Soul Train Awards: R. Kelly Sets Nominations Record, Plus Full Nominees


R. Kelly has set a new record for the Soul Train Awards for most nominations by an artist with a total of 21 over the years. He is up for Songwriter and Album of the Year.

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 are:

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