Canadian rapper Shad has responded to comments Drake made at the 2026 JUNO Awards on Sunday night (March 29).
In a pre-recorded message honouring his friend and Canadian Music Hall of Fame inductee Nelly Furtado, Drake reminded the world of a grievance he held against the JUNOs, after he hosted the ceremony in 2011 and failed to win an award as a multiple nominee.
Towards the end of his message praising Furtado's achievements, he signed off by throwing shade and remember history wrong, at Shad's expense.
"To the JUNOs, because you are honouring one of my dearest friends tonight, I will spare you, even though I know you're still thinking about those six awards that you gave to Shad in 2011 when you snubbed Take Care as I hosted the 40th anniversary of your award show. But listen, that's neither here there [sic]. Tonight, we'll let it go."
As articles in both the Toronto Star and Rolling Stone pointed out, Drake's second studio album, Take Care, did not receive any nominations at the 2011 JUNOs due to the fact that had not yet been released it (it came out eight months later). Drake, however, was nominated for six awards the year he hosted and failed to win any. Shad was victorious that year, but only in the Rap Recording of the Year category. (Ironically enough, Drake's Take Care would win in the same category the following year in 2012.)
Likely because he felt pressured to, Shad has responded to all of the hubbub caused by his name being dropped by Drake during the JUNO Awards broadcast.
On Instagram, the fellow Toronto rapper posted screen shots from the two publications, giving them a shout out for "correcting some basic facts." He then explained how he had hoped this whole thing between him and Drake had been buried and forgotten.
"This is the last I want to talk about this lol bc I really believe artists should be trying to direct attention towards things beyond ourselves: Big serious things, small beautiful things, things more vital, edifying, and interesting than this," he writes. "There's a lot of temptation to ego in this biz. The real work is staying focused on the craft, the message, and the people rather than the noise."
Shad also included dug up a proposal he penned for the Vancouver Sun in 2011, suggesting how awards shows like the JUNOs "should shine a light on those unsung people in our country who have devoted their lives to building a better society.”
"I've shared the piece in the last couple slides before but resharing here just bc it's precisely about trying to creatively confront this challenge," he added in the caption. "I wrote it at the request of the Vancouver Sun a few days before the 2011 Junos and it went kinda viral back then. The idea I propose in it was probably naive but it's literally our job as artists to dream of smthg better."
See Shad's post below.