#grammys

#grammys

That could change at next month's 2026 Grammy Awards ceremony. Songs released by K-pop artists - or K-pop-adjacent artists, more on that later - have received nominations in the big four categories for the first time. Rosé, perhaps best known as one-fourth of the juggernaut girl group Blackpink, is the first K-pop artist to ever receive a nomination in the record of the year field for "APT.," her megahit with Grammys' favorite Bruno Mars.

She kicked it off by bringing home two Grammy awards for her album Short n' Sweet and her hit single "Espresso." Five months later, on Aug. 29, she released Man's Best Friend, which racked up six more nominations when the shortlist for the 2026 Grammys was announced in November. Plus, Carpenter spent the better half of the year touring Short n' Sweet.

Kendrick Lamar made a surprise appearance at his former label Top Dawg Entertainment's 2025 Christmas Concert and Toy Drive in Los Angeles on Thursday, December 18th. During the show, the rapper joined his "Grand National" tourmate SZA to perform two of their recent collaborations. This included their worldwide No. 1 hit, "luther," from Lamar's latest album, , and "30 for 30," off SZA's SOS deluxe reissue, . Kendrick also performed his solo track "squabble up." Watch fan-shot footage below.

The Grammy nominations are here, and with it the realization we have no great pop juggernauts like we did last year. No Charli, no Beyoncé, and no Taylor. Still, there's a lot of Lady Gaga and Sabrina Carpenter and even a good showing for Justin Bieber - but the big narrative of this year's noms is the enthusiasm for this past year in rap: Kendrick, Bad Bunny, Clipse, and yes ... even Drake.

(Rick Kern / Getty Images) D'Angelo, the soul and R&B singer who kicked off music's neo-soul movement with virtuosic, sensual and spiritually searching albums like "Brown Sugar" and "Voodoo," has died at 51. In a statement to Variety, the singer's family said that "The shining star of our family has dimmed his light for us in this life."