BRIT Awards announces 2023 nominees
The top award, Artist of the Year, features an all-male selection
The BRIT Awards has announced this year’s nominees, including an all-male selection for its top award, Artist of the Year.
In 2022, the awards show abandoned gendered categories such as British Female Artist and British Male Artist for the first time, merging the awards together to create the singular Artist of the Year.
Nominees for the 2023 Artist of the Year are Central Cee, Fred again.. [pictured], George Ezra, Harry Styles and Stormzy.
Read this next: How Fred again.. hit the big time by turning his life into a symphony
The Best Hip Hop/Grime/Rap Act also has entirely male nominations, going to Aitch, Central Cee, Dave, Loyle Carner and Stormzy.
The Pop/R&B Act award has also been criticised for a lack of R&B artists.
Harry Styles and Wet Leg are leading with four nominations each, including the Best Album award that also has Fred again..,The 1975 and Stormzy nominated.
The category for Best Dance Act sees Fred again.. nominated once again, alongside Becky Hill, Bonobo, Calvin Harris and Eliza Rose.
Dance music has also made its way into Song of the Year as LF System’s TikTok hit ‘Afraid to Feel’ as well as Eliza Rose and Interplanetary Criminal’s chart-topping ‘B.O.T.A.’.
Read this next: The 'B.O.T.A' effect: Why Eliza Rose's chart-topping club track has captured the nation
The BRIT Awards will take place on February 11 at The O2 Arena, London, hosted by Mo Gilligan.
The BRIT Awards have sent Mixmag the following statement: "This year’s BRITs promise to again showcase the very best of music talent from the UK and around the globe – with the nominations reflecting artists of all backgrounds and a wide breadth of music genres.
"Last year’s introduction of new categories aimed at making the awards even more inclusive, recognising exceptional work rather than how artists identify. It saw women artists thrive, winning 10 of the 15 awards on the night and Adele being crowned inaugural Artist of the Year.
"We are pleased to see Wet Leg leading the nominations with four nods and FLO winning the Rising Star, and artists such as Nova Twins also included in this year's shortlists, and while it’s disappointing there are no nominations in the Artist of the Year category, we also have to recognise that 2022 saw fewer high profile women artists in cycle with major releases as was the case in 2021.
The BRITs statement concludes: "These trends based around the release schedule are a feature of the music industry, but if, over time, a pattern emerges, then this puts the onus on the industry to deal with this important issue – and the BPI is already carrying out a major study to identify barriers that may inhibit more women becoming successful in music, so that there can be solutions that result in meaningful change.”
Check out the full list of nominations below.
Album of the Year The 1975 ‘Being Funny in a Foreign Language’ Wet Leg ‘Wet Leg’ Harry Styles ‘Harry’s House’ Stormzy ‘This Is What I Mean’ Fred Again ‘Actual Life 3’
Artist of the Year Central Cee Fred Again George Ezra Harry Styles Stormzy
Group of the Year The 1975 Arctic Monkeys Bad Boy Chiller Crew Nova Twins Wet Leg
Best New Artist Kojey Radical Mimi Webb Rina Sawayama Sam Ryder Wet Leg
Song of the Year Aitch and Ashanti ‘Baby’ Cat Burns ‘Go’ Dave ‘Starlight’ Ed Sheeran and Elton John ‘Merry Christmas’ Eliza Rose and Interplanetary Criminal ‘B.O.T.A.’ George Ezra ‘Green Green Grass’ Harry Styles ‘As It Was’ Lewis Capaldi ‘Forget Me’ LF System ‘Afraid to Feel’ Sam Smith and Kim Petras ‘Unholy’
International Artist of the Year Beyoncé Burna Boy Kendrick Lamar Lizzo Taylor Swift
International Group of the Year Blackpink Drake and 21 Savage First Aid Kit Fontaines DC Gabriels
International Song of the Year Beyoncé ‘Break My Soul’ David Guetta and Bebe Rexha ‘I’m Good’ Fireboy DML and Ed Sheeran ‘Peru’ Carolina Gaitán, Mauro Castillo, Adassa, Rhenzy Feliz, Diane Guerrero and Stephanie Beatriz ‘We Don’t Talk About Bruno’ Gayle ‘ABCDEFU’ Jack Harlow ‘First Class’ Lizzo ‘About Damn Time’ Lost Frequencies and Calum Scott ‘Where Are You Now’ OneRepublic ‘I Ain’t Worried’ Taylor Swift ‘Anti-Hero’
Alternative/Rock Act The 1975 Arctic Monkeys Nova Twins Tom Grennan Wet Leg
Hip-hop, Grime and Rap Act Aitch Central Cee Dave Loyle Carner Stormzy
Dance Act Becky Hill Bonobo Calvin Harris Eliza Rose Fred Again
Pop/R&B Act Cat Burns Charli XCX Dua Lipa Sam Smith Harry Styles
Becky Buckle is Mixmag's Video and Editorial Assistant, follow her on Twitter