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Kanye West Says He’s Boycotting the Grammys If Frank Ocean Isn’t Nominated

2 minute read

Kanye West took to the stage during Saturday’s Saint Pablo tour stop in Oakland, Calif., to deliver an impassioned speech about his friend and collaborator, Frank Ocean.

Yeezy went so far as to declare that he would boycott the 2017 Grammy Awards if Ocean didn’t receive nominations for his two recent releases, Blonde and Endless.

West’s ultimatum, however, might be fruitless since a Grammy rep confirmed to Billboard that neither of Ocean’s albums were submitted for consideration, even though both were released before the Sept. 30 eligibility cutoff date. Billboard also reported that the decision not to submit might have even been intentional on the part of Ocean and his team.

Like many of Ocean’s famously ardent and long-suffering fans, however, West wants to make sure that Ocean is getting the recognition he deserves.

“The album I listen to the most this year is Frank Ocean’s album,” he said. “I’ll tell you this right now, if his album is not nominated in no categories, I’m not showing up to the Grammys. As artists, we’ve got to come together to fight the bullshit.”

He later encouraged the head of the Grammys to “come and holla at ‘Ye.”

Watch Kanye’s full speech below.

 

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Write to Cady Lang at cady.lang@timemagazine.com