2012 Soul Train Awards: Nominations

Usher poses for a ‘Looking 4 Myself’ promo pic.

The list of nominations for the 2012 Soul Train Awards have been announced and Usher leads the pack with the most nods. In fact, the superstar entertainer has landed placements in not just one, two or three fields. Rather, he will be competing in a stunning five categories.

Among the trophies for which Usher is nominated at the 2012 Soul Train awards are Album of the Year for ‘Looking 4 Myself’ and Song of the Year for ‘Climax’. The show is expected to air on November 25th at 9pm ET and hosted by Cedric the Entertainer. See the full list of nominations below:

Best New Artist
Elle Varner
Emeli Sande
J. Cole
Luke James
Robert Glasper

Centric Award
Daley
Esperanza Spalding
Gary Clark Jr.
Leah Labelle
Santigold

Best Gospel/Inspirational Performance
BeBe Winans- “America America”
Fred Hammond- “I Feel Good”
Marvin Sapp- “My Testimony”
Mary Mary- “Go Get It”
Whitney Houston and Jordin Sparks- “Celebrate”

Best Hip-Hop Song of the Year
2 Chainz ft. Drake- “No Lie”
Wale ft. Miguel- “Lotus Flower Bomb”
Nas- “Daughters”
Kanye West ft. Big Sean, Pusha T and 2 Chainz – “Mercy”
Young Jeezy ft. Ne-Yo- “Leave You Alone”

Best R&B/Soul Female Artist
Beyoncé
Estelle
Keyshia Cole
Mary J. Blige
Melanie Fiona

Best R&B/Soul Male Artist
Miguel
Robin Thicke
Trey Songz
Tyrese
Usher

Album of the Year
The One – Eric Benet
Channel Orange -Frank Ocean
Life Is Good -Nas
Write Me Back -R. Kelly
Looking For Myself -Usher

Song of the Year
Estelle- “Thank You”
John Legend ft. Ludacris- “Tonight (Best You Ever Had)”
Trey Songz- “Heart Attack”
Tyrese- “Stay”
Usher- “Climax”
Wale ft. Miguel- “Lotus Flower Bomb”

The Ashford & Simpson Songwriter’s Award
“Thank You”-Estelle
(Writers: Arden Altino, Akene “The Champ” Dunkley, Jerry Duplessis, Doug F. Edwards, Thomas D. Richardson, Aliaune Thiam)
“Tonight (Best You Ever Had)” -John Legend ft. Ludacris
(Writers: Allen Arthur, Christopher “Ludacris” Bridges, Keith Justice, Miguel Pimentel “Miguel”, Clayton Reilly, John Stephens)
“Daughters”-Nas
(Writers: Nasir Jones, Ernest D. Wilson, Patrick Adams, Gary DeCarlo, Dale Frashuer, Paul Leka)
“Share My Love”-R. Kelly
(Writer: Robert Kelly)
“Climax” -Usher
(Writers: Usher Raymond IV, Sean “Redd Stylez” Fenton, Thomas “Diplo” Pentz, Ariel Rechtshaid)

Best Dance Performance
Beyoncé- “Love On Top”
Chris Brown- “Turn Up The Music”
Nicki Minaj- “Starships”
Rihanna- “Where Have You Been”
Usher- “Scream”

Best Caribbean Performance*
Cover Drive – “Bajan Style”
Damien “Junior Gong” Marley- “SuperHeavy”
Jimmy Cliff- “Rebirth”
Matisyahu – “Spark Seeker”
Sean Paul – “Tomahawk Technique”

Best International Performance*
Amy Winehouse- “Our Day Will Come”
Daley ft. Marsha Ambrosius- “Alone Together”
Emeli Sande- “Next To Me”
Estelle- “Thank You”
Gotye ft. Kimbra- “Somebody (That I Used To Know)”
Rebecca Ferguson- “Nothing’s Real But Love”

Best Traditional Jazz Artist/Group*
Chris Botti- Impressions
Kenny Garrett- Seeds From The Underground
Melody Gardot- The Absence
The Robert Glasper Experiment – Black Radio
Tony Bennett- Isn’t It Romantic

Best Contemporary Jazz Artist/Group*
Ben Tankard- Full Tank
Brian Culbertson- DREAMS
Cassandra Wilson- Another Country
Esperanza Spalding- Radio Music Society
Peter White- Here We Go

Thoughts?