Drake supports the Weeknd in criticism of the Grammy Awards

(CNN) – Add Drake to the list of people I’m not happy that The Weeknd was left out of this year’s Grammy nominations.

The Canadian rapper took to social media to complain about the Academy.

“I think we should stop being struck each year by the disconnect between shocking music and these awards and simply accept that what was once the highest form of recognition may no longer matter to the artists who exist now and those to come. later, “Drake wrote on his Instagram stories.” It’s like a relative you keep waiting to fix, but you can’t change their ways. “

Despite the commercial and critical success of The Weeknd’s album “After Hours” and its single “Blinding Lights” was considered by many industry observers as one of the favorite songs of the year, this year it did not receive a nomination. at the Grammys.

Drake wrote that he too had thought The Weeknd “was a lock for [la nominación de] album or song of the year along with countless other reasonable assumptions and it will never be that way.

“This is a great time for someone to start something new that we can build over time and pass on to generations to come,” Drake said.

The Weeknd criticizes the Grammy

After the 2021 Grammy nominations were announced Tuesday, The Weeknd slammed the Academy on Twitter.

The Grammys are still corrupt. They owe transparency to me, my fans and the industry, “he wrote.

The Grammys remain corrupt. You owe it to me, my fans and the transparency of the industry …

– The Weeknd (@theweeknd) November 25, 2020

Harvey Mason Jr., President of the Recording Academy and Acting President and CEO, said in a statement to CNN, “We know The Weeknd is disappointed that he hasn’t been named.”

“I was surprised and can empathize with what he is feeling. His music this year has been excellent and his contributions to the music community and the world at large are worthy of everyone’s admiration, “the statement continued.

“We were thrilled when we found out he was going to perform at the next Super Bowl and we would have liked him to perform on the Grammy stage the weekend before. Unfortunately, every year, there are fewer nominations than the number of artists who deserve it.

For years, the Recording Academy has been criticized for not keeping up with consumer preferences and not recognizing women of color and artists alike.

Nicki Minaj seemed to echo this last point when she tweeted after the nominations: “Never forget that the Grammys didn’t give me my best award as a new artist when I had 7 songs at once on the Billboard chart and had a first week. bigger than any rapper in the last decade, inspiring a generation, gave it to the white man Bon Iver.

Singer Teyana Taylor tweeted that there were no women nominated for best R&B album.

Justin Bieber, who racked up nominations in both pop and country categories, complained that he would have to compete for R&B awards.

“For the Grammys: I am flattered to be recognized and appreciated for my art,” he wrote in a statement posted on his verified Instagram account. “I am very meticulous and intentional with my music. That said, I decided to do an R&B album. Changes was, and is, an R&B album. It wasn’t recognized as an R&B album, which is very strange to me. ”