In its own words, the Recording Academy is "a visionary group of music professionals and label executives." Unfortunately, as is made painfully obvious by this uninventive Grammy R&B/Rap Nominees 2001 collection, the Academy"s collective eyesight is myopic. Given that label execs like Lyor Cohen (Def Jam) and Tommy Mottola (Sony) sit on the Recording Academy"s executive council, it"s no wonder that the list of nominees reads like an old boys" network patting itself on the back. Included here are vocabulary-challenged dog enthusiast DMX, aging multimillionaire/prototypical gangsta Dr. Dre, and would-be seductor R. Kelly. In the rap arena, the Academy ignores much of the best work of 2000, such as independently released, succulent albums by the likes of Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek, Blackalicious, and Zion I, and the risky major label work of rhyme genius Ghostface Killah. Eminem, a white boy"s wet dream and the Grammy"s bid for controversy, figures prominently in the mix, however. On the R&B side of things (where the 2000 pickings were slimmer), the only really noteworthy albums of the year, D"Angelo"s Voodoo and Jill Scott"s Who Is Jill Scott, get the nod--and so do gaudy panty-raider Sisqo and career tearjerker Toni Braxton. Can"t wait for the telecast. --Lizz Mendez Berry