Kendrick Lamar beats Jay-Z in early Grammy Awards race
The rapper won best rap/sung performance for LOYALTY.
Kendrick Lamar is an early frontrunner at the Grammys as he notched up his fourth prize of the night.
The rapper beat Jay-Z to the best rap/sung performance prize with LOYALTY which features singer Rihanna and came after earlier success in the non-televised part of the ceremony.
Lamar wore a white rose in a sign of solidarity with the anti-sexual harassment movement to accept the first televised award of the night which he said “really belongs to her” in reference to Rihanna.
He had opened the show with a raucous medley of songs including XXX. and DNA. featuring a performance from U2 and comedian Dave Chappelle.
Bruno Mars also collected three early awards while Jay-Z is yet to triumph ahead of the main event at Madison Square Garden despite leading the way for nominations, with eight.
British success came from Ed Sheeran whose album Divide won in the pop vocal album category but the 26-year-old was not available to collect the honour presented during the pre-televised show.
Mars’s victories included best R&B song for That’s What I Like and best R&B album with 24K Magic, while Lamar’s HUMBLE. beat Jay-Z to win best rap song and best rap performance.
The ceremony has been billed as a battle between Lamar and Jay-Z with both nominated in the bigger categories including album of the year.
Her performance came after host James Corden introduced the 60th Grammys by saying it is the most diverse show in history.
Cardi B, Rita Ora, Sam Smith and dozens of other stars sported white roses at the event to support the anti-sexual harassment the campaign
The symbolic move was proposed earlier this week by music executives to support the movements that followed the revelations starting with movie mogul Harvey Weinstein’s downfall.
Awards were also posthumously given to Leonard Cohen, for best rock performance, and Carrie Fisher, for best spoken word album with her reading of her memoir The Princess Diarist.
