The nominations are out for the 2019 Billboard Music Awards and both veteran and emerging hip hop artists are vying for many of this year’s top awards.
Cardi B is once again breaking records with 21 nominations in 18 categories, making her the most-nominated female artist in history. (The current record for most nominations is shared by Drake and The Chainsmokers who both had 22 nominations in 2017.)
Other hip hop or R&B artists with multiple nominations this year include Drake (17 nominations), Post Malone (17 nominations), Travis Scott (12 nominations), XXXTentacion (10 nominations), Ariana Grande (9 nominations), Juice Wrld (7 nominations), Ella Mai (7 nominations), Khalid (6 nominations), Lady Gaga (4 nominations), Dua Lipa (3 nominations), Beyoncé & JAY-Z (3 nominations), The Weeknd (3 nominations), Halsey (2 nominations), and Bruno Mars (2 nominations).
This year is an especially strong showing for hip hop with all five of the top artist nominees (Cardi B, Drake, Ariana Grande, Post Malone, and Travis Scott) as well as all five of the top new artist nominees (Bazzi, Juice Wrld, Lil Baby, Dua Lipa, and Ella Mai) coming from the hip hop/R&B genre.
As is the tradition from years past, the 2019 show will also award artists in two fan-voted categories: Top Social Artist, and Billboard Chart Achievement Award. Nominees for the Top Social Artist include BTS, EXO, GOT7, Ariana Grande, and Louis Tomlinson while the nominees for the Billboard Chart Achievement Award include Dan + Shay, Drake, Ariana Grande, Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper, and Dua Lipa.
While competition is fierce, it’s clear that many of today’s hottest hip hop artists will not go home empty-handed. The record holder for the most amount of awards won in a single night goes to Drake, who won 13 awards at the 2017 show.
The 2019 Billboard Music Awards will be held on May 1 at the MGM Garden Arena in Las Vegas and be broadcast at 8 PM EST on NBC.
A full list of nominees can be found here.
