Drake has pulled out of his bid for the prestigious Grammy Awards this year, citing fatigue.
The rapper said he’s giving up the chance to show off his award-winning music to the “most influential people in music and the biggest music influencers in the world.” He noted that the show is taking place on the same day as “his Canadian tour.”
“Due to the brutal grind of my career and exhaustion of over 50 shows this fall (which doesn’t even begin to factor in the rigors of Thanksgiving and Christmas on the road), I am unable to support The GRAMMY’s,” he wrote in a message to fans. “I love The GRAMMY’s and I am honored to have been a part of this year’s show. I can’t thank them enough. More importantly I am extremely thankful for the acknowledgment from the community this year.”
Drake, 28, is in an unusually lengthy streak of back-to-back album releases. “Views” was the top-selling album of 2016, and “More Life” was No. 1 on the Billboard 200. He scored six Grammys in 2014, earning best rap performance and best urban contemporary album, and has been nominated again this year for album of the year, rap performance, rap song, rap album, song written for visual media and best rap/sung performance.
Drake has also recently achieved critical success with his star turn as Oscar Wilde in “Wilde Salomé.” According to the Hollywood Reporter, he also performed at a Bellagio casino-hotel ballroom’s jazz summit in Las Vegas and also inspired the King Krule song “Unravel” that he performed at the show.
Drake’s latest is the first album by an artist this year that doesn’t include a featured artist. And, like last year, last month’s Sia cover album, “Melodrama,” isn’t eligible for the Grammy Awards this year.
Rapper A Tribe Called Quest, meanwhile, won the latest NAACP Image Award for the most outstanding album of the year, for “We Got It From Here… Thank You 4 Your Service,” the first album of new Tribe members Q-Tip and Jarobi White after the death of Phife Dawg.
Winners are selected by the Television Academy’s Board of Governors.