Jon Batiste became the living proof that the Grammys changed its rules already by garnering 11 nominations.
Grammy unveiled its most-nominated artist this year, hailing Jon Batiste to lead this year’s show.
Ahead of the 64th Annual Grammy Awards, Recording Academy confirmed that Batiste managed to score voters’ hearts that he got the most nominations.
The aforesaid 11 nominations came from seven fields of the award-giving body: General Field, R&B, Jazz, American Roots Music, Music For Visual Media, Classical, and Music Video/Film.
“Oh my goodness. I’m still in a state of astonishment and shock. I’m just really happy that we were able to make something in complete artistic integrity and have it be recognized,” he told The Associated Press.
He particularly swept the nominations through his album We Are and song Freedom.
Meanwhile, Justin Bieber, H.E.R, and Doja Cat secured the second-most nominations with eight each. Billie Eilish and Olivia Rodrigo have seven nominations.
Aside from Batiste, The Weeknd surprised the crowd by garnering three nominations despite pledging to boycott the award-giving body after it snubbed him.
What’s new on Grammys
Following the release of the new rules and nominations, Recording Academy’s CEO Harvey Mason Jr. said that the voters started focusing on the artists’ music. This led to people finally considering Batiste and Kacey Musgraves whose music also made it to other categories.
“The voters are truly evaluating music and not getting caught up in the reputations of any other outside noise or any history of artists,” he said. “With that in mind, I think they’re voting for things that they are acknowledging as excellence.”
Mason followed the new voting system for the Grammys, having a 10-3 initiative which allows the 11,000 members to vote for 10 categories in three genres. They can also choose their bet for the top four awards.
Although the system still causes problems as of the writing, the CEO believes it would be better in the long run.
In response to this, Batiste offered the Recording Academy kind words for changing its nominations and rules.
“I really just want to give props to the Grammys. They tried this year to make the process more inclusive and be about the music first. Other creators listened to the music and decided to give me these nominations and I’m so grateful for that,” he went on.
Although Batiste has the most nominations, he is yet to beat Jay-Z from having the most nominations of all time with 83.
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