Golden award failure stokes controversy over eligibility, but wins over Jay-Z, Kanye West and Lauryn Hill
Drake has withdrawn from the Grammy awards race following confusion over whether he had received enough album nominations to be a nominee for the key album of the year award.
The Toronto rapper, 32, has been nominated twice, for both Scorpion and More Life, for album, record and song of the year. However, by the time that information was sent out the nomination announcement, on Wednesday, the category contained three more slots for which Drake had not yet been nominated.
Play Video 0:48 Drake told to ‘shut up and dance’ after release of More Life – video
It also appeared that two artists previously nominated for this category – the pop star Pink and rap-rock star Post Malone – may have had to share this award instead with Drake, in recognition of the inclusion of songs by collaborators. Drake himself is nominated for five awards, though he remains surprisingly absent from the rap categories.
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Drake told CBS News’s 60 Minutes: “I feel that as a hip-hop artist, I feel that my music should be nominated with, you know, Kendrick Lamar or Big Sean or J Cole or Drake, or Future. These are my homeboys. These are my niggas. They nominated me for two awards and I’m not going to be in those categories,” he said.
“I feel like I deserve in those categories because that’s what my fans want to hear, and that’s what I’ve put out.”
For this and many other reasons, Cardi B won album of the year, with Jay-Z second and Kanye West third.