While many artists are fans of music’s biggest night, a.k.a. the Grammys, Drake is not one of them.
“All you incredible artists remember this show isn’t the facts it’s just the opinion of a group of people who’s name are kept a secret (literally you can google it),” Drake, 37, wrote via Instagram Story on Sunday, February 4. “Congrats to anybody winning anything for hip hop but this show doesn’t dictate s–t in our world.”
Drake is nominated for several awards with 21 Savage: Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song for “Rich Flex,” Best Melodic Rap Performance for “Spin Bout U” and Best Rap Album for Her Loss.
But rather than being in attendance during Sunday’s awards show, Drake was in Tampa, Florida, for his tour with J Cole titled, It’s All A Blur – Big As The What?
Drake has long been critical of the Grammys’ failure to represent young, Black artists. In 2021, he withdrew his 2022 nominations for Certified Lover Boy (Best Rap Album) and “Way 2 Sexy” (Best Rap Performance) and has opted not to attend the award show for the past two years.
In 2017, Drake expressed his frustration with the Grammy’s when his song “Hotline Bling” was only nominated in the “rap” categories.
“Even though Hotline Bling is not a rap song, the only category they can manage to fit me in is a rap category,” Drake said on OVO Sound at the time. “Maybe because I’ve rapped in the past or because I’m Black, I can’t figure out why. I won two awards but I don’t even want them, because it just feels weird for some reason.”
In 2020, Drake criticized the Grammys in a lengthy statement after The Weeknd didn’t receive a nomination for his album, After Hours, or his hit track “Blinding Lights.”
“I think we should stop allowing ourselves to be shocked every year by the disconnect between impactful music and these awards and just accept that what once was the highest form of recognition may no longer matter to the artists that exist now and the ones that come after,” he wrote. “It’s like a relative you keep expecting to fix up but they just can’t change their ways.”
Drake continued his statement by admitting he thought The Weeknd “was a lock” for the awards. “This is a great time for somebody to start something new that we can build up over time and pass on to the generations to come,” he concluded.
Since 2010, Drake has been nominated for 55 Grammys, and has won five.
