Grammy nominations: Rapper Kendrick Lamar leads with 11

New York • Kendrick Lamar is the king of the Grammys: The rapper is the leading nominee for the 2016 awards with 11, including album of the year for "To Pimp a Butterfly" and song of the year for "Alright."

Lamar, who won two Grammys earlier this year, is followed by Taylor Swift and The Weeknd, who each earned seven nominations, including album of the year. "Butterfly," Swift's "1989" and The Weeknd's "Beauty Behind the Madness" will battle country singer-songwriter Chris Stapleton's "Traveller" and rock group Alabama Shakes' "Sound & Color" for the top prize.

Lamar's "Alright" and Swift's "Blank Space" are nominated for song of the year. Other nominees include Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth's tribute to actor Paul Walker, "See You Again," Ed Sheeran's slow burner "Thinking out Loud" and Little Big Town's semi-controversial hit, "Girl Crush," written by Lori McKenna, Hillary Lindsey and Liz Rose.

"Thinking out Loud" and "Blank Space," which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, are also nominated for record of the year, pitting the songs against No.1 hits that include Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars' "Uptown Funk" and the Weeknd's "Can't Feel My Face," as well as a wild card: "Really Love" from R&B singer D'Angelo and the Vanguard.

Lamar's other nominations include best rap album for "Butterfly," rap performance for "Alright," pop duo/group performance for "Bad Blood" with Swift and dance recording "Never Catch Me" with Flying Lotus. He's nominated twice for both best rap song with "Alright" and for co-writing Kanye West's "All Day," as well as best music video for "Alright" and "Bad Blood."

Swift is also up for best pop vocal album for her top-selling "1989" and pop solo performance for "Blank Space." The Weeknd's nominations include best pop solo performance for "Can't Feel My Face" and urban contemporary album for "Beauty." His hit from the "Fifty Shades of Grey" soundtrack — "Earned It" — garnered nominations for best R&B performance, R&B song and song written for visual media.

In addition to album of the year, Stapleton's "Traveller" is nominated for best country album, country song and country solo performance.

This year's best country album contenders include Little Big Town's "Pain Killer," Kacey Musgraves' "Pageant Material," Ashley Monroe's "The Blade" and "Montevallo" by singer-songwriter Sam Hunt, who is also nominated for best new artist. Other nominees include "All About That Bass" performer Meghan Trainor, big-voiced singer Tori Kelly, Australian singer-songwriter Courtney Barnett and rock musician James Bay, who is also nominated for best rock album and rock song.

Rapper Drake scored five nominations, including best rap album for "If You're Reading This It's Too Late," pitting him against Lamar, Dr. Dre's "Compton," Nicki Minaj's "The Pinkprint" and J. Cole's "2014 Forest Hills Drive."