Key Takeaways

• Kendrick Lamar leads the 2026 Grammy nominations with nine nods for his album GNX, continuing his award show momentum from 2025.
• Clipse earns five nominations, extending the excitement of their acclaimed album Let God Sort Em Out.
• This year’s nominations reflect Hip Hop’s strong presence across major Grammy categories like Album of the Year.

The 2026 Grammy nominations are finally out! Kendrick Lamar leads the pack with nine nods to add to his golden-gramophone collection. Last year’s awards show saw the “Not Like Us” emcee pull off a clean sweep across five categories with the viral diss track.

The full list of nominees was announced on Friday (Nov. 7). Lady Gaga trails closely behind Lamar with seven nods; Bad Bunny, Leon Thomas, and others are tied with six each. Rounding out the field are SZA, Doechii and Clipse, who earned five nominations apiece. The ceremony will broadcast live from the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Feb. 1, and will also stream on Paramount+.

Hip Hop fans, in particular, have been anticipating how nominations would play out given the bounty of praise-worthy projects unleashed in the past year. The Compton rapper’s GNX, Clipse’s Let God Sort Em Out and Tyler, the Creator’s Chromakopia are among the most-talked-about LPs. Those artists — and others — will go toe-to-toe in the following talent-packed categories:

Album of the Year

Debí Tirar Más Fotos – Bad Bunny

Swag – Justin Bieber

Man’s Best Friend – Sabrina Carpenter

Let God Sort Em Out – Clipse

Mayhem – Lady Gaga

GNX – Kendrick Lamar

Mutt – Leon Thomas

Chromakopia – Tyler, the Creator

Best Rap Performance

“Outside” – Cardi B

“Chains & Whips” – Clipse featuring Kendrick Lamar and Pharrell Williams

“Anxiety” – Doechii

“TV Off” – Kendrick Lamar featuring Lefty Gunplay

“Darling, I” – Tyler, the Creator featuring Teezo Touchdown

Best Rap Song

“Anxiety” – Doechii

“The Birds Don’t Sing” – Clipse

“Sticky” – Tyler, the Creator featuring GloRilla, Lil Wayne and Sexyy Red

“TGIF” – GloRilla

“tv off” – Kendrick Lamar featuring Lefty Gunplay

Best Rap Album

Let God Sort Em Out – Clipse

Glorious – GloRilla

God Does Like Ugly – JID

GNX – Kendrick Lamar

Chromakopia – Tyler, the Creator

Best Music Video

“Manchild” – Sabrina Carpenter

“So Be It” – Clipse

“Anxiety” – Doechii

“Love” – OK Go

“Young Lion” – Sade

Clipse is ready to seize their first Grammy win

The duo previously earned a Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for Justin Timberlake’s “Like I Love You” in 2003. In an interview with Complex published on Friday, the lyricists reflected on what a Grammy win would mean.

“We have already been validated with our art form, you know, and the music that we put out,” said Malice. “So, to be able to walk it into a Grammy nomination… You know, you [have to] first have the product, then you connect to the plug.” His brother added, “Bringing home that hardware would mean everything… We’re going for it… We made the album, we looked at it, and was like, ‘Oh, this is that strong.’ We need to take something home for this.”

Hip Hop has already won regardless of who is crowned with the most victories on Feb. 1. With Lamar leading the charge and Clipse making a long-awaited return, the 2026 Grammys will be the cherry on top of a sweet year of triumphs for the genre.