The 2027 Grammys have been scheduled for 7 February next year, but we already know that there will be some notable absentees from the glittering ceremony.
Drake has confirmed in the last day or so that he is not submitting any music for the awards. The rapper released three albums this year – Iceman, Habibti and Maid Of Honour – but none of their tracks will be up for a gong. Drake himself hasn’t offered an official explanation why as yet.
There is much speculation that this time he’s snubbing the Grammys due to lingering resentment at the fact that in 2025 they awarded Kendrick Lamar five statuettes for Not Like Us, the diss track against him. Whatever the reason, he had already signposted his decision earlier in the year on Make Them Know, the final track on Iceman on which he raps: “This album, I’m never submittin’ it.”
It’s not the first time Drake has given the awards ceremony a swerve. Way back before beef with Lamar blew up, the Canadian rapper declined to submit 2018’s More Life and withdrew the submission of Certified Lover Boy in 2022 and Honestly, Nevermind in 2023.
He joins BTS as prominent refuseniks for the 2027 awards. As we know, back in July the K-pop megastars withdrew in protest at the institution of a new ‘Asian pop’ category. The group took umbrage, saying: “We decided not to participate in the Grammys this year” and adding that they “hope that music can be heard and loved by itself rather than being divided by region or language.”
Despite the controversy, it’s recently been confirmed by Grammys CEO Harvey Mason Jr that the Asian Pop category will stay, at least for 2027. But the awards suffered another blow with the news in the last week that BTS’s compatriots Stray Kids have also refused to submit any music for next year’s ceremony. The group have issued a simple statement via their record label JYP that says: "Stray Kids did not submit for the Grammys." This is despite their EP This & That being within the eligibility window that runs from August 2025 to August this year.
Who will be left to fill the nominations for the beleaguered category? We’ll no doubt find out in due course...
