It’s that time of year again — the annual Grammy Award nominations have been announced ahead of the January 28, 2018 ceremony and several Hip Hop artists earned a nod, including JAY-Z, Kendrick Lamar, Rapsody, Tyler The Creator, Big Sean and Logic. But there were several names noticeably absent from the list and Twitter wasted no time pointing out the snubs.
While Drake and Frank Ocean opted not to submit their recent projects for consideration, (More Life and Blonde, respectively), a few who did are feeling the cold shoulder from the Recording Academy.
Recordings released between October 1, 2016 and September 30, 2017 were eligible for nominations. The Recording Academy received more than 22,000 submissions.
Future, A Tribe Called Quest, Vince Staples, Joey Bada$$, Sampha and The Weeknd were among the handful of deserving artists who got snubbed.
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Future
Some fans are losing their minds that Future’s chart-topping single “Mask Off” wasn’t nominated. In fact, they’re “deadass sick and fucking tired” of Future not getting any Grammy nominations despite dropping two back-to-back #1 projects in February — his self-titled album and HNDRXX.
A Tribe Called Quest
Q-Tip, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Consequence, Jarobi and the late Phife Dawg dropped one of the most dynamic Hip Hop albums of the year, We got it from Here … Thank You 4 Your service, in November, but the 16-track project failed to yield any Grammy nominations this year.
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Tip posted a since-deleted tweet that summed up exactly how he felt. “Fuck da grammys!!!,” he wrote.
Hip Hop purists are understandably shocked as well.
Vince Staples
Long Beach rapper Vince Staples delivered his brilliant experimental Hip Hop album, Big Fish Theory, in June and even tweeted that he thought it deserved a Grammy for Best Electronic Album. But the project was completely left off the list for consideration. Staples made his stance abundantly clear following the announcements.
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Joey Bada$$
Brooklyn-based MC Joey Bada$$ dropped All-Amerikkkan Bada$$ in April, one of his most politically-charged efforts to date. Fans were disappointed the project didn’t earn a nod for Best Rap Album, while (seemingly) less deserving artists like Cardi B got nominated.
Sampha
Sampha delivered his debut album Processin February, which showcased why artists like Kanye West and Drake go to him for collaborations. Again, the British-born talent was left off the list for consideration this year. This omission got some of his fans accusing the Grammys of being “known racists.”
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The Weeknd
The Weeknd, who released his R&B magnum opus Starboy in November 2016, only grabbed one nomination for Best Urban Contemporary Album, infuriating some of his fans.
Beyoncé
Last but not least, there’s always that one person that will be upset Queen Bey didn’t collect any nominations, even if she didn’t release an official album (or anything at all). To be fair, her husband’s 4:44 song, “Family Feud” featuring Beyoncé is nominated for Best Rap/Sung Performance, so there’s that.
