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Kendrick Lamar Earns First Oscar Nomination For ‘Black Panther’

blame it on Meka January 22, 2019

Earlier today (Jan. 22) the nominees for the 2019 Oscars were announced, and to the delight of many Marvel’s Black Panther became the first superhero film to receive a nod for Best Picture (it also earned seven total nominations in a variety of categories, including Best Costume Design and Best Production Design). However, the film also gave a pair of hip hop-centric musicians their first chances to win an Academy Award as well.

Kendrick Lamar — who already leads all 2019 GRAMMY nominees — and SZA were nominated in the Best Original Song category, for “All The Stars.” Meanwhile, Ludwig Göransson — who has frequently worked with Donald Glover/Childish Gambino, and produced his albums Camp, because the internet and Awaken, My Love! — earned a nod for Best Original Score.

Should Kendrick and SZA win, they would follow in the footsteps of Eminem (2002, “Lose Yourself”), Frayser Boy, Juicy J and DJ Paul (2005, “It’s Hard out Here for a Pimp”) and Common and John Legend (2014, “Glory”) as the fourth hip hop artists to win an Academy Award. Meanwhile, Ludwig would be the first hip hop-centric composer to win Best Original Score.

The 91st Academy Awards will on February 24th.