{"id":98395,"date":"2025-10-23T03:48:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T03:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/98395\/"},"modified":"2025-10-23T03:48:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T03:48:09","slug":"giveon-coco-jones-leon-thomas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/98395\/","title":{"rendered":"GIVEON, Coco Jones, Leon Thomas"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tLast week, Billboard\u2019s R&B\/hip-hop team shared our nominee predictions in three of the five R&B categories for the 68th annual Grammy Awards: best R&B performance, best traditional R&B performance and best R&B song<\/a>. Here, we\u2019re going to forecast which projects are most likely to make the cut in the best R&B album category.<\/p>\n

\n\tRecent best R&B album winners include Jazmine Sullivan (Heaux Tales, 2022), Robert Glasper (Black Radio III, 2023), Victoria Mon\u00e9t (Jaguar II, 2024) and Chris Brown (11:11 [Deluxe], 2025). Before we predict the five nominees for the 2026 Grammy derby, which will be presented Feb. 1, here\u2019s a quick refresher regarding the Recording Academy\u2019s category definition for best R&B album.<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s been four years since the Grammys\u2019 best contemporary R&B album category was discontinued and its name changed to best R&B album. The revamped category brought together albums featuring infusions of contemporary hip-hop and those featuring more traditional R&B leanings under one roof. According to the academy\u2019s current rulebook, best R&B album \u2014 vocal or instrumental \u2014 \u201crecognizes artistic excellence in albums of R&B music.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThis year\u2019s crop of R&B albums represents a diverse range of styles, long-anticipated returns and breakthroughs by a mix of established and rising stars \u2014 including several prior Grammy winners and nominees.<\/p>\n

\n\tAmong the long-anticipated returns is that of Teyana Taylor. Winning raves for her role in the Leonardo DiCaprio thriller One Battle After Another, she elicited strong buzz this summer for her BET Awards performance of \u201cFire Girl\u201d and \u201cLong Time.\u201d Those songs plus the single \u201cBed of Roses\u201d are from her anticipated first new album in five years Escape Room.<\/p>\n

\n\tAnother long-awaited moment arrived this year with the release of Justin Bieber\u2019s seventh studio album SWAG. While one of its notable tracks, \u201cYukon,\u201d is entered in the R&B category, the album is instead among the pop vocal album entries. This calls to mind the 2020 Grammys when Bieber questioned his Changes <\/a>album being placed in the pop category versus R&B.<\/p>\n

\n\tOn the breakthrough front, one of this year\u2019s heralded arrivals was Ravyn Lenae with the R&B\/pop crossover lead single \u201cLove Me Not,\u201d alongside another popular track \u201cLove Is Blind\u201d \u2014 both from her critically acclaimed sophomore set Bird\u2019s Eye. Her album, however, isn\u2019t eligible for a nod as it was released Aug. 9, 2024, and the eligibility period for the 68th annual Grammys was Aug. 31, 2024-Aug. 30, 2025.<\/p>\n

\n\tAdditional artists who received attention this year include Alex Isley (WHEN), Thee Sacred Souls (Got a Story to Tell) and Eric Ben\u00e9t (The Co-Star).<\/p>\n

\n\tSo now let\u2019s have a drumroll, please, as we share our fearless forecast of who will comprise the five slots when the best R&B album nominations are revealed on Nov. 7.<\/p>\n

\tLeon Thomas, Mutt<\/p>\n

\t\t\tTrending on Billboard\t\t<\/p>\n

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\n\tOne sure shot is Leon Thomas. A two-time Grammy nominee, the singer-songwriter-musician-producer won his first golden statuette in 2024 for co-writing SZA\u2019s best R&B song winner \u201cSnooze.\u201d In the year since then, Thomas not only solidified his status as a solo artist, but also raised the bar for R&B with his breakthrough sophomore album Mutt. The double-platinum outing spun off the same-titled single, which nuzzled its way into fans\u2019 hearts on the Billboard Hot 100 (No. 12) and Hot R&B\/Hip-Hop Songs (his first No. 1) as well as several global charts \u2014 not to mention his NPR Tiny Desk session, which has garnered more than 3.5 million views.<\/p>\n

\tGIV\u0112ON, Beloved<\/p>\n

\t\t\tTrending on Billboard\t\t<\/p>\n

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\n\tAnother formidable contender is GIV\u0112ON. He returned this year after a three-year break with sophomore studio album Beloved, featuring the singles \u201cTwenties\u201d and \u201cRather Be.\u201d Further fueling his aural visibility this year was his duet turn on Teddy Swims\u2019 \u201cAre You Even Real.\u201d Currently packing venues on his Dear Beloved tour, GIV\u0112ON is a seven-time Grammy nominee whose prior nods include best R&B album (Take Time) and song of the year (Justin Bieber\u2019s \u201cPeaches\u201d on which he guests with Daniel Caesar).<\/p>\n

\tCoco Jones, Why Not More?<\/p>\n

\t\t\tTrending on Billboard\t\t<\/p>\n

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\n\tCoco Jones is another returning Grammy winner with a strong chance to land one of the category\u2019s five nomination slots. Praised for power-packed vocals, vulnerability and versatility, her career ascension over the last two years netted the singer-songwriter a 2024 best R&B performance statuette for \u201cICU.\u201d The seven-time nominee has since followed up her 2022 EP What I Didn\u2019t Tell You (plus its 2023 deluxe edition) with the April release of her debut studio album, Why Not More? The four singles the project has spun off are \u201cHere We Go (Uh Oh),\u201d \u201cMost Beautiful Design,\u201d \u201cTaste\u201dand the RIAA gold-certified \u201cOn Sight.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tMariah the Scientist, Hearts Sold Separately<\/p>\n

\t\t\tTrending on Billboard\t\t<\/p>\n

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\n\tAnother R&B artist experiencing a major breakthrough this year is Mariah the Scientist. Hearts Sold Separately, her fourth studio album, is resonating on the popular front due to her first Hot 100 hit \u201cBurning Blue\u201d (No. 29), which peaked at No. 7 on Hot R&B\/Hip-Hop Songs. The singer-songwriter, who counts influences such as Michael Jackson, Prince and Whitney Houston, also notched two more Hot 100 entries to earn a first-time career trifecta on that chart: \u201cIs It a Crime\u201d with Kali Uchis and \u201cSacrifice.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tLedisi, The Crown<\/p>\n

\t\t\tTrending on Billboard\t\t<\/p>\n

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\n\tLedisi took home the best traditional R&B performance gramophone in 2021 and is a 14-time nominee. The Crown, the singer-songwriter\u2019s 12th studio album, features the singles \u201cLove You Too\u201d and \u201cBLKWMN.\u201d Ledisi\u2019s performance of the latter empowerment anthem at the 2025 BET Awards was one of that show\u2019s highlights. Earlier this year, she also gained heightened recognition for her vocal range and expressive delivery when she sang \u201cLift Every Voice and Sing\u201d during the pregame show for Super Bowl LIX in her native New Orleans.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Last week, Billboard\u2019s R&B\/hip-hop team shared our nominee predictions in three of the five R&B categories for the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":98396,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[6971,93,28260,17365,61,60,278,633],"class_list":{"0":"post-98395","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-awards","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-genre-rb","11":"tag-grammys","12":"tag-ie","13":"tag-ireland","14":"tag-music","15":"tag-music-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98395","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98395"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98395\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98396"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}