“I want people to simply be intrigued by the music,” Bridges told Rated R&B in a summer interview about his most recent album Gold-Diggers Sound. The Fort Worth, Texas native, got his wish, at least with the Recording Academy.
Bridges received a pair of 2022 Grammy nominations in the R&B field for his third studio album on Columbia Records. The last time he was recognized in two categories, he took home one trophy, which happened to be a tie for Best Traditional R&B Performance at the 61st Grammy Awards in 2019 for “Bet Ain’t Worth the Hand.” It marked his first career win.
“Born Again,” featuring Robert Glasper, is up for the Best Traditional R&B Performance.
“I wanted to make this kind of parallel to the concept of spiritual newness in the Bible and more so talk about how the pandemic was very healing for me,” Bridges told Rated R&B about its inspiration. “I finally got a chance to catch up with the person who had been running for five, six years.”
Beyond his performance nod, Bridges is once again a Best R&B Album contender. Gold-Diggers Sound completes his trio of albums to be recognized in this category. He first earned a nod for his gold-seller Coming Home at the 58th Grammy Awards in 2016.
At the 2019 ceremony, Good Thing, his second set, faced off against the likes of Toni Braxton and PJ Morton, ultimately losing to H.E.R.’s self-titled project.
After D’Angelo, Bridges is the second male artist to have their first three proper albums nominated for Best R&B Album with Gold-Diggers Sound. He also joins D’Angelo and Jill Scott as the only acts to achieve this accomplishment.
The 64th Grammy Awards will air live on Monday, Jan. 31, 2022, at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT on CBS. Read up on other 2022 nominees here.
