This year’s Grammys could be about to hit a snag, as a handful of major artists are reportedly boycotting the awards ceremony, for being “out of touch”.
According to TMZ, Justin Bieber, Frank Ocean, Kanye West and Drake are among the acts who’ve decided not to attend the bash, as they don’t consider it to be “relevant or representative”.
It all started towards the end of last year, when it was revealed that Frank Ocean - who was snubbed for Record Of The Year and Album Of The Year in 2013 - hadn’t even submitted his latest release for consideration at the Grammys.
He told the New York Times at the time: “That institution certainly has nostalgic importance. It just doesn’t seem to be representing very well for people who come from where I come from, and hold down what I hold down.”
Frank also pointed out that he didn’t feel the music ceremony didn’t fairly award black artists, which Kanye West had similar problems with in 2015, when he suggested that Beck should have given his award to Beyoncé.
Since then, Kanye has claimed he wouldn’t be attending the Grammys unless his latest album, ‘The Life Of Pablo’, won Album Of The Year, later suggesting the voting system was “out of touch”.
Meanwhile, TMZ has claimed that Drake won’t be in attendance as he doesn’t feel the awards bash is worth disturbing his European tour, while Justin reportedly feels “younger singers” are also overlooked.
Drake and The Biebs have both received nods in the coveted Album Of The Year category, along with Adele’s ‘25’, Beyoncé’s ‘Lemonade’ and Sturgill Simpson’s ‘A Sailor’s Guide To Earth’.
This year’s Grammys, hosted by James Corden, will be held in LA on 12 February, with Adele, Bruno Mars and Metallica among the confirmed performers so far.