Photos: Aloe Blacc Performs at 2016 Grammys Celebration After-Party

Aloe Blacc performing at the Official Grammy 2016 After party in los angeles (Gibson Dintersmith/Roman's Rap-Up).

After an eventful Grammy's, the official after-party at the Los Angeles Convention Center was no disappointment. Featuring performances from Aloe Blacc, Thelma Houston, Arturo O'Farrill, and DJ Michelle Pesce on the main stage, the spacious arena allowed thousands of Grammy attendees to socialize after the main event, right across the street. The after-party included all kinds of entertainment aside from the performing artists, including jugglers, an orchestra, and an assortment of food. The 3 hour after-party was definitely a success, and the headlining performer, Aloe Blacc, put on a very memorable show for all guests. 

58th Grammy Awards Nominations Announced: Kendrick Lamar and Taylor Swift Lead

Kendrick Lamar performing at Los Angeles' 92.3 "The Real Show" in November 2015 (Gibson Dintersmith/Roman's Rap-Up).

Kendrick Lamar has had a stellar year this year with the release of his third studio album “To Pimp a Butterfly;" it’s no wonder he’s leading the pack with 11 nominations.  Taylor Swift and The Weeknd both have seven nominations each after both having a solid year with excellent albums being released by both respectively. 

Album of the year features the likes of Alabama Shakes, Kendrick Lamar, Chris Stapleton, Taylor Swift, and The Weeknd. Alabama Shake’s 2nd album “Sound & Color” was a huge hit among rock fans in North America as it went number one on both the U.S. Billboard 200 and Canadian Albums. Lamar’s “To Pimp a Butterfly” soared to number one on the Billboard 200 as well as being certified gold. Chris Stapleton released his debut album “Traveller” which already won Album of the Year at the CMAs and peaked at number one on the Billboard 200. Taylor swift released her much anticipated fifth album “1989” which went 5x platinum in the U.S. as well as platinum in eight other countries.  The Weeknd’s second album “Beauty Behind the Madness” was a big hit while going gold in the U.S. and platinum in a handful of countries as well as earning the number one spot on many charts around the world.

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance includes Florence + Machine, Maroon 5, Mark Ronson & Bruno Mars, Taylor Swift & Kendrick Lamar, and Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth. Florence + Machine released “Ship to Wreck” back at the beginning of April and has since peaked at number 14 on the U.S. Charts and number one of the U.S. alternative charts. Maroon 5’s hit song “Sugar” soared to the number two spot on the Billboard Hot 100 and went platinum in eight different countries. Mark Ronson & Bruno Mars’ funky single “Uptown Funked” was an obvious success as it reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S. as well as many other countries. Taylor Swift's song “Bad Blood” which features Kendrick Lamar has already won a countless number of awards this year and looks to do no different at the Grammys as it went four times platinum in the U.S. “See You Again” was one of the most emotional songs released this year as it was  tribute the passing of Paul Walker being featured in Furious 7. It went number one in almost every country and also reached platinum in 14 different countries. 

Check the full list below to see if your favorite artist was nominated, and be sure to see who takes home a famed award on February 15th at 8pm EST LIVE from Los Angeles on CBS. 

Album Of The Year:

Sound & Color — Alabama Shakes

To Pimp A Butterfly — Kendrick Lamar

Traveller — Chris Stapleton

1989 — Taylor Swift

Beauty Behind The Madness — The Weeknd

Record Of The Year:

"Really Love" — D'Angelo And The Vanguard

"Uptown Funk" — Mark Ronson Featuring Bruno Mars

"Thinking Out Loud" — Ed Sheeran

"Blank Space" — Taylor Swift

"Can't Feel My Face" — The Weeknd

Song Of The Year:

"Alright" — Kendrick Duckworth, Mark Anthony Spears & Pharrell Williams, songwriters (Kendrick Lamar)

"Blank Space" — Max Martin, Shellback & Taylor Swift, songwriters (Taylor Swift)

"Girl Crush" — Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna & Liz Rose, songwriters (Little Big Town)

"See You Again" — Andrew Cedar, Justin Franks, Charles Puth & Cameron Thomaz, songwriters (Wiz Khalifa Featuring Charlie Puth)

"Thinking Out Loud" — Ed Sheeran & Amy Wadge, songwriters (Ed Sheeran)

Best New Artist:

Courtney Barnett

James Bay

Sam Hunt

Tori Kelly

Meghan Trainor

 

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance:

"Ship To Wreck" — Florence + The Machine

"Sugar" — Maroon 5

"Uptown Funk" — Mark Ronson Featuring Bruno Mars

"Bad Blood" — Taylor Swift Featuring Kendrick Lamar

"See You Again" — Wiz Khalifa Featuring Charlie Puth

Best Dance Recording:

"We're All We Need" — Above & Beyond Featuring Zoë Johnston

"Go" — The Chemical Brothers

"Never Catch Me" — Flying Lotus Featuring Kendrick Lamar

"Runaway (U & I)" — Galantis

"Where Are Ü Now" — Skrillex And Diplo With Justin Bieber

Best Rock Performance:

"Don't Wanna Fight" — Alabama Shakes

"What Kind Of Man" — Florence + The Machine

"Something From Nothing" — Foo Fighters

"Ex's & Oh's" — Elle King

"Moaning Lisa Smile" — Wolf Alice

Best Alternative Music Album:

Sound & Color — Alabama Shakes

Vulnicura — Björk

The Waterfall — My Morning Jacket

Currents — Tame Impala

Star Wars — Wilco

Best Urban Contemporary Album:

Ego Death — The Internet

You Should Be Here — Kehlani

Blood — Lianne La Havas

Wildheart — Miguel

Beauty Behind The Madness — The Weeknd

Best Rap Album:

2014 Forest Hills Drive — J. Cole

Compton — Dr. Dre

If Youre Reading This Its Too Late — Drake

To Pimp A Butterfly — Kendrick Lamar

The Pinkprint — Nicki Minaj

Best Country Album:

Montevallo — Sam Hunt

Pain Killer — Little Big Town

The Blade — Ashley Monroe

Pageant Material — Kacey Musgraves

Traveller — Chris Stapleton

Best Jazz Instrumental Album:

My Favorite Things — Joey Alexander

Breathless — Terence Blanchard Featuring The E-Collective

Covered: Recorded Live At Capitol Studios — Robert Glasper & The Robert Glasper Trio

Beautiful Life — Jimmy Greene

Past Present — John Scofield

Best Gospel Album:

Destined To Win (Live) — Karen Clark Sheard

Living It — Dorinda Clark-Cole

One Place Live — Tasha Cobbs

Covered: Alive Is Asia [Live] (Deluxe) — Israel & Newbreed

Life Music: Stage Two — Jonathan McReynolds

Best Contemporary Christian Music Album:

Whatever The Road — Jason Crabb

How Can It Be — Lauren Daigle

Saints And Sinners — Matt Maher

This Is Not A Test — Tobymac

Love Ran Red — Chris Tomlin

Best Latin Pop Album:

Terral — Pablo Alborán

Healer — Alex Cuba

A Quien Quiera Escuchar (Deluxe Edition) — Ricky Martin

Sirope — Alejandro Sanz

Algo Sucede — Julieta Venegas

Best Americana Album:

The Firewatcher's Daughter — Brandi Carlile

The Traveling Kind — Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell

Something More Than Free — Jason Isbell

Mono — The Mavericks

The Phosphorescent Blues — Punch Brothers

Best Spoken Word Album (Includes Poetry, Audio Books & Storytelling):

Blood On Snow (Jo Nesbø) — Patti Smith

Brief Encounters: Conversations, Magic Moments, And Assorted Hijinks — Dick Cavett

A Full Life: Reflections At Ninety — Jimmy Carter

Patience And Sarah (Isabel Miller) — Janis Ian & Jean Smart

Yes Please — Amy Poehler (& Various Artists)

Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical:

Jeff Bhasker

Dave Cobb

Diplo

Larry Klein

Blake Mills

Best Music Film:

Mr. Dynamite: The Rise Of James Brown — James Brown

Sonic Highways — Foo Fighters

What Happened, Miss Simone? — Nina Simone

The Wall — Roger Waters

Amy — Amy Winehouse

Nominations For 57th Annual GRAMMY Awards Announced

Nominations for the 57th Annual GRAMMY Awards were announced earlier today, with Beyoncé, Sam Smith and Pharrell leading those nominations with six each. This also makes Beyoncé the most nominated female in GRAMMY history with 47 nominations in total.

See some of the highlighted nominations below:

Album Of The Year:
Morning Phase — Beck
Beyoncé — Beyoncé
X — Ed Sheeran
In The Lonely Hour — Sam Smith
Girl — Pharrell Williams
 
Record Of The Year:
"Fancy" — Iggy Azalea Featuring Charli XCX
"Chandelier" — Sia
"Stay With Me" (Darkchild Version) — Sam Smith
"Shake It Off" — Taylor Swift
"All About That Bass" — Meghan Trainor
 
Song Of The Year:
"All About That Bass" — Kevin Kadish & Meghan Trainor, songwriters (Meghan Trainor)
"Chandelier" — Sia Furler & Jesse Shatkin, songwriters (Sia)
"Shake It Off" — Max Martin, Shellback & Taylor Swift, songwriters (Taylor Swift)
"Stay With Me" (Darkchild Version) — James Napier, William Phillips & Sam Smith, songwriters (Sam Smith)
"Take Me To Church" — Andrew Hozier-Byrne, songwriter (Hozier)
 
Best New Artist:
Iggy Azalea
Bastille
Brandy Clark
Haim
Sam Smith
 
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance:
"Fancy" — Iggy Azalea Featuring Charli XCX
"A Sky Full Of Stars" — Coldplay
"Say Something" — A Great Big World With Christina Aguilera
"Bang Bang" — Jessie J, Ariana Grande & Nicki Minaj
"Dark Horse" — Katy Perry Featuring Juicy J
 
Best Dance Recording:
"Never Say Never" — Basement Jaxx
"Rather Be" — Clean Bandit Featuring Jess Glynne
"F For You" — Disclosure Featuring Mary J. Blige
"I Got U" — Duke Dumont Featuring Jax Jones
"Faded" — Zhu
 
Best Rock Performance:
"Gimme Something Good" — Ryan Adams
"Do I Wanna Know?" — Arctic Monkeys
"Blue Moon" — Beck
"Fever"— The Black Keys
"Lazaretto"— Jack White
 
Best Alternative Music Album:
This Is All Yours — Alt-J
Reflektor — Arcade Fire
Melophobia — Cage The Elephant
St. Vincent — St. Vincent
Lazaretto — Jack White
 
Best Urban Contemporary Album:
Sail Out — Jhené Aiko
Beyoncé — Beyoncé
 — Chris Brown
Mali Is… — Mali Music
Girl — Pharrell Williams
 
Best Rap Performance:
"3005" — Childish Gambino
"0 To 100/The Catch Up" — Drake
"Rap God" —  Eminem
"I" — Kendrick Lamar
"All I Need Is You" — Lecrae
 
Best Rap Album:
The New Classic — Iggy Azalea
Because The Internet — Childish Gambino
Nobody's Smiling — Common
The Marshall Mathers LP2 — Eminem
Oxymoron — Schoolboy Q
Blacc Hollywood — Wiz Khalifa
 

Be sure to watch to see who takes home a GRAMMY on February 8th, 2015 at 8PM EST on CBS!

 

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: Calvin Harris

Credit: MSOPR

Credit: MSOPR

It's been a good year for Calvin Harris.  Between dropping his "18 Months" album and releasing a handful of chart-topping singles ("I Need Your Love" featuring Ellie Goulding and "Sweet Nothing" featuring Florence Welch, to name a couple), Harris has been making a solid name for himself in the world of mainstream EDM.  Right now, he's busy waiting to hear whether or not he won Best Dance Recording or Best Dance/Electronica Album at this year's Grammy Awards.  Everyone at Roman's Rap-Up finds something to love about Calvin Harris.  While many are aware of these recent hits, however, fewer have heard his vastly different freshman and sophomore albums.  I Created Disco and Ready for the Weekend, respectively, were two fantastic disco-revival-esque albums.  I Created Disco, while not quite as polished as his more recent work, offers a glimpse into Harris' fun, dancy roots.  Ready for the Weekend acts as a more transitional album, with more of that mainstream vibe coming through.  Any who consider themselves to be fans of his recent work should give these albums a good listen.  You may just be surprised at the transition he has made in the span of just a few years.  Take a listen below:

The 56th Annual Grammy Awards airs January 26th, 2014 at 8PM EST on CBS.