The 35-year-old was nominated for two Grammy Awards in November. Several sources with knowledge of the case inform the news agencies AP and AFP that it is Drake and his management who are behind Monday’s decision to withdraw the nominations.
According to sources, the Recording Academy, which is behind the Grammy Awards, has already accepted the request, and the nominations are no longer listed on nomination list.
Drake, who has won four Grammy Awards before, was this time nominated for best rap album with “Certified Lover Boy” and best rap performance with the song “Way 2 Sexy”.
No artist will have the opportunity to take over the vacant place in the rap category. Four remaining nominees will compete for the prize.
The sources state no justification for Drake’s desire. But Drake has criticized Grammy Awards in previous years. Among other things, he has shown his dissatisfaction with not being nominated outside the rap category.
– The only category they manage to let me into is the rap category, perhaps because I have rapped before or because I am black, he said in an interview in 2017. During the distribution in 2019, he expressed his frustration that black Hip-hop artists have not always received the respect they deserve.
This is a critique that several black artists, including The Weeknd, Frank Ocean and Jay-Z, have also supported in recent years.
The Grammy Awards will be presented on January 31.
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