R. Kelly has set a new record for the Soul Train Awards for most nominations by an artist as his two nods push him to a total of 21 over the years. He is up for Songwriter and Album of the Year.
R.Kelly
Overall, Usher leads this year’s nominees with five for R&B/Soul Male Artist, Album, Song, Songwriter and Dance Performance. Also receiving multiple nominations were Nas, Tray Songz, John Legend and Estelle.
A few veteran artists made the cut including BeBe Winans, Whitney Houston (both for Gospel/Inspirational Performance), Jimmy Cliff (Caribbean Performance), Tony Bennett and Kenny Garrett (both for Traditional Jazz Artist/Group).
The awards will be held on November 8 at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas and shown on November 25 on BET and Centric.
The nominees (with veteran artists in bold):
Best New Artist
- Elle Varner
- Emeli Sande
- J. Cole
- Luke James
- Robert Glasper
Centric Award
- Daley
- Esperanza Spalding
- Gary Clark Jr.
- Leah Labelle
- Santigold
Best Gospel/Inspirational Performance
- America America – BeBe Winans
- I Feel Good – Fred Hammond
- My Testimony – Marvin Sapp
- Go Get It – Mary Mary
- Celebrate – Whitney Houston and Jordin Sparks
Best Hip-Hop Song of the Year
- No Lie – 2 Chainz ft. Drake
- Lotus Flower Bomb – Wale ft. Miguel
- Daughters – Nas
- Mercy – Kanye West ft. Big Sean, Pusha T and 2 Chainz
- Leave You Alone – Young Jeezy ft. Ne-Yo
Best R&B/Soul Female Artist
- Beyoncé
- Estelle
- Keyshia Cole
- Mary J. Blige
- Melanie Fiona
Best R&B/Soul Male Artist
- Miguel
- Robin Thicke
- Trey Songz
- Tyrese
- Usher
Album of the Year
- The One – Eric Benet
- Channel Orange – Frank Ocean
- Life Is Good – Nas
- Write Me Back – R. Kelly
- Looking For Myself – Usher
Song of the Year
- Thank You – Estelle
- Tonight (Best You Ever Had) – John Legend ft. Ludacris
- Heart Attack – Trey Songz
- Stay – Tyrese
- Climax – Usher
- Lotus Flower Bomb – Wale ft. Miguel
The Ashford & Simpson Songwriter’s Award
- Thank You – Estelle (Writers: Arden Altino, Akene “The Champ” Dunkley, Jerry Duplessis, Doug F. Edwards, Thomas D. Richardson, Aliaune Thiam)
- Tonight (Best You Ever Had) – John Legend ft. Ludacris (Writers: Allen Arthur, Christopher “Ludacris” Bridges, Keith Justice, Miguel Pimentel Miguel, Clayton Reilly, John Stephens)
- Daughters – Nas (Writers: Nasir Jones, Ernest D. Wilson, Patrick Adams, Gary DeCarlo, Dale Frashuer, Paul Leka)
- Share My Love – R. Kelly (Writer: Robert Kelly)
- Climax – Usher (Writers: Usher Raymond IV, Sean “Redd Stylez” Fenton, Thomas “Diplo” Pentz, Ariel Rechtshaid)
Best Dance Performance
- Love On Top – Beyoncé
- Turn Up The Music – Chris Brown
- Starships – Nicki Minaj
- Where Have You Been – Rihanna
- Scream – Usher
Best Caribbean Performance
- Bajan Style – Cover Drive
- SuperHeavy – Damian “Junior Gong” Marley
- Rebirth – Jimmy Cliff
- Spark Seeker – Matisyahu
- Tomahawk Technique – Sean Paul
Best International Performance
- Our Day Will Come – Amy Winehouse
- Alone Together – Daley ft. Marsha Ambrosius
- Next To Me – Emeli Sande
- Thank You – Estelle
- Somebody (That I Used To Know) – Gotye ft. Kimbra
- Nothing’s Real But Love – Rebecca Ferguson
Best Traditional Jazz Artist/Group
- Impressions – Chris Botti
- Seeds From The Underground – Kenny Garrett
- The Absence – Melody Gardot
- Black Radio – The Robert Glasper Experiment
- Isn’t It Romantic – Tony Bennett
Best Contemporary Jazz Artist/Group
- Full Tank – Ben Tankard
- DREAMS – Brian Culbertson
- Another Country – Cassandra Wilson
- Radio Music Society – Esperanza Spalding
- Here We Go – Peter White
