A pretty significant showdown is shaping up in an unexpected category for the 2022 Grammy Awards.
The nominees for Best Spoken Word Album — which includes poetry, audiobooks and storytelling — includes former President Barack Obama, Dave Chappelle, LeVar Burton and Don Cheadle.
Obama is nominated for his “A Promised Land” audiobook, marking his third Grammy nod after previously being nominated in the same category in 2006 and 2008. “A Promised Land” is the first of a planned two-volume memoir reflecting on Obama’s time in office and covers his early years up through the assassination of Osama Bin Laden in 2011.
Chappelle, meanwhile, is a three-time Grammy winner for Best Comedy Album, but his latest nomination comes as he’s embroiled in controversy over his latest Netflix special, in which he made anti-trans comments. The release of the special prompted unrest at Netflix, including a demonstration outside the company’s office. The comedian is nominated for the 2022 Grammys for “8:46” alongside Amir Sulaiman. The special was created and released in response to the murder of George Floyd.
Burton is nominated for the audiobook for his fiction debut “Aftermath,” a novel he wrote, and Cheadle is nominated for his audiobook performance of “Carry On: Reflections for a New Generation From John Lewis.” The final nominee in the category is J. Ivy for “Catching Dreams: Live at Fort Knox Chicago.”
