Epic Album of the Year Snubs: The 2000s

These albums missed Album of the Year at the Grammys. Why?

Oh, Grammys. - Say what you will, but a Grammy for Album of the Year does have a good ring to it. During the '00s, R&B and hip hop albums began to seriously be considered for the award with at least one album from the genres being nominated in the category every year. Yet, rarely did an R&B and hip hop album win the coveted award. Do you remember these? We sure haven’t forgotten them. —Jon Reyes(Photos from left: Kevin Winter/Getty Images, Kevin Winter/Getty Images, Scott Gries/Getty Images)

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Oh, Grammys. - Say what you will, but a Grammy for Album of the Year does have a good ring to it. During the '00s, R&B and hip hop albums began to seriously be considered for the award with at least one album from the genres being nominated in the category every year. Yet, rarely did an R&B and hip hop album win the coveted award. Do you remember these? We sure haven’t forgotten them. —Jon Reyes(Photos from left: Kevin Winter/Getty Images, Kevin Winter/Getty Images, Scott Gries/Getty Images)

TLC, FanMail  (2000) - The R&B trio had a stellar year in 1999 with FanMail. “No Scrubs” was a bona-fide hit (and an instant classic) and the group was touring like crazy. Still, it wasn’t enough for the Grammy voters to overlook Carlos Santana’s Santana and give him the award that year. But the group did nab the Grammy for Best R&B Album, which was handed to them by Jennifer Lopez in that legendary green dress.(Photo: Arista Records)

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TLC, FanMail  (2000) - The R&B trio had a stellar year in 1999 with FanMail. “No Scrubs” was a bona-fide hit (and an instant classic) and the group was touring like crazy. Still, it wasn’t enough for the Grammy voters to overlook Carlos Santana’s Santana and give him the award that year. But the group did nab the Grammy for Best R&B Album, which was handed to them by Jennifer Lopez in that legendary green dress.(Photo: Arista Records)

Photo By Photo: Arista Records

Eminem, The Marshall Mathers LP (2001) - This was an epic loss. After tons of press, mostly due to the controversial nature of The Marshall Mathers LP, it seemed like Eminem was the favorite to win. Don’t forget that Elton John performed with the rapper minutes before the award winner was announced on TV. To the general public, Eminem was supposed to win, but when they announced Steely Dan’s Two Against Nature, everyone was like, who? The worst.(Photo: Aftermath / Shady / Interscope)

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Eminem, The Marshall Mathers LP (2001) - This was an epic loss. After tons of press, mostly due to the controversial nature of The Marshall Mathers LP, it seemed like Eminem was the favorite to win. Don’t forget that Elton John performed with the rapper minutes before the award winner was announced on TV. To the general public, Eminem was supposed to win, but when they announced Steely Dan’s Two Against Nature, everyone was like, who? The worst.(Photo: Aftermath / Shady / Interscope)

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OutKast, Stankonia  (2002) - OutKast’s 2000 release was a hip hop darling and crossover success. It was another notch on the group’s incredible catalog. That didn’t matter though according to Grammy voters, who felt the O Brother, Where Art Thou?: Original Soundtrack was better.(Photo: Arista Records)

Eminem, The Eminem Show (2003) - The Eminem Show was another great album by the Detroit rapper and his third. For some reason he never stood a chance against Norah Jones’s epic night by winning five awards for her debut album, Come Away With Me.(Photo: Aftermath / Shady / Interscope)

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Eminem, The Eminem Show (2003) - The Eminem Show was another great album by the Detroit rapper and his third. For some reason he never stood a chance against Norah Jones’s epic night by winning five awards for her debut album, Come Away With Me.(Photo: Aftermath / Shady / Interscope)

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Missy Elliott, Under Construction (2004) - OK, so Missy had some stiff competition this year. She was up against OutKast’s double banger, Speakerboxxx / The Love Below. After their loss for Stankonia two years prior, it was only right that they finally be given some shine.(Photo: Elektra)

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Missy Elliott, Under Construction (2004) - OK, so Missy had some stiff competition this year. She was up against OutKast’s double banger, Speakerboxxx / The Love Below. After their loss for Stankonia two years prior, it was only right that they finally be given some shine.(Photo: Elektra)

Alicia Keys, The Diary of Alicia Keys  (2005), Usher, Confessions  (2005), Kanye West, The College Dropout (2005) - These three great albums got their hour to shine. But it wasn’t enough to go up against Ray Charles’s last album, Genius Loves Company, which was chockful of duets. It was the perfect homage to the legendary artist who had just passed away the year before.(Photos from left: J Records, Arista Records, Roc-a-Fella Records)

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Alicia Keys, The Diary of Alicia Keys  (2005), Usher, Confessions  (2005), Kanye West, The College Dropout (2005) - These three great albums got their hour to shine. But it wasn’t enough to go up against Ray Charles’s last album, Genius Loves Company, which was chockful of duets. It was the perfect homage to the legendary artist who had just passed away the year before.(Photos from left: J Records, Arista Records, Roc-a-Fella Records)

Kanye West, Late Registration  (2006) - Kanye’s sophomore effort, which continued on the higher education theme from his debut, was again beloved. Though, after years of U2 being nominated for the award and not winning (since their 1988 Album of the Year win) it was time they got some shine with How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. Grammy voters love these guys.(Photo: Roc-a-Fella Records)

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Kanye West, Late Registration  (2006) - Kanye’s sophomore effort, which continued on the higher education theme from his debut, was again beloved. Though, after years of U2 being nominated for the award and not winning (since their 1988 Album of the Year win) it was time they got some shine with How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. Grammy voters love these guys.(Photo: Roc-a-Fella Records)

Gnarls Barkley, St. Elsewhere (2007) - Cee-Lo Green’s team up with Danger Mouse was the big talk of the year, especially with their hit record “Crazy.” If you can imagine, it was no match for a country group who talked back to President George W. Bush years before this award. They were called the Dixie Chicks. (Photo: Downtown Music / Atlantic Records)

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Gnarls Barkley, St. Elsewhere (2007) - Cee-Lo Green’s team up with Danger Mouse was the big talk of the year, especially with their hit record “Crazy.” If you can imagine, it was no match for a country group who talked back to President George W. Bush years before this award. They were called the Dixie Chicks. (Photo: Downtown Music / Atlantic Records)

Kanye Meets Murakami - Yeezy tapped Japanese contemporary artist Takashi Murakami to design the surreal, anime-inspired cover for his 2007 album Graduation. (Photo: Def Jam)

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Kanye West, Graduation (2008) - Four years as a recording artist and Kanye was already on his third nomination for Album of the Year. That’s crazy. Many thought that if Kanye was going to lose this one it would be against Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black, but that was the wrong assumption. Instead, Herbie Hancock won this one for River: The Joni Letters, making it the first jazz album since 1965 to win the coveted award.(Photo: Roc-a-Fella Records)

June 2008: Tha Carter III Is Released - Over a million people felt compelled to buy Lil Wayne’s album in its first week of release. Was it the adorable tattooed face of baby Weezy on the cover that drove people to shell out their cash? Probably. Just look at him. Let his eyes hypnotize you.(Photo: Cash Money/Universal Motown)

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Lil Wayne, Tha Carter III  (2009) - Lil Wayne’s sixth release was a big one for the rapper, it was released and reached over a million sales in its first week. Tha Carter III was also a critical success. It was no match for Robert Plant & Alison Krauss’s Raising Sand, because the lead singer of a rock band and bluegrass-country singer collaborating was just too much for Grammy voters.(Photo: Cash Money / Universal Motown)

Photo By Photo: Cash Money/Universal Motown