Drake is keeping three hit albums out of the Grammy race as his long feud with the Recording Academy rolls on. The artist has officially decided to forgo Grammy entries for his latest major releases, continuing a pattern of protest against how the institution classifies his work.
The three projects swept the Billboard 200’s top spots upon release, with Iceman leading the pack ahead of Habibti and Maid of Honour. On Iceman‘s closing track “Make Them Know,” Drake makes his stance clear: “This album, I’m never submittin’ it.”
A History of Grammy Friction
His public clash with the Grammys dates back to 2017, when “Hotline Bling” won Best Rap Song and Best Rap/Sung Performance. The wins angered the artist because he viewed “Hotline Bling” as a pop song and maintained that he did not rap on the track. He questioned whether the Academy kept placing him in rap categories because of his race or his established career as a rapper. For him, those trophies failed to honor the evolution of his artistry and boxed him into a genre he had long sought to transcend.
“I won two awards, but I don’t even want them because it just feels weird for some reason,” he previously told OVO Sound Radio. He also expressed resentment over the lack of nominations for “One Dance,” which he viewed as definitive proof of his success as a pop artist.
Continued Defiance and Industry Impact
The artist skipped submitting More Life for the 2018 awards and used his 2019 Best Rap Song win for “God’s Plan” to challenge the prestige of the ceremony. “We play in an opinion-based sport, not a factual-based sport,” he stated during his acceptance speech. “You’re already winning, you don’t need this right here.”
In 2020, he challenged the awards again after The Weeknd received no nominations, urging the music industry to consider building a new prize. He subsequently withdrew two nominations for the 2022 ceremony: Best Rap Album for Certified Lover Boy and Best Rap Performance for “Way 2 Sexy.” That track featured Future and Young Thug, while his later joint album Her Loss with 21 Savage did compete at the 2024 awards.
The Academy will announce its next Grammy nominees on November 16 ahead of the awards ceremony on February 7, 2027.
