Drake Withdraws His 2022 Grammy Nominations

December 7, 2021 / Posted by:

Two weeks ago, the nominations for the 2022 Grammy Awards were announced, and I’m sure it was thrilling for all those involved. I’m assuming, since I’ve never been in such a position. But one time I did read enough books to qualify for a Book It! prize at Pizza Hut, so I believe I understand the level of excitement at play here. But as we’ve come to learn, not everyone was happy to see their name recognized by the Recording Academy last month. Like Drake, who for some mysterious reason has decided to withdraw his name from 2022 Grammy Awards consideration.

Drake is a four-time Grammy Award winner and a forty-nine-time nominee. Most recently, he saw himself get nominated in the following categories: Best Rap Performance, for “Way Too Sexy,” and Best Rap Album, for his latest album Certified Lover Boy. But as Variety points out, Drake’s name won’t appear on ballots when members of the Recording Academy vote for who wins. via Variety:

Drake has withdrawn his two 2022 Grammy nominations, a rep for the Recording Academy has confirmed to Variety. Reps for Drake did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Sources tell Variety that the decision was made by Drake and his management and the Grammys honored the request, although his motivation was unclear at the time of this article’s publication.

Drake was one of five nominees for Best Rap Album, a category which included: J. Cole (The Off-Season), Nas (King’s Disease II), Tyler, the Creator (Call Me If You Get Lost), and Kanye West (Donda). Instead of filling the slot left vacant by Drake, the Recording Academy has decided to leave the category with four nominees. Same with the category of Best Rap Performance.

It’s not known why Drake suddenly decided to pull out after he was nominated. In order for an artist’s work to be considered for a nomination, it has to be submitted, usually by the record label. And if the artist doesn’t want shit to do with the Grammys, they just ask their label not to submit. It would have made perfect sense for Drake to just not submit anything for consideration, considering he’s mentioned before that he doesn’t really care about Grammy acknowledgment. At the 2019 Grammy Awards ceremony, Drake – while accepting the award for Best Rap Song – declared that awards don’t matter, and the only thing a true artist should care about is the fans. He’s also not the first artist to brush off the Recording Academy. After getting completely snubbed at the 2021 Grammy Awards, Drake’s GTA cousin The Weeknd announced that he’d be boycotting the Grammys forever, due to “secret committees” that chose the winners. And a few years ago, Frank Ocean pulled his work from Grammy consideration, while calling them a popularity contest.

Some people have a theory about why Drake suddenly decided to pull out, and Variety says there’s speculation that Drake wants to lay low while he’s repeatedly named in several Astroworld Fest lawsuits. The Astroworld tragedy that claimed the lives of 10 people happened at the beginning of November. Final submissions for Grammy nomination consideration happened in the last two weeks of August. Drake, who was a surprise guest that came out at the end of Travis Scott’s set, has been named in multiple class-action lawsuits. And unlike Travis Scott, Drake hasn’t publicly declared he’s not responsible and hasn’t filed documents asking for his name to be taken off those lawsuits. But some sources have dismissed that theory, saying he’s not laying that low, considering he has agreed to play a benefit concert with Kanye West.

Or it could just be that Drake is bitter Certified Lover Boy was snubbed for Best Album, which some music types do see as a snub. Or maybe, since we’ve got next to nothing to go on and are wildly throwing out ideas, maybe there’s a clue in another Grammy nomination. BTS was nominated for Best Pop Group Performance, but their song “Butter” was snubbed for Record of the Year, and that song was everywhere. Did Drake pull his nominations as a boycott because he’s a secret ARMY member? Drake is sensitive, emotional, dresses well, and appreciates a danceable beat – all qualities of BTS appreciation. Until I receive further proof, I’ll take this to mean he’s a huge Jungkook stan.

Pic: Wenn.com/FayesVision

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