After years of public griping about the legitimacy of Music’s Biggest Night, Drake‘s opinion on the Grammys is apparently unchanged.
In a new story about the potential slate of hip-hop nominees at the upcoming 69th Grammy Awards, Billboard confirmed that Drake would not be submitting any of his singles or the three albums he released this year — Iceman, Maid of Honour, or Habibti — for consideration.
Even if the news was somewhat expected, the withdrawal from consideration of one of the most popular recording artists is still a major event for the show, which already this year has received questions of legitimacy and other major boycotts (including from BTS) over its rollout of the new Best Asian Pop Music Performance category.
Drake, a five-time winner and 56-time nominee, has publicly taken issue with the Grammys since 2020. That was when The Weeknd released his massively popular album After Hours and received zero nominations for the effort, a result that the artist himself called “corrupt.” Drake spoke up in the aftermath of the controversy.
“I think we should stop allowing ourselves to be shocked every year by the disconnect between impactful music and these awards,” he wrote on Instagram at the time, “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.”
The following year, Drake declined his two nominations and withdrew himself from consideration. Since then, he has consistently opted out of submissions, with the exception of when other artist are involved, most notably in 2024 for his album with 21 Savage, Her Loss, which received a nod for Best Rap Album.
Taken in total, the Recording Academy’s issue with Drake, BTS, and artists like them is a unique one for an awards body. Among the other major artistic awards handed out each year, none has had to deal with as high-profile questions of legitimacy as the Grammys, and such protests are sure to be an ongoing issue in a delicate time when viewership issues put the security of all such shows at risk.
