Drake accepted his Grammy Award for Best Rap Song by essentially telling the audience at home that awards do not matter, particularly in an opinion-based industry. The speech went on long, and the CBS broadcast appeared to cut him off, which set Twitter on fire.
After mentioning that he definitely did not think he would win the award for “God’s Plan,” Drake said he wanted to take a moment to talk directly to the kids who want to become musicians and his peers.
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“I want to let you know we play an opinion based sport, not a factual based sport,” Drake said. “It’s not the NBA where, at the end of the year, you’re holding a trophy because you made the right decisions to win the games. This is a business where sometimes, you know, it’s up to a bunch of people who might not understand what a mixed-race kid from Canada has to say or a fly Spanish girl from New York or anybody else or a brother from Houston… my brother Travis [Scott].”
Drake continued, “Look, the point is, you already won if you have people singing your songs word for word, if you’re a hero in your hometown. Look, if there’s people with regular jobs who are coming out in the rain and the snow to spend hard-earned money go to to your shows, you don’t need this right here. I promise you, you’re already winning.”
Since Best Rap Song honors the writers, not the performers, Drake was about to introduce his collaborators — Daveon Jackson, Brock Korsan, Ron LaTour, Matthew Samuels and Noah Shebib — but was cut-off. CBS went to commercial before Drake could finish his next words.
Drake was also nominated in the Best Rap Song category as a co-writer on Travis Scott’s hit “Sicko Mode.” The other nominees were Kendrick Lamar, Jay Rock, Future and James Blake’s “King’s Dead”; Rock’s “Win”; and Eminem and Joyner Lucas’ “Lucky You.”
Fans at home were quick to notice the cut-off.
How are you going to cut @Drake off at the #Grammys2019 pic.twitter.com/dcsHgLYlQz
— Megs (@Megs_is_here) February 11, 2019
They cut off @Drake‘s speech at the #grammys2019 for being real ? That’s some shady shit…
— James Luck (@realJamesLuck) February 11, 2019
So y’all gon cut Drake off cuz he said he don’t need ya stinkin trophy?! #Grammys2019 pic.twitter.com/svSFQiYoJt
— Blackniss Everdeen (@AdoraHasSpoken) February 11, 2019
@Drake is 100% right with his acceptance speech… even with being cut-off.#GRAMMYs #Grammys2019
— Matt McConico (@themcconicowire) February 11, 2019
“God’s Plan” was also nominated for Record of the Year and Song of the Year, and Drake’s Scorpion was nominated for Album of the Year. “Nice for What” was nominated for Best Rap Performance.
Photo credit: ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images
