Kanye West says he’ll boycott the Grammys unless they bend one big rule

THE hot-headed rapper says he’ll be boycotting the Grammy Awards in February if they don’t bend one of their most important rules.

Kanye will boycott the Grammys if they don’t give nods to Frank Ocean. Picture: Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP

KANYE West says he’ll boycott the 2017 Grammy Awards if the organisers don’t bend the rules and include his pal Frank Ocean’s latest album for nomination.

West has been vocal in his support for Ocean’s long-awaited album Blond, released in August four long years after his breakthrough, Channel Orange.

The critically acclaimed work was released before the September 30 deadline for nomination at the 2017 Grammys, but it appears it won’t be nominated for any gongs. Why? Because it wasn’t submitted for consideration by Ocean’s label or management.

MTV reports that it’s unclear whether the oversight was intentional or not, but either way, it seems Ocean’s team is at fault.

Seems Frank Ocean won’t be clutching an award at next year’s Grammys. Picture: AFP/Ben Stansall

But at the Oakland stop on his Saint Pablo Tour, during one of his trademark rambling monologues, Ocean’s friend and collaborator West insisted that the Grammys should bend the rules, citing previous nominee Lady Gaga as an example.

“[Gaga] wasn’t nominated for Best New Artist, right? But they wanted her to perform at the show; they wanted her to open. So the Grammys secretly changed something about the nominations in order to nominate her, in order for her to perform in the show,” he said.

If Kanye West threatens to boycott an awards show, can it really be considered a threat?

“Now, Frank Ocean, on the other hand, is very vocal that his album wasn’t nominated for the Grammys, right? Since he’s vocal, no one wants to say nothing about it. No one wants to do nothing about it. And I’m saying this to y’all, because a lot of people try to make a scene, like, ‘I’m so self-centred’. But the album I listened to the most this year is Frank Ocean’s album,” West continued, before delivering his ultimatum:

“And I’ll tell you this right now: If his album’s not nominated in no categories, I’m not showing up to the Grammys.”

Given his past form at awards shows — from snatching other people’s awards to eating up stage time with long, grandiose monologues — they might just take him up on that threat.

Expect to see Blond on many best-of-2016 lists.

Originally published as Kanye West says he’ll boycott the Grammys unless they bend one big rule