The Recording Academy has fixed a gaping hole in its eligibility requirements for Best New Artist. As a result, hip-hop newcomers Drake and Kid Cudi will be able to compete for the award, even though both artists were nominated in multiple categories at the show that was telecast in JanuaThe academy had a rule that artists were ineligible for Best New Artist if they had ever received a Grammy nomination in any category. That may seem reasonable at first glance, but the rule kept two prime candidates, Jennifer Hudson and Lady Gaga, from competing for Best New Artist in the past two years
Hudson had been nominated in 2007 for Best Compilation Soundtrack Album For Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media for Dreamgirls, in which she appeared with Beyonce Knowles and Anika Noni Rose, among others. Gaga and Colby O'Donis had been nominated in 2008 for Best Dance Recording for her breakthrough smash, "Just Dance."

These early recordings preceded the release of their debut albums, Jennifer Hudson and The Fame, respectively

Hudson and Gaga were caught in a classic Catch-22. Grammy rules dictated that artists could be considered for Best New Artist only when they released a full album. But when those artists finally did release their debut albums, they weren't eligible for Best New Artist because they had previously received Grammy nominations in other categories! They literally couldn't win. To its credit, the Recording Academy saw the problem and fixed it this year.

The correction came too late for Lady Gaga, who would almost certainly have won Best New Artist in January if she'd been eligible. She was nominated for all three of the leading awards, Album, Record and Song of the Year, which is highly unusual for a new artist. (The Best New Artist winner, country favorites the Zac Brown Band, wasn't nominated in any of those marquee categories.)

T.I. Could Face Multiple-Year Jail Sentence For Drug Charges

rior to serving three months in the halfway house, T.I. spent seven months in a federal prison in Arkansas for illegal firearms possession and possessing a gun as a convicted felon.
According to the Associated Press, as a condition of his three-year-parole, he was forbidden from committing another federal, state or local crime, or illegally possessing a controlled substance. Drug tests and participation in a drug and alcohol treatment program were also required.
The new allegations will not be taken lightly, said Knowles, a family attorney who has represented Britney Spears and Nicole Kidman, among others. "[T.I.'s] celebrity is not likely going to get him off of this," he said. "This is now a repeated offense. That's when even the celebrity get-out-of-jail card is not going to work."
Knowles believes T.I.'s celebrity will probably ensure a more stringent ruling. "In fact, for them to take it light on him now would look like over-favoritism because he's a celebrity, and I think, if anything, his celebrity may actually backfire."
Knowles believes that Cottle, co-star of BET's Tiny & Toya and a member of the ‘90s R&B group Xscape, could avoid jail time because of their children. "That is a big factor when it comes to sentencing," he said. "I can tell you from my experience as a family lawyer that celebrity or not, courts loathe to jail moms, particularly if there's not going to be a dad at home to care for the kids as well. This would mean kids would have no parents."