Rapper Drake has reportedly ruled himself out of the running for the 2018 Grammy Awards after failing to submit his More Life project for consideration.
A source tells The Associated Press the Canadian hip-hop star did not offer up the March (17) release for Recording Academy officials to potentially nominate in the Album of the Year or Best Rap Album categories, while none of the tracks, including the hit singles Fake Love, Passionfruit, and Free Smoke, were entered for awards like Song of the Year, Record of the Year, or Best Rap Song.
Representatives for the star, who has three Grammys to his name to date, have yet to comment on the claims.
Drake will, however, still be eligible for consideration on any songs he featured on between 1 October, 2016, and 30 September, 2017.
The nominations for next year's (18) prestigious ceremony will officially be announced on 28 November (17).
While the reasons for Drake's More Life Grammys' omission are unknown, he isn't the first to hold back an album for consideration.
Last year (16), singer Frank Ocean purposefully declined to submit his releases Endless and Blonde to Recording Academy bosses, explaining he wanted to boycott music's big night to protest the lack of recognition black artists have received in the bigger categories of Album of the Year and Record of the Year since he was born in 1987.
"That institution certainly has nostalgic importance," he told The New York Times in November, 2016. "It just doesn’t seem to be representing very well for people who come from where I come from, and hold down what I hold down.
"I think the infrastructure of the awarding system and the nomination system and screening system is dated."
The 2018 Grammy Awards are set to take place at New York's Madison Square Garden on 28 January (18).