Canadian rapper Drake asked for his two Grammy nominations to be withdrawn and the Recording Academy has honored his request, media reports say.
The rapper, 35, got two Grammy nominations last month in the rap category, best rap album for “Certified Lover Boy” and best rap performance for his song “Way 2 Sexy.”
According to media reports, the decision was made at the request of Drake and his management.
A source at the Recording Academy has told Newsbeat that the Academy chose to honour his wish.
Drake is also currently facing multiple lawsuits over a rap concert in Houston, Texas in November where 10 fans were killed by a lethal crowd surge.
On the official Grammy’s website, it states the two nominations have been removed, with no replacement entries, meaning voting for those two categories will go ahead with just four nominees.
Drake, one of the world’s top-selling and most influential musicians, has won four wards. But has had a tough and contentious relationship with the Grammys.
Last year, he criticized the Grammys for entirely shutting out fellow Canadian The Weeknd from its nominations list. In 2019, Drake declined to perform at the ceremony then criticized the awards show from the stage.
“I wanna let you know we’re playing in an opinion-based sport not a factual-based sport,” he said while accepting the Grammy for his single “God’s Plan.”
“This is a business where sometimes it’s up to a bunch of people who might not understand what a mixed race kid from Canada has to say or a fly Spanish girl from New York or anybody else,” Drake added.
In the wake of years of accusations of insider deals and self-interest, Recording Academy just weeks after the 2021 awards, announced that it was eliminating the “secret” nomination-review committees that for decades had curated the final list of nominees.
The Next awards which is the 64th Grammy Awards ceremony will take place in Los Angeles on January 31, 2022 and winners will be announced.
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