In the past couple of years, award shows have started to catch flak for their methods of nomination, and the lack of diversity in those given awards. Popular Twitter hashtags like #OscarsSoWhite gave way to changes in the methods for how films and actors are nominated at the Academy Awards, and now the Grammy's appear to be making some major changes to their format as well.
According to Billboard, starting at next year's award ceremony, the number of potential nominees for all the major categories will be bumped from 5 artists to 8. The categories affected will be: Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best New Artist.
This appears to be one of the major changes that will be enacted by Recording Academy President Neil Portnow, before he steps down from his position next year. He's stepping down after he made comments suggest that women should "step up" if they feel that they're being underrepresented at the Grammy's.
While the categories for specific genres will remain capped at 5, these new changes are great news for hip-hop as whole. While hip-hop is widely regarded as one of the biggest genres of music in the world right now (if not THE biggest), it's remained underappreciated at the Grammy's for some time. As of now, the only rap artists to ever win the Album of the Year award were Lauryn Hill's The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill as well as Outkast's Speakerboxxx/The Love Below.
In a world where Kendrick Lamar can win a Pulitzer Prize for his music but still loses to Bruno Mars at the Grammy's, more chances for rap artists to be recognized in major categories is a good step forward.