The Grammys just lost their two biggest rap draws in the same week.
Drake and J. Cole have both reportedly declined to submit their eligible 2026 solo releases for the 2027 Grammy Awards. Drake withheld three projects — ICEMAN, HABIBTI, and MAID OF HONOUR — extending a standoff with the Recording Academy that started back in 2021. This is the man who stood on that stage in 2019, accepting Best Rap Song for "God's Plan," and told the room their awards don't define the culture. He's been consistent ever since.
Cole's move cuts just as deep. He reportedly pulled The Fall-Off — his seventh studio album, which dropped in February and debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 — from consideration without explanation. "F*ck them lil sympathy GRAMMYs," he once rapped. Apparently he meant it. His collaborator album with PARTYNEXTDOOR, $ome $exy $ongs 4 U, reportedly got submitted through collaborators — but his solo work stays home.
The DAOS take: when the two most commercially bulletproof rappers alive decide the trophy doesn't matter, the trophy is the one that lost. The culture measures itself now. The Academy's just renting the building.
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Sources: The Source
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