Drake has decided he’s not interested in competing in the 2021 Grammy’s race.
The Toronto rapper has personally made the decision to withdraw his entries from Grammy consideration. Sources tell Variety that the top-streaming artist and his management handed the decision down to the Recording Academy, who granted his request earlier today. The reasoning for this decision is not yet known.
Drake was previously nominated in two categories. He was up for Best Rap Album for his September-released, sixth studio album Certified Lover Boy and for Best Rap Performance for his song “Way 2 Sexy” alongside Future and Young Thug.
The Grammy committee will not replace Drake’s empty slot in either category with runner-up nominees. Instead, the categories will be left with 4 competitors. Grammy ballots were already posted on Monday morning before Drake’s withdrawal announcement.
This leaves The Best Rap Album category a running between Tyler The Creator’s Call Me if you Get Lost, Kanye Wests’s DONDA, J. Cole’s The Off Season, and Nas’ King’s Disease II. Best Rap Performance is left between Megan Thee Stallion’s “Thot Shit,” Baby Keem and Kendrick Lamar’s “Family Ties,” Cardi B’s “Up,” and J. Cole’s “My Life” featuring 21 Savage and Morray.
Drake famously criticized the Grammy’s during his 2019 acceptance speech, which was cut-off mid-thought during the ceremony’s live broadcast.
“All my peers that make music from their heart that do things pure and tell the truth, I wanna let you know we’re playing in an opinion-based sport not a factual-based sport,” he said while accepting the award for Best Rap Song for his certified diamond hit single “God’s Plan.”
“This is a business where sometimes it’s up to a bunch of people who might not understand what a mixed-race kid from Canada has to say, or a fly Spanish girl from New York or anybody else, or a brother from Houston right there, my brother Travis [Scott],” he continued. “But my point is you’ve already won if you have people singing your songs word for word; if you’re a hero in your hometown.”
“Look, if there’s people who have regular jobs who are coming out in the rain, in the snow, spending their hard-earned money to buy tickets to come to your shows, you don’t need this right here. I promise you, you already won.”