On Friday, November 10th, the nominees for the 66th GRAMMY Awards were announced, and this year, seven Morehouse alumni were among those nominated; Khalil 'DJ Khalil' Abdul-Rahman '96, David 'DJ Dos Dias' Bishop '18, Nathaniel 'Nate 'Rocket' Wonder' Irvin '03, Charles 'Chuck Lightning' Joseph '02, Will 'DJ Willy Wow' March '98, Tim Maxey and PJ Morton '03. 
Morehouse College's first GRAMMY-winning alumnus was Martin Luther King Jr. '48, who posthumously won for Best Spoken Word Recording at the 13th GRAMMY Awards in 1971 for "Why I Oppose The War In Vietnam."
GRAMMY Award winning producer DJ Khalil was nominated for his work as a producer and a writer on Jon Batiste's 'World Music Radio', which has been nominated for Album of the Year. During the 64th GRAMMY Awards, he won a GRAMMY for his work on Jon Batiste's 'We Are' which won Album of the Year. This is DJ Khalil's third nomination in that category in four years.
GRAMMY Award winning multi-platinum engineer Dos Dias received two nominations for his work; Best R&B Album for Summer Walker's 'Clear 2: Soft Life - EP' as well as Best Progressive R&B Album for 6LACK's 'Since I Have a Lover'. Dias was a writer, mixing engineer and a recording engineer on Walker's album and a vocal producer on 6LACK's album.
GRAMMY nominated producer, songwriter and artist Nate 'Rocket' Wonder received nominations for his work on Janelle Monae's heavily nominated album 'The Age of Pleasure'. In addition to executive producing the album, Wonder provided background vocals, played bass, drums, flute, guitar, horn, keyboards, organ, saxophone, strings, synthesizer, vibraphone and woodwind. He was also a recording engineer, a lyricist, a programmer and provided sound effects.
GRAMMY nominated producer, songwriter and artist Chuck Lightning received nominations for his work on Janelle Monae's 'The Age of Pleasure'. Lightning served as a producer and a writer on the album. Lightning is a director and screenwriter as well as the co-founder/creative director of the Wondaland Arts Society.
DJ Willy WOW earned a nomination for Best Children's Music Album for his recent release 'Hip Hope for Kids'. He is an award winning children’s songwriter, music producer, voice over artist, and celebrity DJ. Since 2005, he has been consistently recognized as the best in children’s entertainment. DJ Willy WOW first gained national attention in 2010 for his work with Michelle Obama by launching the “Let’s Move” program welcoming families from all over the country with multiple live performances on The White House Lawn on the main stage.
Producer and keyboardist Tim Maxey was nominated for his work on Summer Walker's 'Clear 2: Soft Life-EP'. Maxey was nominated previously as a producer and a writer for Kendrick Lamar's critically acclaimed album 'Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers'. In addition to Walker and Lamar, Maxey was worked with Trey Songz, Baby Rose, NOT THE TWOS, Childish Major, EARTHGANG, Fana Hues and others.
For the sixth consecutive year, PJ Morton a multi-GRAMMY award winning artist/songwriter and producer and also a member of the wildly popular group Maroon 5, was nominated for a GRAMMY. This year, he earned a Best Traditional R&B Performance GRAMMY nomination for his song 'Good Morning' featuring Susan Carol. Last year, Morton earned three nominations for Best Gospel Performance/Song, Best R&B Album and Best R&B song.
The 66th GRAMMY Awards will be presented in on Sunday, February 4, 2024 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, and will air on CBS.
Tag(s):
Alumni Achievement