Drake has asked the Grammy Awards Recording Academy to withdraw his two nominations for the 2022 Grammy Awards.
Drake received two nominations at the 2022 Grammy Awards. He was nominated for best rap performance for his song “Way 2 Sexy”, featuring Young Thug and Future, and best rap album for Certified Lover Boy.
However, Variety reports that the Recording Academy received a request from Drake and his management to remove his nominations from the final-round ballot.
Drake’s 2022 nominations are not visible on his artist page on the Grammys’ website, and the Recording Academy also added the nomination changes to its list of updates.
While it’s unclear why the four-time Grammy winner and his management withdrew the nominations, the decision comes after the artist spoke out against the Recording Academy following The Weeknd’s high-profile snubs last year.
“I think 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,” Drake wrote on Instagram shortly after the nominations for the 2021 ceremony were announced. “It’s like a relative you keep expecting to fix up, but they just can’t change their ways.”
Drake has also voiced frustration over his previous nominations and wins over time. The artist declined to submit his mixtape More Life for consideration for the 2018 Grammys and complained about the Recording Academy only recognizing him as a rap artist when his hits at the time were in the pop genre. His single “Hotline Bling” was nominated and won for best rap song and best rap/sung collaboration at the 2017 ceremony.
“I’m a Black artist, I’m apparently a rapper, even though ‘Hotline Bling’ is not a rap song,” Drake said. “The only category that they can manage to fit me in is in a rap category, maybe because I’ve rapped in the past or because I’m Black.”
Added Drake: “I won two awards, but I don’t even want them because it feels weird to me.”
