In addition to being Grammy-nominated for album of the year for her own album Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd, Lana Del Rey is featured on two albums that are competing with her album in that category – Taylor Swift’s Midnights and Jon Batiste’s World Music Radio.
Likewise, in addition to being nominated as a member of boygenius for the record, Phoebe Bridgers is featured on SZA’s SOS.
In all but a few years since 2006, this would have meant that Del Rey and Bridgers would have multiple album of the year nods this year. But this year, the Recording Academy added a baseline for receiving an album of the year nomination. Participants must contribute to 20% of an album’s playing time. This applies to featured artists as well as songwriters, producers, engineers, mixers and mastering engineers.
Six of this year’s eight album of the year nominees have featured artists, but none of the featured artists met that 20% requirement. So, these featured artists won’t be in line to win a Grammy even if the album wins, but they will get a certificate and might get a shout-out in the winner’s acceptance speech.
(Nigerian musician Sean Kuti, the youngest son of Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti, is featured on two of the 14 tracks on Janelle Monáe’s The Age of Pleasure, but that didn’t quite meet the standard.)
This year’s two other two album of the year nominees – boygenius’ The Record and Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts – had no featured artists.
Here’s how the Grammy rules in this category have changed over the years. From 2006-16, all credited featured artists on the winning album won Grammys. From 2017-20, the baseline requirement was 33% of an album’s playing time, which some thought was too restrictive. From 2021-22, all featured artists were again eligible to win. This year, a baseline was re-added, but one that was more liberal than the previous one – 20%.
During the years when there was no baseline requirement, the featured artists on Herbie Hancock’s River: The Joni Letters, Swift’s Fearless, Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories and Batiste’s We Are all won Grammys.
Here are the featured artists on this year’s six album of the year nominees that had featured artists.
Tracks with featured artists:
“Raindance” (featuring Native Soul)
“Be Who You Are” (featuring JID, NewJeans and Camilo)
“My Heart” (featuring Rita Payés)
“Drink Water” (featuring Jon Bellion and Fireboy DML)
“Clair de Lune” (featuring Kenny G)
“Uneasy” (featuring Lil Wayne)
“Call Now (504-305-8269)” (featuring Michael Batiste)
“Chassol” (Christophe Chassol featuring Jon Batiste)
“Running Away” (featuring Leigh-Anne)
“Life Lesson” (featuring Lana Del Rey)
Tracks with featured artists:
“Thousand Miles” (featuring Brandi Carlile)
“Muddy Feet” (featuring Sia)
Tracks with featured artists:
“Candy Necklace” (featuring Jon Batiste)
“Paris, Texas” (featuring SYML)
“Let the Light In” (featuring Father John Misty)
“Margaret” (featuring Bleachers)
“Peppers” (featuring Tommy Genesis)
Tracks with featured artists:
“Float” (featuring Seun Kuti and Egypt 80)
“Phenomenal” (featuring Doechii)
“Ooh La La” (featuring Grace Jones)
“The Rush” (featuring Amaarae and Nia Long)
“The French 75″ (featuring Sister Nancy)
“Know Better” (featuring CKay, Seun Kuti & Egypt 80)
Track with featured artists:
“Snow on the Beach” (featuring Lana Del Rey)
Note: Ice Spice is featured on “Karma” on the Til Dawn and Late Night editions of Midnights, but the regular edition is the one that was Grammy-nominated.
Tracks with featured artists:
“Used” (featuring Don Toliver)
“Ghost in the Machine” (featuring Phoebe Bridgers)
“Open Arms” (featuring Travis Scott)
“Forgiveless” (featuring Ol’ Dirty Bastard)