We knew Drake had to feel some type of way when he only received two Grammy nominations for his groundbreaking 2021 album Certified Lover Boy. Let’s put it all on the table. The stars were lined up for the Canadian native. His album had one of the most buzz-worthy releases of the year, and his first-week sales were impressive (613,000) considering the current state of the music industry.
But, just as the Universe tends to do, the scales were balanced when Mr. Aubrey Graham was named in several lawsuits seeking retribution and compensation for victims of the Astroworld Festival tragedy that took place in Houston on Nov. 5. His music peer, Travis Scott, is actively fighting back against the allegations of neglect by requesting that the courts dismiss the nearly 300 claims against him.
Topping the adversity of a disastrous fallout, Drake appeared to cautiously call a truce with music nemesis Kanye West after a years long back-and-forth banter that became personal. The sudden change of heart didn’t make sense as his innocent son was caught up in the crossfire, but who knows what the real motive was behind the quick resolve between the two strong-headed men?
That, added to a disappointing Grammy nomination announcement that saw Kanye receive four nominations, while Drake only nabbed two — all for rap categories — seem to be significant motivations for his nominations being withdrawn altogether.
How is Drake one of the top-selling and most-streamed artists with so much popularity only nominated for two categories at the Grammys? How is Drake implicated as one of the root causes of a tragedy when he just so happened to be performing on a music festival stage that he was invited to and had nothing to do with logistics, operations, or security decisions?
Any fan of Drake knows that he’s irritated by some of the Grammys decisions. He once ranted about how the institution seemed to dismiss his massive impact in other genres of music, and only acknowledged (when they wanted to) his rap songs. Yet, “Hold On, We’re Coming Home,” “Hotline Bling,” “Controlla,” and “Take Care” are all great examples of Drake’s genre versatility. He voiced his frustration in 2020 on an Instagram Story post.
“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,” Drake said. “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.”
It’s a sad bump in the road for the artist that has been consistent for over a decade. However, he’s made it through the PR snags brought to us via Meek Mill, Jhonny Blaze, Quentin Miller, Pusha T, and the fall of the Cash Money/Young Money empire. No telling what other countless personal battles he’s had to endure, but hopefully they have all equipped him with the ability to emerge from the current that’s attempting to drown him.
