Muni Long is the most-nominated artist in the R&B field at the 67th Grammy Awards, which takes place Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025.
The Grammy winner has a nomination in four out of the five categories that complete the R&B field.
Long’s sophomore album, Revenge, is up for Best R&B Album. It’s her first appearance in this category, which also includes Chris Brown‘s 11:11 (Deluxe), Lalah Hathaway‘s Vantablack, Lucky Daye‘s Algorithm and Usher‘s Coming Home.
A few songs from Revenge have also received Grammy nominations. Her Billboard Adult R&B Airplay chart-topper “Make Me Forget” is up for Best Traditional R&B Performance. It’s also her first time competing in this category.
Other Best Traditional R&B Performance nominees include Marsha Ambrosius (“Wet”), Kenyon Dixon (“Can I Have This Groove”), Lalah Hathaway (“No Lie” featuring Michael McDonald), and Lucky Daye (“That’s You”).
“Ruined Me,” another single from Revenge, is competing for Best R&B Song, which is a songwriter’s award. She joins a race that includes Kehlani’s “After Hours,” Coco Jones’ “Here We Go (Uh Oh),” Tems’ “Burning,” and SZA’s “Saturn.”
Lastly, Long’s has secured a nod for Best R&B Performance for “Made For Me (Live at BET).” Jhené Aiko (“Guidance”), Chris Brown (“Residuals“), Coco Jones (“Here We Go”), and SZA (“Saturn”) are also nominated.
Long previously won this award at the 65th Grammy Awards in 2023 with her breakout hit “Hrs & Hrs,” marking her first Grammy win.
With “Made For Me (Live at BET),” this marks the first time in the history of the category—originally introduced in 1959, discontinued in 1968, and then reintroduced in 2012 after a restructuring—that a live recording has been nominated.
Some might be curious about why Long and her Def Jam Recordings team decided to submit the live version of “Made For Me,” which she performed at the 2023 Soul Train Awards, instead of the studio recording of the megahit.
The studio version was incredibly successful, with notable figures such as Kevin Bacon, Chlöe, Ed Sheeran, Normani and Paula Abdul joining the TikTok challenge and creating covers.
Not only that, audiences of all ages have sung it together at various events like concerts, school assemblies, and sports gatherings.
Despite everything, since “Made For Me” was released Sept. 15, 2023, and was submitted for consideration for the 66th Grammy Awards, the studio version was ineligible for the 2025 contest. (The eligibility period was for recordings released between Oct. 1, 2022, and Sept. 15, 2023.)
Jermaine Dupri revealed on X (formerly Twitter) in March that “Made For Me,” which he co-produced and co-wrote, had been disqualified from competing at next year’s ceremony.
“So I just got a message stating that the muni long record will not be eligible for next year’s Grammys because it was submitted this year,” Dupri wrote on X. “The likelihood of me, Bryan, producing another song of this magnitude might not even happen again.”
Bryan-Michael Cox and Jordan XL are co-writers and co-producers of “Made For Me,” which, at the time of Dupri’s post, had spent eight consecutive weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s R&B Digital Song Sales chart. The song ultimately achieved a total of 13 weeks at the top.
Long also had to accept that a song that brought so much joy online couldn’t compete for a major music prize. She confirmed the news with Tank and J. Valentine (of the R&B Money Podcast) during the Revenge promo, discussing how her team would handle the nomination issue.
“We have a live version that I did on Soul Train,” Long told the hosts. “We’re trying to figure it out because, technically, it’s not a new song. So, if you don’t see it [nominated], that’s why.”
Long also noted that the standard version of “Made For Me” was ruled out of both the R&B field and the general field, including Song of the Year.
In the lead-up to the 2025 Grammy nominations, Long excited fans with remix variations of “Made For Me,” including one with a new verse by Mariah Carey, a long-term collaborator.
Over the course of 2024, Long has performed “Made For Me” on the late-night circuit, including The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and NBC’s The Voice. She also supported Chris Brown’s 11:11 Tour this summer while promoting the hit.
The 67th Grammy Awards takes place Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. See the other 2025 nominees here.
