Canadian rap superstar Drake urged organizers to withdraw his two nominations for the Grammy Awards and the Record Academy granted his request, AFP learned Monday (December 6th) from sources close to the protagonists.
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Drake may well have been shortlisted for two nominees in the “rap” category, his hit album “Certified Lover Boy” was royally ignored in the generalist categories, by far the most prominent, during the nominations on last month.
The artist has repeatedly taken the beak in the past with the Academy of the disc, which he accuses of snubbing it.
The singer is also targeted by complaints for a crowd movement that left ten dead during a festival in Texas.
No explanation was given by those close to Drake regarding his request to withdraw the appointments.
A source close to the artist said that the decision was taken by mutual agreement between Drake and his team and that the organizers of the Grammy Awards had accepted.
A source from the Recording Academy confirmed these details to AFP and Drake's nominations had disappeared from the list appearing on the official Grammy Awards website.
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Drake, considered one of the most influential musicians today, has only four Grammy Awards to his name. In a 2017 interview, he accused the Grammys of confining him to the rapper category because he is black. At the 2019 ceremony, Drake once again criticized the Grammys for not treating black hip-hop artists to their fairness.
"It's a sector that sometimes depends on a small group of people who do not understand what a Métis kid from Canada can have to say,"
he said, receiving his only prize of the evening.
Other black artists, like The Weeknd, Frank Ocean and Jay-Z, have also lambasted the Grammys' picks in recent years, accusing them of leaving black musicians behind.
The 64th Grammy Awards are scheduled to be held in Los Angeles on January 31.