INDIO, CA – APRIL 12: Kid Cudi performs as part of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival at … [+]
The nominations for the ninety-fourth Academy Award nominations are expected to be announced on Tuesday (February 8) morning, and many of the most talented actors, screenwriters, directors and even musicians will be holding their breath, waiting to hear their names called. One of the most interesting artists in the hip-hop space already has a chance to become the rare double-nominee in the same category.
Kid Cudi currently has two tracks eligible for Best Original Song. Recently, before members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) began voting on who should earn one of the five coveted slots in the field, the organization publicly shared its shortlist. This is when the group whittles down all the submissions into a much more manageable selection. There are 15 tunes that are competing for an Oscar nomination, and Cudi is credited on two of them. Amazingly, they’re not even for the same project, so clearly he’s been very busy.
The rapper is in the running for a Best Original Song Oscar nomination for his tunes “Just Look Up” from Don’t Look Up and “Guns Go Bang” from The Harder They Fall. Both tracks appear to be in the upper half of the list of possible nominees in terms of likelihood that they get nominated, based on predictions made by Hollywood insiders and those who watch these races every year. There are titles on the shortlist that appear to have little or no chance at being included, but both of Cudi’s releases rank among the more likely nominees.
“Just Look Up” saw Cudi team up with pop superstar Ariana Grande to create a possible smash for the film Don’t Look Up, which they both co-star in. The tune might not have taken off on the charts, but it is a strong contender for a Best Original Song Academy Award nomination, and it may very well make first-time nominees out of both chart-toppers. Fellow credited songwriters and producers Nicholas Britell and Taura Stinson have been up for trophies before.
Cudi is also eligible along with one of the most successful rappers of all time for a decidedly different kind of tune. Jay-Z, Cudi and writer, director and producer Jeymes Samuel collaborated on the soundtrack that accompanied the film The Harder They Fall, a modern take on a classic Western. The track that was selected to submit to Oscar voters was “Guns Go Bang,” and it might make them all possible Academy Award nominees for the first time.
It seems likely at this point that Cudi will earn an Oscar nomination on Tuesday morning, though nothing is certain until the names are revealed. It’s not out of the question that he could fill two spots at once, though that’s a bigger stretch. Many songwriters and producers have competed against themselves in the Best Original Song category before, but most of them have done so because they submitted more than one composition from the same film. Should Cudi see both of his contenders earn love, he’d make history in one very specific way and show that he’s now a force to be reckoned with in the film world just as he is in the music industry.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/hughmcintyre/2022/02/06/is-kid-cudi-about-to-earn-two-oscar-nominations/