Drake is withdrawing his two 2022 Grammy nominations, Variety reports. The rapper had been nominated for Best Rap Album (for Certified Lover Boy) and Best Rap Performance (for “Way 2 Sexy”). According to Variety, the Grammy withdrawal decision was made by Drake and his management. There will not be replacement nominees in the two categories, according to Variety.
Drake’s withdrawal follows other recent changes to the 2022 Grammy nominations: Marilyn Manson lost one of his nominations (Best Rap Song for Kanye West’s “Jail”) due to changes to the songwriting credits, and Linda Chorney was given a nod for Best American Roots Song. In addition, credited Sour writers Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff, and Annie Clark (aka St. Vincent) lost Album of the Year nominations.
Drake has expressed frustrations with the Grammy Awards and the Recording Academy in the past. Last year, after the Weeknd received zero nominations for the 2021 Grammys, Drake wrote in an Instagram Story, “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 artist that exist now and the ones that come after.” He continued, “It’s like a relative you keep expecting to fix up but they just won’t change their ways. The other day I said [the Weeknd] was a lock for either album or song of the year along with countless other reasonable assumptions and it just never goes that way. This is a great time for somebody to start something new that we can build up overtime and pass on to the generations to come.”
Back in 2017, after he skipped the Grammys, Drake criticized the Recording Academy for nominating “Hotline Bling” in rap categories despite insisting his hit was a pop song. He also said, “We’ve been conditioned to think that this is the true award for our accomplishments.”
Later, in 2019, Drake attended the Grammys but turned down an opportunity to perform during the ceremony. That year, he won Best Rap Song for “God’s Plan,” but his microphone was cut off during his acceptance speech.