Both Gaga and Lamar have five previous nominations for album of the year, but neither has ever lifted the coveted gold gramophone in that category.
If Lamar wins next February, GNX would become the first rap album to earn the night’s main prize since Outkast’s Speakerboxxx/The Love Below in 2004.
He faces competition from fellow rap maverick Tyler, The Creator with his wildly inventive Chromakopia; and reunited hip-hop duo Clipse, whose Let God Sort Em Out is their first release since 2009.
It is the first time in Grammy history that three rap albums have made the shortlist for album of the year.
Also nominated is Puerto Rican star Bad Bunny – who is also set to headline next year’s Super Bowl half time show.
He’s shortlisted for the musically ambitious Debí Tirar Más Fotos, which fuses live instrumentation with the hip-swaying pulse of reggaeton.
It is only the second time an entirely Spanish-language album has been shortlisted for the prize. The first was Bad Bunny’s 2022 release Un Verano Sin Ti.
