Kanye West Vows to Boycott Grammys Because of Frank Ocean Oversight
— -- Kanye West said he's boycotting the Grammy Awards next year because Frank Ocean's latest projects, "Blonde" and "Endless," are not eligible for consideration this year.
Ocean's label, for reasons not made clear, missed the Sept. 30 deadline to submit Ocean's albums for consideration, according to Billboard.
West, 39, sounded off about the perceived snub during his Saturday "Saint Pablo Tour" stop in Oakland, California.
Fan-recorded video of his show captured West coming to Ocean's defense.
“The album I listen to the most this year is Frank Ocean’s album,” West declared. “If his album is not nominated in no categories, I’m not coming to the Grammys. As artists we gotta come together to fight the bull---.”
West claimed that the Recording Academy has previously made some exceptions for artists, such as Lady Gaga in 2010.
"[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.
"Now, Frank Ocean, on the other hand, is very vocal that his album wasn’t nominated for the Grammys, right?" West continued. "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-centered.’"
The Grammy nominees will be revealed Dec. 8.
Previously, Ocean's debut album "Channel Orange" was nominated for six Grammy Awards in 2013. He went on to win two.
