Cyrus Langhorne
Grammy-winning rapper Kanye West‘s not playing any games. The hip-hop superstar has publicly announced his intent to boycott the Grammy Awards ceremony if pal Frank Ocean does not receive a nomination.
Footage has surfaced of Yeezy ripping the annual showcase over them possibly not nominating Ocean for his highly-acclaimed Blonde album.
“Wait, wait, hold up while I speak on my brother for a second. My brother Frank Ocean. So, you know they didn’t put his album in the Grammy nomination, right? So, I don’t know if any of y’all remember but I was supposed to go on a tour with [Lady] Gaga about six, seven years ago – it was something where she was nominated. She wasn’t nominated for ‘Best Artist’ but they wanted her to open so the Grammys secretly changed something about the nominations in order to nominate her for her to perform at the show. Now, Frank Ocean on the other hand, is very vocal and his album wasn’t nominated for a Grammy. And since it’s vocal, nobody wants to say nothing about, no one wants to do nothing about and I’m saying this to y’all because a lot of people try to make it as if I’m self-centered. The album I listen to the most this year is Frank Ocean’s album. And I’ll tell you what, I’ll tell you this right now. If his album’s not nominated in no categories, I’m not showing up to the Grammys. As artists, we have to come together to fight the bullsh*t they’ve been doing to us for years. All we need is a fair shot.”
Buzz recently developed about Ocean not submitting his Blonde album in for Grammys consideration.
Why didn’t Frank Ocean submit his albums Endless and Blonde for Grammy consideration? Perhaps, as SPIN’s Brian Josephs argued, it’s because the Grammys always get it wrong, and Ocean isn’t the kind of guy to humble himself in front of a Recording Academy that picked 1989 over To Pimp a Butterfly. (SPIN)
Earlier this month, Ocean’s longtime pal Tyler, the Creator spoke on Blonde’s greatness.
“I liked it a lot. Like, it’s my favorite thing from him. It’s weird because I’m friends with him and this album made me so, so, so much of a fanboy. It’s crazy because I was with him when it came out, like that week or whatever, and I kept complimenting him on certain songs, certain little things that I liked in different songs. And I low-key think he started getting annoyed cause I just kept badgering him about how much I liked the album. But I really, really f*cking like it. And I’m really hyped for him and he’s hyped and shit’s great.” (GQ)
Last month, Ocean’s album arrived on Spotify following an initial Apple Music exclusive release.
Frank Ocean’s Blonde made waves when it was released last month as an Apple Music exclusive. Now it’s available for streaming on Spotify. Ocean’s Blonde release was the latest in the new trend of artist exclusives to a single streaming service. While industry leader Spotify has stayed out of the fray, Apple Music and Tidal have become heavily competitive in staking their claim. Interestingly, Blonde is still not available on Tidal. (Billboard)
Fuck the shammys