Grammys 2018: No white men nominated for album of the year for first time in 20 years

Nearly all of the album and record of the year nominees are people of colour or women

Kendrick Lamar performs onstage at Rhianna's charity event on 14 September 2017. He is nominated for seven Grammys. (Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Clara Lionel Foundation)

For the first time in nearly two decades, the Grammy Awards do not include any white men in its Album of the Year category.

The nominees include Childish Gambino, Jay-Z, Kendrick Lamar, Bruno Mars and Lorde.

All the nominees for the Record of the Year category are all artists of colour, except for Justin Bieber, who collaborated with Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee, on the hit song "Despacito".

In total, Jay-Z has eight nominations, Lamar has seven, Mars comes in with six, and Childish Gambino - who is actor Donald Glover of the hit television show "Atlanta" - Khalid, SZA, as well as Jay-Z's producer No I.D each have five nominations this year.

In years past, the Grammys have come under fire for its winning picks not representing the diversity of the music industry.

Last year, Beyonce’s now-iconic Lemonade album and the single by the same name, were both nominated but the award went to Adele in both instances.

Many felt Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly should have won as well.

Even the soulful British singer used her time on stage to acknowledge Beyonce’s “monumental” album, calling her the “artist of my life” and asking: “what the f*** does she have to do to win album of the year? That's how I feel.”

It is unclear whether the deciding body of the Grammys, the Recording Academy, took the negative feedback from viewers and fans into account but this year’s nominees could be a reflection of that.

One thing may be certain though - Beyonce may get another heartfelt thanks from husband Jay-Z should he win for his work on his 4:44 album.

The diversity argument has also extended to the Academy, in charge of determining Oscar nominations.

Using the hashtag #OscarsBeSoWhite fans and celebrities alike took to Twitter to protest the fact that out of the 20 actors and actresses nominated in the lead and supporting categories for 2015 and 2016, none were non-white.

It was also a decision that had not been made since 1998.

In 2017, Viola Davis, Denzel Washington, Ruth Negga, Dev Patel, Naomi Harris, Octavia Spencer, and Mahershala Ali were among the nominees and winners in both categories.