BRIT Award Nominations: Rapper Tinie Tempah Leads With Four Nods

The nominations for the BRIT Awards – the UK equivalent to the Grammys – have been announced, and South London rapper Tinie Tempah scored four nominations to lead this year’s pack. Tinie, Rihanna, Take That, and Plan B are just a few of the acts who will be performing live at O2 Arena when the BRIT Awards are handed out Tuesday, February 15.

For those who don’t know Tinie, here’s his hit, “Pass Out,” which was No. 11 on Anglophenia’s Top 40 Songs of 2010. We wrote, “This is yet another hip-hop track about riches, fast women, and drinking until you ‘pass out.’ But Tinie’s boundless charm and the track’s absolutely sick beat more than compensate for those deficits.”

Tinie’s four nods come in the categories of Best Male Solo Artist, Best British Single, Best British Album, and Best British Breakthrough Act. We here at Anglophenia aren’t ones to sound our own trumpets (sarcasm), but we should note that all five of the nominees in the Breakthrough category — Tinie, Ellie Goulding, The XX, Mumford & Sons, and Rumer — were mentioned on our British Breakout Acts of 2010 list.

Plan B, Mumford & Sons, and The XX all received three nominations.

Who votes on the BRITs? The official website says that nominations and winners are “the result of votes cast by the BRITs Voting Academy, which consists of 1000 people from various sectors of the music industry. For the very first time, artists have also been invited to join the Voting Academy and have placed their vote for this year’s winners.”

Here’s the full list of nominees:

British Male Solo Artist

Mark Ronson

Paul Weller

Plan B

Robert Plant

Tinie Tempah

British Breakthrough Act

Ellie Goulding

Mumford & Sons

Rumer

Tinie Tempah

The XX

British Group

Biffy Clyro

Gorillaz

Mumford & Sons

Take That

The XX

British Female Solo Artist

Cheryl Cole

Ellie Goulding

Laura Marling

Paloma Faith

Rumer

British Single

Alexandra Burke ft Pitbull: All Night Long

Cheryl Cole: Parachute

Florence & The Machine: You’ve Got The Love

Matt Cardle: When We Collide

Olly Murs: Please Don’t Let Me Go

Plan B: She Said

Scouting For Girls: This Ain’t A Love Song

Taio Cruz: Dynamite

Tinie Tempah: Pass Out

The Wanted: All Time Low

British Album Of The Year

Mumford & Sons: Sigh No More

Plan B: The Defamation of Strickland Banks

Take That: Progress

Tinie Tempah: Disc-Overy

The XX: XX

International Male Solo Artist

Bruce Springsteen

Cee Lo Green

David Guetta

Eminem

Kanye West

International Female Solo Artist

Alicia Keys

Katy Perry

Kylie Minogue

Rihanna

Robyn

International Breakthrough Act

Bruno Mars

Glee Cast

Justin Bieber

The National

The Temper Trap

International Group

Arcade Fire

Black Eyed Peas

Kings of Leon

The Script

Vampire Weekend

International Album

Arcade Fire: The Suburbs

Cee Lo Green: The Lady Killer

Eminem: Recovery

Katy Perry:  Teenage Dream

Kings of Leon: Come Around Sundown

Critics’ Choice

Jessie J (winner)

James Blake

The Vaccines