Billboard recently announced the nominations for their music awards, and with so many fan favorites up for awards, one can assume the competition is going to be fierce. The ceremony will air 7 p.m. May 21 and will feature several talented artists. Drake and The Chainsmokers lead the pack with 22 nominations, and Twenty One Pilots follow with 17.

Top Artist

Top Artist is probably the most intense category of the night with each of the nominees for the category being extremely talented in their own right. As a result, there is no clear way to decide on a winner other than looking at the album release numbers for each artist. The projected winner of this category has to be Drake because he has secured superstardom with his honest and relatable lyrics while still maintaining his street credit. Drake’s album “Views,” released April 29, 2016, has been certified quadruple platinum, according to the Recording Industry Association of America. “Views” has sold 1.61 million copies worldwide and was the first album to accumulate 1 billion streams on Apple Music, according to Billboard.

Top Female Artist

With a very emotional and iconic awards season now in the past, Beyoncé and Adele are going head-to-head in the Top Female category at the Billboard Music Awards. Taking a moment to consider numbers and album sales, Adele will take the edge in this category. With the success of “25,” released Nov. 20, 2015, Adele has a great chance at taking home this award. “25” is now certified diamond, according to the Recording Industry Association of America, and features hit singles such as “Hello” and “When We Were Young.” The album spent seven consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, so based on numbers alone, it looks like Beyoncé will have to step aside as Adele steps into the spotlight once again.

Top R&B Tour

Although the “Anti” world tour, hosted by Rihanna, was an entertaining and masterful show, many have come to acknowledge Beyoncé as an even more masterful touring artist. Beyoncé has sparked a tour movement with the likes of “The Beyoncé Experience,” “Beyoncé: I Am Yours” and her joint tour with her husband and rapper Jay-Z, “On the Run,” which included a mash-up of their hit songs through the decades. Beyoncé’s most recent tour, the “Formation” world tour, gave viewers a live scope of her visual album, “Lemonade,” released April 23, 2016. The “Formation” world tour raked in a whopping $256 million from 49 sold-out shows and is one of the top 20 highest grossing tours of all time, according to Billboard.