Maxwell, Jay Z Lead 41st NAACP Image Award Nominations

Maxwell and Jay-Z are riding well into the New Year thanks to their efforts "Blacksummers'night" and "The Blueprint 3". Both albums and their subsequent singles have earned the duo a leading five nominations a piece at the 41st Annual NAACP Image Awards

Revealed as nominees Wednesday, January 6, Maxwell and Jay-Z will each go head to head for Outstanding Male Artist and Outstanding Album. Maxwell, fresh off a strong six Grammy nominations, is a double nominee in the Outstanding Song field thanks to the singles "Pretty Wings" and "Bad Habits" and a nominee for Outstanding Music Video ("Pretty Wings").Jay-Z, garnering mixed reviews for his latest video/single "On To The Next One," like Maxwell, is a double nominee thanks to collaborations with Rihanna and Alicia Keys in the Outstanding duo, group or collaboration field, where he'll face off with Day 26, the Black Eyed Peas and 3 Mo' Divas.

Garnering nominations for the coveted Outstanding New Artist field are Jeremih, Keri Hilson, K'Jon, Kristinia Debarge, and Melanie Fiona.

Following Maxwell and Jay Z, Alicia Keys earned a total of three nominations, including one for Outstanding Album, followed by Whitney Houston, Rihanna and Mary J. Blige who each have two nods.Anthony Hamilton, Mary Mary, Jamie Foxx, Ne-Yo, India.Arie and Charlie Wilson each received at least one nomination.

Michael Jackson has been honored with a posthumous nomination for his box office hit 'This Is It,' which joins leading film related nominations for "Precious: Based on the novel PUSH by Sapphire'. Mariah Carey, Paula Patton, Mo'Nique, Lenny Kravitz and the film's director Lee Daniels each received a nomination, along with the film's leading actress Gabourey Sidibe.

Documentaries also went over well with the NAACP Image Awards committee, both Chris Rock and Lebron James earned a nod for their releases "Good Hair" and "More Than A Game" respectively.

The 41st Annual NAACP Image Awards are set to air February 26 at 8pm ET/PT on Fox.