Two weeks ago, the 56th Annual Grammy Awards took place and music or fashion lovers all around had their eye transfixed on the screen for three straight hours. Probably one of the biggest storylines for this year’s ceremony, was the possibility of Macklemore taking home the “Hip Hop Album of the Year” award, which many thought belonged to Kendrick Lamar. Even the Seattle emcee believed that the Compton lyricist deserved to take home the metal, but predicted that he would ultimately take home the award. When his premonition was confirmed, it sparked about two weeks worth of thought pieces about the apparent ignorance of those who vote, the ceremony’s racist undertones, the Grammys’ lack of worth in today’s internet culture, and numerous fluff pieces meant to comfort Kendrick after his lost; none more high profile than Macklemore’s very apologetic and very public text to his fellow emcee.
My text to Kendrick after the show. He deserved best rap album… I’m honored and completely blown away to win anything much less 4 Grammys. But in that category, he should have won IMO. And that’s taking nothing away from The Heist. Just giving GKMC it’s proper respect.. With that being said, thank you to the fans. You’re the reason we were on that stage tonight. And to play Same Love on that platform was a career highlight. The greatest honor of all. That’s what this is about. Progress and art. Thank you. #grammys
Of course fans eagerly pounced on these words, eating them up and using them to justify their love for the socially conscious rapper. However, not everyone in the industry was blown away by this selfless act; instead of joy, they felt the publicity of the entire ordeal made it less authentic and genuine than how it was portrayed. One of these critics has finally come forward in a recent interview with RollingStone. Drake has some serious criticism for the “Thrift Shop” rapper, choosing to finally confront them and vocalize his true feelings about it: ”that sh** was wack as f**k.”
“I was like, ‘You won. Why are you posting your text message? Just chill. Take your W, and if you feel you didn’t deserve it, go get better — make better music. ”It felt cheap. It didn’t feel genuine. Why do that? Why feel guilt? You think those guys would pay homage to you if they won?”
Drake went on to talk about the fact that he was confused that only Kendrick got a text.”To name just Kendrick? That shit made me feel funny. No, in that case, you robbed everybody. We all need text messages!”
Do you agree with Drake? Was this whole thing a phony PR move or was Macklemore really concerned about the fact that Kendrick lost? We might never know the real answer, but sound off in the comments and tell us what you think.
Jimi (@Nativejimi)
