This year, for the first time in seemingly forever, the Grammy nominations are not plagued by the surprisingly potent prevalence of an older act. Unfortunately, however, that also leaves us with the Black Eyed Peas nominated for Album and Record of the Year.

There are some of course some bright spots including: MGMT’s nomination in the Best Performance By Pop Duo Or Group, Jazmine Sullivan’s nomination in the Best Female R&B Vocal Performance category for one of BNW’s Singles of 2008, Kings of Leon’s 4 nominations for Use Somebody, Kanye West’s triple nomination in the Best Rap / Sung Collaboration category, Kid Cudi and Drake’s dual nominations. Of course, what goes up must eventually come down and unfortunately, two of BNW’s favorite artists of 2009 were completely shut out – K’Naan and Little Boots. Luckily, the Rap categories are pretty solid this year (with the exception of Flo Rida’s nomination for Best Rap Album), so though K’Naan’s shut out is unfortunate it’s not nearly as sad as Boots’. Though Ms. Hesketh’s album has yet to be released state-side, considering the nominees in the Best Dance Recording category, the presence of New In Town, Remedy, Stuck on Repeat, or Meddle would have been a much appreciated welcome considering the nomination of Madonna’s lackluster Celebration.

Also, isn’t nominated Lady Gaga in the Best Dance Recording category for Poker Face like nominating her again in the same category for Just Dance?

So who leads the pack? Beyoncé has 10 nominations, Maxwell and Kanye West (along with the Black Eyed Peas) have 6 nominations a piece, Jay-Z and David Guetta (as well as Lady Gaga) round out the list of top contenders with 5 nominations a piece:

THE 2010 GRAMMY NOMINATIONS

SONG OF THE YEAR:

Beyonce, “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)”
Kings Of Leon, “Use Somebody”
Lady Gaga, “Poker Face”
Maxwell, “Pretty Wings”
Taylor Swift, “You Belong With Me”

RECORD OF THE YEAR:

Beyonce, “Halo”
The Black Eyed Peas, “I Gotta Feeling”
Kings Of Leon, “Use Somebody”
Lady Gaga, “Poker Face”
Taylor Swift, “You Belong With Me”

ALBUM OF THE YEAR:

Beyonce, I Am… Sasha Fierce
The Black Eyed Peas, The E.N.D.
Lady Gaga, The Fame
Dave Matthews Band, Big Whiskey And The GrooGrux King
Taylor Swift, Fearless

BEST NEW ARTIST:

Keri Hilson
MGMT
Silversun Pickups
The Ting Tings
Zac Brown Band

BEST FEMALE POP VOCAL PERFORMANCE:

Adele, “Hometown Glory”
Beyonce, “Halo”
Katy Perry, “Hot N Cold”
Pink, “Sober”
Taylor Swift, “You Belong With Me”

BEST MALE POP VOCAL PERFORMANCE:

John Legend, “This Time”
Maxwell, “Love You”
Jason Mraz, “Make It Mine”
Seal, “If You Don’t Know Me By Now”
Stevie Wonder, “All About The Love Again”

BEST POP COLLABORATION WITH VOCALS:

Rosanne Cash & Bruce Springsteen, “Sea Of Heartbreak”
Ciara & Justin Timberlake, “Love Sex Magic”
Jason Mraz & Colbie Caillat, “Lucky”
Willie Nelson & Norah Jones, “Baby, It’s Cold Outside”
Taylor Swift & Colbie Caillat, “Breathe”

BEST PERFORMANCE BY POP DUO OR GROUP:

The Black Eyed Peas, “I Gotta Feeling”
Bon Jovi, “We Weren’t Born To Follow”
The Fray, “Never Say Never”
Daryl Hall & John Oates, “Sara Smile”
MGMT, “Kids”

BEST POP VOCAL ALBUM:

The Black Eyed Peas, The E.N.D.
Colbie Caillat, Breakthrough
Kelly Clarkson, All I Ever Wanted
The Fray, The Fray
Pink, Funhouse

BEST DANCE RECORDING

The Black Eyed Peas, “Boom Boom Pow”
David Guetta, & Kelly Rowland, “When Love Takes Over”
Lady Gaga, “Poker Face”
Madonna, “Celebration”
Britney Spears, “Womanizer”

BEST ELECTRONIC/DANCE ALBUM:

The Crystal Method, Divided By Night
David Guetta, One Love
Lady Gaga, The Fame
LMFAO, Party Rock
Pet Shop Boys, Yes

BEST ROCK SONG:

Pearl Jam, “The Fixer”
U2, “I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight”
Green Day, “21 Guns”
Kings Of Leon, “Use Somebody”
Bruce Springsteen, “Working On A Dream”

BEST ROCK ALBUM:

AC/DC, Black Ice
Eric Clapton & Steve Winwood, Live At Madison Square Garden
Green Day, 21st Century Breakdown
Dave Matthews Band, Big Whiskey And The GrooGrux King
U2, No Line On The Horizon

BEST ROCK SOLO VOCAL PERFORMANCE:

Bob Dylan, “Beyond Here Lies Nothin’”
John Fogerty, “Change In The Weather”
Prince, “Dreamer”
Bruce Springsteen, “Working On A Dream”
Neil Young, “Fork In The Road”

BEST ROCK PERFORMANCE BY A DUO OR GROUP WITH VOCALS:

Eric Clapton & Steve Winwood, “Can’t Find My Way Home”
Coldplay, “Life In Technicolor II”
Green Day, “21 Guns”
Kings Of Leon, “Use Somebody”
U2, “I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight”

BEST HARD ROCK PERFORMANCE:

AC/DC, “War Machine”
Alice In Chains, “Check My Brain”
Linkin Park, “What I’ve Done”
Metallica, “The Unforgiven III”
Nickelback, “Burn It To The Ground”

BEST METAL PERFORMANCE:

Judas Priest, “Dissident Aggressor”
Lamb Of God, “Set To Fail”
Megadeth, “Head Crusher”
Ministry, “Señor Peligro”
Slayer, “Hate Worldwide”

BEST ALTERNATIVE MUSIC ALBUM:

David Byrne & Brian Eno, Everything That Happens Will Happen Today
Death Cab For Cutie, The Open Door
Depeche Mode, Sounds Of The Universe
Phoenix, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Yeah Yeah Yeahs, It’s Blitz!

BEST FEMALE R&B VOCAL PERFORMANCE:

Beyonce, “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)”
Melanie Fiona, “It Kills Me”
Lalah Hathaway, “That Was Then”
Ledisi, “Goin’ Thru Changes”
Jazmine Sullivan, “Lions, Tigers & Bears”

BEST MALE R&B VOCAL PERFORMANCE:

Anthony Hamilton, “The Point Of It All”
Maxwell, “Pretty Wings”
Musiq Soulchild, “Sobeautiful”
Pleasure P, “Under”
Charlie Wilson, “There Goes My Baby”

BEST R&B PERFORMANCE BY A DUO OR GROUP:

Jamie Foxx & T-Pain, “Blame It”
India.Arie & Musiq Soulchild, “Chocolate High”
Musiq Soulchild & Mary J. Blige, “Ifuleave”
Robert Randolph & The Clark Sisters, “Higher Ground”
Calvin Richardson & Ann Nesby, “Love Has Finally Come At Last”

BEST RAP SOLO PERFORMANCE:

Drake, “Best I Ever Had”
Eminem, “Beautiful”
Jay-Z, “D.O.A. (Death Of Auto-Tune)”
Kid Cudi, “Day ‘N’ Nite”
Mos Def, “Casa Bay”

BEST RAP/SUNG COLLABORATION:

Beyonce & Kanye West, “Ego”
Keri Hilson, Kanye West & Ne-Yo, “Knock You Down”
Jay-Z, Rihanna & Kanye West, “Run This Town”
The Lonely Island & T-Pain, “I’m On A Boat”
T.I. & Justin Timberlake, “Dead And Gone”

BEST RAP SONG:

Drake, “Best I Ever Had”
Kid Cudi, “Day ‘N’ Nite”
T.I. & Justin Timberlake, “Dead And Gone”
Jay-Z, “D.O.A. (Death Of Auto-Tune)”
Jay-Z, Rihanna & Kanye West, “Run This Town”

BEST RAP ALBUM

Common, Universal Mind Control
Eminem, Relapse
Flo Rida, R.O.O.T.S.
Mos Def, The Ecstatic
Q-Tip, The Renaissance

BEST COUNTRY SONG:

Trace Adkins, “All I Ask For Anymore”
Jamey Johnson, “High Cost Of Living”
Lady Antebellum, “I Run To You”
Billy Currington, “People Are Crazy”
Taylor Swift, “White Horse”

BEST COUNTRY ALBUM:

Zac Brown Band, The Foundation
George Strait, Twang
Taylor Swift, Fearless
Keith Urban, Defying Gravity
Lee Ann Womack, Call Me Crazy

BEST FEMALE COUNTRY VOCAL PERFORMANCE:

Miranda Lambert, “Dead Flowers”
Martina McBride, “I Just Call You Mine”
Taylor Swift, “White Horse”
Carrie Underwood, “Just A Dream”
Lee Ann Womack, “Solitary Thinkin’”

BEST MALE COUNTRY VOCAL PERFORMANCE

Trace Adkins, “All I Ask For Anymore”
Billy Currington, “People Are Crazy”
Jamey Johnson, “High Cost Of Living”
George Strait, “Living For The Night”
Keith Urban, “Sweet Thing”

BEST PERFORMANCE BY COUNTRY DUO OR GROUP WITH VOCALS:

Brooks and Dunn, “Cowgirls Don’t Cry”
Zac Brown Band, “Chicken Fried”
Lady Antebellum, “I Run to You”
Rascal Flatts, “Here Comes Goodbye”
Sugarland, “It Happens”

Full list of nominations here.

The 2010 Grammy Nominations [Idolator]

i’m a travellin‘ man
moving through places
space and time
gotta lotta things i got to do
But Insha‘llah I‘m coming back to you
my baby-boo

Video: Mos Def “Embedded” Preview [Billboard]

Always want to fight in the club and we off that
But you can‘t bring the future back
Ya‘ll steady chasing the fame, we off that
Oversize clothes and the chains, we off that
Niggas still makin‘ it rain and we off that

Yeah we off that
Is you still on that
And we still making money
cuz we still on that

Common told CNN he believed Obama’s presidency would change the attitudes of many hip-hop artists.

“I think hip-hop artists will have no choice but to talk about different things and more positive things, and try to bring a brighter side to that because, even before Barack, I think people had been tired of hearing the same thing,” he said in December.

On Saturday, Common said he is already seeing signs that Obama is making a mark on a musical genre often vilified because of its focus on drugs, violence and the degradation of women.

“I also don‘t find as much gangsta talk,” he said. “You see the whole chain-shining-and-rim era is gone. That’s like super-played out. Just to have that, I think, is part of the Obama effect.”

Also improving the industry, making it a more “independent-thinking entity,” he said, is that record labels and corporations hold less sway over the production process than they have in the past.

“So you find these artists that are having that independent thinking of being able to go out and create for themselves,” he said.

Common, born Lonnie Rashid Lynn Jr., believes hip-hop patrons want to hear more positive, upbeat messages in songs, and he believes the “conscious rapper” — that is, the more socially aware — is on the rise.

“People always want to feel better and be inspired,” he said. “Sometimes we need it. I think the conscious rapper will always be able to live and exist.”

“I think Obama is definitely bringing people to be able to inspire people to create for themselves,” he said. “What America was built on was being able to say, ‘Hey, we’re going to come in and use our resources to build for ourselves and our communities and build around that. We’re not going to depend on others.’

“I think that’s what hip-hop is starting to do to a certain extent. I think it’s a great thing.”

Common: ‘Obama effect‘ steering rap away from rims, bling

The video is probably the slickest, most stylish, and downright cool without ever reaching the pejorative and misogynistic as many other Hip Hop and R&B videos have been. This is the closest any Hip Hop or R&B artist has come to capturing the sly coolness of the era of Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack:

Kid Cudi feat. Kanye West & Common “Make Her Say” [The Q Side]

I Poke Her Face

KiD CuDi feat. Kanye West, Common, Lady Gaga – I Poke Her Face (Scratches from A-Trak) (CDQ) [Nah Right]

Video : A Bunch of People Talk About Obama [Nah Right]