Drake has taken another shot at the Grammys, this time at the Black Music Collective dinner, where Lil Wayne was honored for his achievements earlier this week.
Taking place on Thursday (February 2), the dinner celebrated Weezy, Dr. Dre and Missy Elliott who were all awarded the Global Impact Award. Drizzy wasn’t in attendance, but he did submit a pre-recorded video that praised his “brother” Lil Wayne, while sneaking in a couple of disses aimed at the Recording Academy.
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“Good evening, Grammys. Well, I haven’t gotten to say that since 2016. My name is Drake and I’m here tonight on behalf of the Black Music Collective,” Drake said as he took off his glasses and winked at the camera.
He continued his video by stating he was presenting the Global Impact Award to pop star Ed Sheeran before someone off-camera whispered in his ear that the honor went to Lil Wayne.
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It was an obvious dig on the Grammys fumbling award winners over the years, with the most memorable happening when Macklemore beat JAY-Z, Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar and Drake himself for Best Rap Album at the 2014 ceremony.
“Lil Wayne, oh right, makes sense, yeah, sorry Lil Wayne, my brother, that’s a lot better … I love you so much,” Drake said. “I know I probably get annoying with saying how much you mean to me and my family, but I think I speak on behalf of everybody when I say that our careers, our cadences, our melodies, maybe our face tats or our outfits or our decisions in general would not have been the same without your natural gift to just be yourself.”
Drake’s beef with the Grammys is a storied one. He withdrew his nominations for Certified Lover Boy at the 2022 ceremony, and at the show in 2019, Drizzy gave a memorable speech that was cut off after “God’s Plan” took home the award for Best Rap Song.
According to Drake, the golden gramophone holds no real value in the real world, and fan support is the only thing that matters.
“We play an opinion-based sport, not a factual-based sport,” he explained. “You already won if you have people singing your songs word for word if they’re singing in your hometown. You’re already winning, you don’t need this right here.”
Drake also went after the Recording Academy when The Weeknd was shut out from nominations in 2020 following the release of his After Hours album.
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“I think we should stop allowing ourselves to be shocked every year by the disconnect between impactful music and these awards and just accept that what once was the highest form of recognition may no longer matter to the artist that exists now and the ones that come after,” the OVO boss penned.
“It’s like a relative you keep expecting to fix up but they just won’t change their ways. The other day I said @theweeknd was a lock for either album or song of the year along with countless other reasonable assumptions and it just never goes that way. This is a great time for somebody to start something new that we can build up over time and pass on to the generations to come.”
