West is best, but...

Why don't we just flip a coin and get this whole Grammy thing over with?

Heads Kanye West wins for album of the year.

Tails he loses.

The record industry's most prestigious awards competition seems at times just as arbitrary as that, often bypassing great, cutting-edge artists, such as West, in favor of tame, mainstream bestsellers or sentimental favorites.

West, who picked up eight nominations Thursday in the 48th annual Grammy Awards race, is the most compelling arrival in hip-hop since Eminem — a thoughtful, crusading rapper and producer who has liberated hip-hop from its "gangsta rap" shackles. His music about life and community reflects values that are reminiscent of the idealistic, socially aware work of Curtis Mayfield and Stevie Wonder.

In just two years, the 28-year-old Atlanta native has become a dominant presence in pop. He also helped shepherd CDs by two other artists, John Legend and Common, who received 12 nominations between them on Thursday.

West deserved to win the most prestigious Grammy award, album of the year, last year for his trailblazing debut CD, "The College Dropout," but the Grammys had never honored Ray Charles in the top category during his most creative years, so the 12,000 Recording Academy voters decided to take the occasion to salute the late singer for his posthumous album "Genius Loves Company," even though the work was horribly uneven.

This year West returned with an even more commanding collection, "Late Registration," which added inventive sonic textures to songs that ranged from marvelously entertaining ("Gold Digger") to inspirational ("Touch the Sky").

West also took a leadership role in hip-hop away from the studio. He made a passionate plea on MTV for an end to the widespread gay-bashing in rap lyrics, and he criticized the Bush administration during a Hurricane Katrina telethon for responding so slowly to the needs of New Orleans flood victims.

West should be a shoo-in for top album when the awards are announced Feb. 8 at Staples Center.

But the Recording Academy voters constantly surprise us. For every smart vote in recent years there has been one (or more) inexplicable verdict.

It's nice to think of the academy as a deliberative body. It's actually running a crap shoot, history shows.

That's why West may face better odds in a coin flip than he would leaving it up to the voters to select from among five nominees.

Two Grammy seasons ago, academy members chose wisely by naming OutKast's "Speakerboxx/The Love Below" album of the year. Likewise in 1998 when Bob Dylan won for "Time Out of Mind."

But the trail of disappointments is long, including the "O Brother Where Art Thou?" soundtrack victory in 2002 over far superior efforts by OutKast, Dylan and U2, and the choice of Steely Dan's "Two Against Nature" in 2001 over Eminem, Beck and Radiohead.