Drake has taken himself out of competition at the 64th Grammy Awards.
The Canadian rapper has withdrawn his nominations for Best Rap Album (for Certified Lover Boy) and Best Rap Performance (for “Way 2 Sexy” ft. Future and Young Thug).
Neither Drake nor his reps have publicly commented on the decision. The Recording Academy confirmed on its website that it has removed the nominations.
Among those nominated for their work on Certified Lover Boy were Toronto’s PartyNextDoor, Noah Shebib (aka 40), Scott Zhang (aka Monsune), Anthony Jeffries (aka Nineteen85) and Ebony Oshunrinde (aka WondaGurl) as well as Montreal native Raynford Humphrey (aka Kreme).
The rap superstar has 47 previous Grammy nominations but has only won four. In 2019, he downplayed the value of the award while accepting one for Best Rap Song ("God's Plan"). "You already won if you have people singing your songs word for word, if they’re singing in your hometown," he said. "You’re already winning, you don’t need this right here."
In 2017, he declined to submit his mixtape More Life for consideration after “Hotline Bling” won Best Rap Song and Best Rap/Sung Performance despite not having any rap.
Last year, after fellow Canadian artist The Weeknd was snubbed, Drake wrote in an Instagram Story: “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. It’s like a relative you keep expecting to fix up but they just can’t change their ways.”