Jay Z tops Grammy nominations with 9

Associated Press

LOS ANGELES

Jay Z easily led Grammy Award nominations with nine, but left-of-center hip-hop stars Kendrick Lamar and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis were among a group of young performers who took many of the major nominations.

Macklemore and Lewis’ gay-marriage anthem “Same Love” was among song of the year nominees and the Seattle rap crew joined Los Angeles rapper Lamar with seven nominations apiece, including best album and best new artist of the year.

Pharrell Williams had four major nominations among his seven, and Justin Timberlake also had seven.

But like Jay Z, Timberlake was mostly relegated to the genre categories in a year he was expected to contend for major awards.

Timberlake and Jay Z teamed up for two nominations apiece, but they only had one major nod between them.

Joining Macklemore and Lewis in the best new artist category were fellow album of the year nominee Lamar, country singer Kacey Musgraves and British musicians James Blake and Ed Sheeran.

Rapper/actor LL Cool J was host of “The Grammy Nominations Concert Live!” show at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles on Friday night, during which nominees Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, Lorde, Robin Thicke and Macklemore and Lewis performed.

Kanye West may have suffered the most from the large hauls of Lamar and Macklemore and Lewis.

West’s “Yeezus” already is making many year-end lists, but had no hits and spawned controversy among some listeners.

Others who might consider themselves snubbed are 2013’s most-visible country stars Luke Bryan and Florida Georgia Line, who were both shut out.

For a complete list of the nominees for the 56th annual Grammy Awards, go to www.grammy.com.