Few have ever accused Kanye West of being predictable. From his Twitter rants, to his musical detours, to his fashion shows, to his political leanings, Yeezy does like to subvert expectations. Still, we're going to attempt to study his past behavior for clues to answer one small question: Will Kanye West and Kim Kardashian be at the 2019 Grammy Awards on Sunday night?
Signs point to "no" in our Magic 8 Ball, and not just because the pair will be too busy at Sunday Service.
West has only one Grammy nomination this year — for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical — marking a significant snub for his album ye. Some have speculated that his outspoken support of Donald Trump and offensive comments about slavery in 2018 led Grammy voters to cancel him just like many fans have. That's reason enough for him to stay home, even if Kardashian was really hoping for a fancy red carpet date night.
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT
But if he had been up for more awards, we wouldn't necessarily be betting on West to attend. He skipped the show when he was one of the most-nominated artists in other years, including 2010, 2012, 2013, 2016, and 2017.
His reasons for skipping varied slightly from year to year. In 2010, Ye was still persona non grata for the way he interrupted Taylor Swift at the 2009 VMAs, so he probably didn't feel all that into attending. It's kind of a pity, considering the fact that just a year before, he was part of one of the best rap performances in Grammy history, "Swagga Like Us," featuring him, T.I., Lil Wayne, and Jay-Z, along with a very pregnant M.I.A. gorgeously bouncing around the stage. (Watch that here, until it's taken down along with all the other videos of that moment.)
In 2011 and 2012, two of his most critically adored albums, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and Watch the Throne (with Jay-Z), had plenty of nods. But he must have felt the sting from being snubbed for Album or Song of the Year.
"But I figured out though, that’s my fault for dropping Watch the Throne and Dark Fantasy the same year. I should have just spaced it out a little bit more," West said during a concert in Chicago in December 2011. Needless to say, he did not attend those years either.
In 2013, West told a crowd in London how much he hated the business side of music, and seemed to dismiss the awards altogether, saying, "Remind me again why the Grammys couldn't suck my dick."
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT
Two years later, however, Yeezus deigned to perform "Only One" at the 2015 show. He then shocked the crowd by stepping onto the stage as Beck was about to accept Album of the Year. He was mocking his 2009 VMA moment, getting a big laugh from the audience, but it was still kind of rude.
And that was the last time he was on the Grammy stage. In 2016 he ranted again about the Grammys' irrelevance in a tweetstorm, calling the system "way off and completely out of touch." (He wasn't wrong.) Swift took a jab at him the next year, as part of their feud over "Famous."
While he again had a nice chunk of nominations in 2017, there was more than one reason for him to avoid the stage that year. He had already threatened a boycott over the fact that Frank Ocean's Blonde wouldn't be eligible for nominations. Also, late 2016 was when West went to the hospital for "exhaustion." By the time the show rolled around, though, mother-in-law Kris Jenner said he was actually too busy preparing for Fashion Week to attend.
That meant absolutely no one was surprised that West was a no-show in 2018, and we wouldn't bat an eyelash at him doing the same now. Still, wouldn't it be just like Kanye to make one more left turn and walk up there one more time, announcing that he really does want to run for president in 2020?
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT