(The Recording Academy asked recipients of the [Best New Artist](https://www.grammy.com/award/best-new-artist/) GRAMMY to share firsthand accounts of winning one of music's biggest awards. In this installment, Esperanza Spalding details her win for 2010. The other artists nominated for Best New Artist at the 53rd GRAMMY Awards were Justin Bieber, Drake, Florence & The Machine, and Mumford & Sons.)\
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(As told to Paul Zollo)\
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I remember hearing about the GRAMMY nomination. It was 2010. I was in my weird little West Village apartment at the time, which was so little you could barely even call it an apartment. A room with a window looking out at a brick wall. I guess you call that an apartment in New York.