Kendrick Lamar, GloRilla, and Doechii were among those who earned nominations for the 56th NAACP Image Awards, which were announced on CBS Mornings by singer and actress Chlöe Bailey and NAACP president and CEO Derrick Johnson and on YouTube by actress Novi Brown and musician and actor Trevor Jackson.
K.Dot joins Cynthia Erivo, Keke Palmer, Kevin Hart and Shannon Sharpe in the entertainer of the year category.
GloRilla received the most nominations in the music and recording categories with six, followed by Doechii, Kendrick, and Usher, who each earned four nominations.
Doechii is in the outstanding album category with Alligator Bites Never Heal. She is joined by PJ Morton’s Cape Town to Cairo, Usher’s Coming Home, Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter, and GloRilla’s Glorious.
Doechii, Myles Smith, Samoht, Shaboozey and Tyla are all nominated for the Image Award for outstanding new artist. Doechii and Shaboozey are nominated for best new artist at the Grammys.
The public can vote to determine the winners in select categories by visiting NAACPImageAwards.net. Voting for these categories closes on February 7 at midnight ET. Winners will be revealed over two days next month: on Friday, February 21, at the Creative Honors Ceremonies, which will stream on NAACPImageAwards.net, and on Saturday, February 22, during a two-hour live TV special, airing at 8 p.m. ET/ 8 p.m. PT on BET and CBS.
The show will be held at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena. The theme of this year’s show is “Our Stories, Our Culture, Our Excellence.”
The honors cap off a thrilling run for Doechii, whose Alligator Bites Never Heal came in at No. 1 on Rolling Stone’s list of “The 20 Best Hip-Hop Albums of 2024” and placed in the top 10 of their overall “Best Albums of 2024” tally. Critics at NPR, Paste, Consequence of Sound, Stereogum and UPROXX also hailed Alligator Bites Never Heal as one of 2024’s best albums.
Visit NAACP’s official website for the full list of nominees.