Drake continues to convey his disillusionment with the Grammys with his decision to withdraw his two nominations for awards he was up for at the show’s upcoming 2022 ceremony. The rap star had received nominations for Best Rap Album, for Certified Lover Boy, and Best Rap Performance, for the album’s hit single “Way 2 Sexy” featuring Future and Young Thug. Drake, nor his reps, have released a statement explaining his decision.
While it appears the Toronto native did not submit Certified Lover Boy or any of its songs for any of the other major categories it was eligible for, including Album of the Year, Song of the Year, or Record of the Year, the Recording Academy confirmed he did make submissions for the two aforementioned rap categories, in particular, making his withdrawal in the latter stages of the process a bit puzzling.
A four-time Grammy winner, Drake has publicly critiqued or refused to participate in the awards show on several occasions. Opting not to submit his More Life album or any of its songs for consideration for any awards at the 2018 ceremony, he took things a step further the following year, diminishing the value of the Grammys as a whole during his acceptance speech after “God’s Plan” won the Best Rap Song award in 2019. “We play an opinion-based sport, not a factual-based sport,” he said. “You already won if you have people singing your songs word for word, if they’re singing in your hometown. You’re already winning. You don’t need this right here.” Drake’s speech was shortened after the award show’s producers cut his mic off in response to his dismissive commentary.
He also lashed out at the Recording Academy last year after fellow Canadian and collaborator The Weeknd was snubbed for any nominations at the 2021 Grammy Awards despite releasing one of the biggest albums of 2020. “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 artist that exist now and the ones that come after,” the OVO boss wrote in his Instagram Story. “It’s like a relative you keep expecting to fix up but they just won’t change their ways. The other day I said @theweeknd was a lock for either album or song of the year along with countless other reasonable assumptions and it just never goes that way. This is a great time for somebody to start something new that we can build up overtime and pass on to the generations to come.”
Where Drake’s relationship with the Grammy Awards or the Recording Academy will go from here remains to be seen, but these recent developments are an indicator that the foundation it currently sits upon is shaky, at best.