Kanye West won't be attending the 2017 Grammys this year, but not for the reason you'd think. Recent events have led to speculation around the musician's health and marital status — allegedly, West spent a week at the UCLA Medical Centre due to sleep deprivation and exhaustion. But the "Famous" singer wouldn't attend the Grammys even if he were healthy.
Back in October, West stated that he planned on boycotting the ceremony if Frank Ocean was not nominated. According to Elite Daily, he expressed this in an onstage rant.
"But the album I listened to the most this year is Frank Ocean’s album. And I will tell you this right now: If his album’s not nominated in no categories, I’m not showing up to the Grammys," he said.
And, lo and behold: Frank Ocean wasn't nominated for any Grammys. The nominations were released this morning, and the enigmatic R&B singer is nary among them. But it isn't as simple as "the Academy snubbed Frank Ocean and his new album Blonde."
Frank Ocean isn't nominated for a Grammy — but not for the reason you'd think. Frank Ocean himself told The New York Times that, in fact, he doesn't care to be nominated. The musician did not submit his work on purpose this year.
"[The Academy] just doesn’t seem to be representing very well for people who come from where I come from, and hold down what I hold down," Ocean said at the time. He is effectively boycotting almost for the same reason Kanye West would be boycotting.
He added, "I’d rather this be my Colin Kaepernick moment for the Grammys than sit there in the audience."
Both West and Ocean seem to be making the same point: the Grammys fail to represent Black artists. Maybe their lines are a bit crossed — West is mad that Ocean didn't get nominated; Ocean purposefully didn't get nominated — but the two musicians share a goal.
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