Best New Artist Looks Like An Interesting Race

Leon Harris of CNN spoke with Vibe editor-in-chief Emil Wilbekin about the Grammy nominations announced earlier today. Commenting on the best new artist category, he said, “Well, this list is really interesting, because Michelle Branch, Avril Lavigne and Ashanti all really broke through this year with record sales. Michelle Branch had that great song with Santana, as well as her own great song. Avril Lavigne just came out of nowhere from Canada, and really took the world by storm, and Ashanti really married hip-hop and pop by using samples from Biggie, and her songwriting is really amazing. So it looks like the teens are winning. Teen fans are really voting this year for the new artist. And i think it’s between those three, that’s where the race is.” Wilbekin says he’s putting his money on Ashanti. Check out the entire transcript here.