time to merit a nomination.
Renaissance was also nominated for Best Dance/Electronic Album, but the rule change does not affect genre categories. These categories, including Best Reggae Album and Best Rap Album, require music professionals to be credited with at least 51 percent of an album’s playing time in order to consider themselves nominated.
BEAM is a featured artist and composer on Beyoncé’s song Energy, which also credits Pharrell Williams and others. Energy debuted at No. 27 on the Billboard Hot 100, and is the 27-year-old’s highest-charting track on the chart.
The Kingston native, who migrated as a youngster to the US, had also provided Beyoncé with additional vocals on the songs Cuff It and Heated, which debuted at No. 13 and No. 51 on the Billboard Hot 100, respectively, but he was not credited as a featured artist on those tracks.
Grace Jones was featured on the track Move, which debuted at No. 55 on the Hot 100. It was her fourth and highest entry on the chart. Partially recorded at Zak Starkey’s studio in Ocho Rios, St. Ann, the song also featured Nigerian singer Tems.
Her feature on Move, which is the 10th track on Beyoncé’s album, marks Grace’s second Grammy nomination, having been nominated for the Best Video Album at the 26th Annual Grammy Awards back in February 1984.
Producer Sean ‘MeLo-X’ Rhoden, who was born in New York to Jamaican parents, is also nominated for Album Of The Year, having provided additional production including the “rudebwoy” adlibs which were heard on Move.
BEAM, who copped his third Grammy nomination yesterday, was previously nominated for Album Of The Year for his contributions to Canadian pop star Justin Bieber’s Justice Triple Chucks (Deluxe) and Kanye West’s Donda album last year.
He was featured on Bieber’s song Love You Different and was a co-writer on There She Go featuring Lil Uzi Vert on the Bieber album.
He also co-wrote Kanye West’s Pure Souls and Ok Ok Pt. 2, which both featured Shenseea.
Mary J. Blige’s Good Morning Gorgeous (Deluxe), another AOTY contender, had sampled Dawn Penn’s No No No in the song titled Amazing with DJ Khaled.
Penn’s song was a cover of American singer Willie Cobbs’ song You Don’t Love Me.
In the AOTY category, Beyoncé and Blige are up against ABBA’s Voyage, Adele’s 30, Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti, Brandi Carlile’s In These Silent Days, Coldplay’s Music Of The Sphere, Kendrick Lamar’s Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, Lizzo’s Special, and Harry Styles’ Harry’s House.
The winners will be revealed at the awards ceremony, to be held at Los Angeles’ Crpto.com arena on February 5, 2023, and aired live on CBS.