Drake Voices Disappointment in The Weeknd's 2021 Grammys Snub
“[W]e should stop allowing ourselves to be shocked every year by the disconnect between impactful music and these awards…”
Just like a number of his peers, Drake was not happy about The Weeknd’s 2021 Grammys snub.
The OVO head took to social media to voice his own disappointment in the lack of nominations for After Hours, penning a short yet thoughtful note on how the industry should value the Grammys and awards in general:
“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. It’s like a relative you keep expecting to fix up but they just can’t change their ways. The other day I said @TheWeeknd was a lock for either Album or Song of the Year along with reasonable assumptions and it just never goes that way. This a great time for somebody to start something new that we can build up over time and pass on to the generations to come.”
After failing to secure even a single nomination for what’s widely considered to be one of the best releases of the year, The Weeknd accused the Recording Academy of corruption and called for transparency. Recording Academy interim president and CEO Harvey Mason Jr. responded to the XO head’s statement, “We understand that the Weeknd is disappointed at not being nominated. I was surprised and can empathize with what he’s feeling. His music this year was excellent, and his contributions to the music community and broader world are worthy of everyone’s admiration.”
Mason Jr. continued, “We would have loved to have him also perform on the Grammy stage the weekend before [the Super Bowl]. Unfortunately, every year, there are fewer nominations than the number of deserving artists … To be clear, voting in all categories ended well before The Weeknd’s performance at the Super Bowl was announced, so in no way could it have affected the nomination process. All Grammy nominees are recognized by the voting body for their excellence, and we congratulate them all.”
Drake support Abel on his Instagram stories. pic.twitter.com/SwqajBNdJZ
— The Weeknd News (@NewsWeeknd) November 25, 2020
In related news, check out the list of artists and projects nominated for the 2021 Grammys here.
