Who is Muni Long? 'Hrs and Hrs' Hitmaker A Late Bloomer, Future of R&B?

Since the Grammy Awards started recognizing up-and-coming artists in the business, the Best New Artist award has been considered one of the four biggest awards every year - these also include Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Album of the Year.

However, the Best New Artist, like the title itself, is not exclusive to all artists as the committee has yet to decide if artists have already made a breakthrough in their music career before being recognized.

At the 65th Annual Grammy Awards, slated to be held next year, 2023, one of the most talked about categories is Best New Artist, which gave many a rather mixed reaction after seeing some obvious artists missing from the mix.

But even before the nominees were announced, Muni Long was someone who had been poised to be nominated in the category.

Formally known as Priscilla Renea Hamilton, Muni Long made her name already in the music industry back in 2009 as Priscilla Renea.

Muni Long, Priscilla then, had already released her debut album, "Jukebox," but hadn't made much of an impact back then. She then proceeded to work as a songwriter, penning several hits like Ariana Grande's "Imagine," Rihanna's "California King Bed," and even Kesha and Pitbull's "Timber."

After her writing stint, she decided to go back to her solo career and released "Coloured" in 2018, threading on the Americana and country soul genre. However, it was when she adopted the stage name Muni Long (pronounced Money Long) that she managed to break through commercially.

Her song, "Hrs and Hrs," was her biggest song to date and by far the first top song on the Top R&B Songs Chart to be released by an independent female artist.

Despite debuting at No. 83 on the Billboard Hot 100, the song soared eventually, reaching a peak of No. 16. The song had been nominated at the 2023 Grammy Awards for the Best R&B Song and Best R&B Performance categories.

Meanwhile, this wasn't the first Grammy nomination for Muni Long, as she was also credited in the Album of the Year category on H.E.R's album, "Back of My Mind," as a featured artist.

Muni Long is nominated for Best New Artist at the 2023 Grammy Awards along with newcomers like Omar Apollo, Latto, Anitta, Wet Leg, Domi & JD Beck, Samara Joy, Maneskin, Tobe Nwigwe, and Molly Tuttle.