Drake supports The Weeknd amid Grammys snub, says the awards 'may no longer matter'

Drake has come out in support of The Weeknd amid Grammy's nomination row. The rapper posted a message of support for The Weeknd on his Instagram Story recently. This comes a day after The Weeknd tweeted that The Recording Academy is "corrupt" following his stunning absence from the 2021 Grammy nominations that were announced on November 24.

 

"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. "It's like a relative you keep expecting to fix up but they just can't change their ways."

Drake pointed out that he was among many music fans who expected The Weeknd's 2020 album 'After Hours', which featured singles "Heartless" and "Blinding Lights," to be a major awards contender. The album had good recognition by other music awards including the recently concluded American Music Awards 2020.

"The other day I said @theweeknd was a lock for either album or song of the year along with countless other reasonable assumptions and it just never goes that way," the 34-year-old performer continued. "This is a great time for somebody to start something new that we can build up over time and pass on to the generations to come." Drake also tagged a number of other artists who were ignored by the Academy, including Lil Baby, PartyNextDoor, Popcaan and the late Pop Smoke. "too many missing names to even name," Drake added.

The Weeknd and Nicki Minaj were among those who reposted Drake's message on their personal Instagram pages. 

On Tuesday, The Weeknd tweeted, "The Grammys remain corrupt. You owe me, my fans and the industry transparency..."

The Recording Academy interim president and CEO Harvey Mason Jr. released a statement later that day in response to The Weeknd's remarks.

"We understand that The Weeknd is disappointed at not being nominated," Harvey said in the statement. "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."

Harvey also told Variety that he does not believe that the unexpected omission suggests that the voting process is flawed.

Drake has won four Grammys throughout his prolific career, adding three nominations in 2021 to bring his lifetime total to 47.

But he has previously voiced confusion about how the Grammy winners are chosen. In 2014, after Macklemore topped Drake, Kanye West, Jay Z and Kendrick Lamar for Best Rap Album, Drake told Rolling Stone that the most deserving choice doesn't always win.

"This is how the world works: He made a brand of music that appealed to more people than me, Hov, Kanye and Kendrick," Drake said at the time. "Whether people wanna say it's racial, or whether it's just the fact that he tapped into something we can't tap into. That's just how the cards fall."