They like him–they really like him.
A year after showering Kanye West with 10 Grammy nominations for his debut “The College Dropout” (he won three), Grammy voters singled out the rapper-producer’s sophomore effort, “Late Registration.”
The Chicago native has scored eight nominations including those for the album, which has sold more than 2 million copies and spawned the mega-hit “Gold Digger,” performed with Jamie Foxx. West, John Legend and Mariah Carey top the list of multiple honorees for the 48th Annual Grammy Awards on Wednesday in L.A.
The day the nominations were announced, West told reporters, “I’d like to thank the academy for paying attention to my music, not my mouth.”
That’s because West can’t keep it shut. He previously had told MTV News, “If I don’t win album of the year, I’m gonna really have a problem with that. … You can never take away from the amount of work I put into it, so I don’t wanna hear all of that politically correct stuff.”
We won’t even get into all the other things he’s said and done. Old news. On Wednesday, “Late Registration” could become the first all-rap album to earn a Grammy as album of the year. Tune in at 7 p.m. on CBS.
Mariah Carey
Nominations: Eight, including record of the year, song of the year and album of the year
How’d she do it? Grammy voters love comebacks, and few comebacks in pop-music history have been as spectacular as Carey’s rise and fall–and return with “The Emancipation of Mimi,” 2005’s top-selling album. Her previous work, 2002’s “Charmbracelet,” bombed just a year after EMI paid her a reported $28 million to leave the label when her “Glitter” film and soundtrack failed.
The scoop: Despite having more No. 1 hits (17) than any artist except The Beatles (20) and selling more than 150 million albums worldwide, Carey has converted just two of her previous 38 nominations into Grammys.
Quote: “My year has already been validated, but all these nominations really are incredible,” Carey has said.
John Legend
Nominations: Eight, including song of the year and best new artist
How’d he do it? Legend quietly built a sizable following thanks to strong word-of-mouth, a tireless touring schedule and a slow-burning single “Ordinary People.” He managed to sell an impressive 1.5 million copies of his debut disc, “Get Lifted.”
The scoop: The 27-year-old former management consultant has been around longer than people realize. He started out as a session player and backup vocalist, appearing on Alicia Keys’ hit single, “You Don’t Know My Name,” Jay-Z’s “Encore” and Dilated Peoples’ “This Way,” among others. He also worked on Kanye West’s debut disc, “The College Dropout.”
Quote: “My friends kept saying I was going to be very happy this year,” he said.
The Kanye connecton
Kanye West is nominated for eight Grammy awards Wednesday, but his work has helped other artists earn nominations too.
Mariah Carey
Not only has West’s “Late Registration” earned an album of the year nod, but West is listed as a producer on Carey’s “The Emancipation Of Mimi,” which spawned nominations in eight categories.
Alicia Keys
West’s songwriting abilities earned him a best rap song nomination for his own “Diamonds From Sierra Leone,” but also a best R&B song nod for co-writing Keys’ “Unbreakable.”
John Legend
Although West didn’t score a nomination from the R&B crooner’s work, Legend is considered a West protege and has earned eight nominations. West co-produced Legend’s album, “Get Lifted,” and released it through his Sony-affiliated label, GOOD.
Common
Common’s “They Say,” performed with West and Legend, is up for best rap/sung collaboration. The song is from Common’s West-produced album “Be,” which has earned four nominations. Common, long considered West’s mentor, records for West’s GOOD label.
Odd couples
It’s a practice at the Grammys as common as giving the oldest nominee in a category the award, and it isn’t changing this year: The odd couple pairing. Here are just some of the groupings confirmed for the 7 p.m. Wednesday broadcast on CBS of the 48th Annual Grammy Awards.
Mariah Carey and Hezekiah Walker & Love Fellowship Choir: TV Guide reported that Madonna insisted she open the show instead of Mariah and the choir. Which brings us to …
Madonna and Gorillaz (above): Which one is the cartoon?
Bruce Springsteen and Coldplay: Is this the ceremonial passing of a baton? Where’s U2?
U2 and Mary J. Blige (above): Practice makes perfect. They sang “One” on her “The Breakthrough” disc.
Faith Hill and Keith Urban: Watch for Tim McGraw’s reaction.
Christina Aguilera and Herbie Hancock: They’ve worked together before, but that doesn’t mean this is a good thing.
Jamie Foxx and Kanye West: Any chance they’ll play something besides “Gold Digger”?
John Legend, Devin Lima, Maroon 5, Robert Randolph, Joss Stone, Steven Tyler, Joe Perry and Will.I.Am: Anyone else? It’s a tribute to Sly and the Family Stone.
[REDEYE, NEWSDAY].
