UVA’s Dr. A.D. Carson Secures Multiple Entries in the 2026 GRAMMY® Awards for Groundbreaking Orchestral-Hip Hop Album & metaphors
Charlottesville, VA — October 3 2025 — Dr. A.D. Carson, Associate Professor of Hip Hop at the University of Virginia and the nation’s only tenured professor of hip hop, has earned multiple official entries in the 68th Annual GRAMMY® Awards for his orchestral-rap project & metaphors, recorded live with the Charlottesville Symphony and countertenor Patrick Dailey.
& metaphors is a bold fusion of hip hop, classical music, and spoken word that challenges cultural boundaries while confronting questions of American identity, race, and power. Commissioned by the Charlottesville Symphony as part of its 50th anniversary season, the work premiered at Old Cabell Hall on March 22, 2025, and was performed on a program alongside classical works by Mozart and Barber. The digital album was released worldwide on July 9, 2025.
Dr. Carson’s entries include four categories:
- Best Contemporary Classical Composition (Between Possibilities)
- Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals (Between Possibilities – Live)
- Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical (& metaphors)
- Best Rap Album (& metaphors)
The album is part of Carson’s ongoing “mixtap/e/ssay” series, blending memoir, theory, and critique. His previous works include Owning My Masters, his historic rap dissertation album republished in 2024, and i used to love to dream, the first peer-reviewed rap album to win a PROSE Award.
Speaking on the project’s impact, Carson said:
“If ever the world needed a sonic disruption or reckoning, it's right now. This album is medicinal as much as it is recreational.”
Speaking on the submissions, Tomika Anderson, founder and CEO of Manifest Greatness Media, shared:
“We were honored to submit Dr. Carson’s work for GRAMMY consideration and are deeply proud to see it recognized across multiple categories. & metaphors is the kind of groundbreaking project that pushes culture forward, and it has been a privilege to champion it on his behalf.”
For Recording Academy Voting Members
First Round Voting for the 68th Annual GRAMMY® Awards opens on October 3, 2025 (12 p.m. ET) and closes on October 15, 2025 (9 p.m. ET). Eligible members may log into their dashboards at grammy.com to cast their votes, including in the categories where & metaphors appears.
About Dr. A.D. Carson
Dr. A.D. Carson is an award-winning performance artist, educator, and Associate Professor of Hip Hop at the University of Virginia. He is the creator of the peer-reviewed rap album i used to love to dream and the author of the forthcoming Being Dope. His work has been featured in Rolling Stone, NPR Code Switch, SPIN, and The Washington Post. Learn more at https://aydeethegreat.com.