Are the Grammys Off Track Again [SPOILER: Yes]
When it comes to this year’s Grammy Awards, Nick Krewen at The Toronto Star has been wondering about the same things as me.
When the 59th annual Grammy Awards kick off live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles Sunday night, some key players will be missing.
Most notably, the biggest no-show nominee will be Toronto’s own “6 god” Drake, up for eight awards including Album of the Year and Best Rap Album for Views — his local love letter to the city — but preferring instead to busily entertain his Manchester, U.K., fans that night with his Boy Meets World Tour.
Coincidentally, Drake’s tour features Toronto’s dvsn as one of its opening acts, taking another multiple nominee out of the equation: duo member Anthony Paul Jefferies, a.k.a. Nineteen85, who is up for five awards including Producer of the Year and Best Rap Song as co-author of “Hotline Bling.”
Another eight-time nominee, Kanye West, still recovering from his meltdown and a pre-inauguration visit to U.S. President Donald Trump, isn’t expected to be at the Grammys either, although he threatened as much when he told Oakland concertgoers in October he’d boycott the show if Frank Ocean’s Blonde wasn’t nominated.
