--- title: Frank Ocean Says Grammy Snub is his Colin Kaepernick Moment description: The Blonde artist is taking a knee in the music industry canonical: https://time.com/4573029/frank-ocean-on-grammys/ author: Melissa Locker article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-11-16T16:01:56.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:38:43.201Z og:title: Frank Ocean Says Grammy Snub is his Colin Kaepernick Moment og:description: The Blonde artist is taking a knee in the music industry og:url: https://time.com/4573029/frank-ocean-on-grammys/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Frank Ocean Says Grammy Snub is his Colin Kaepernick Moment twitter:description: The Blonde artist is taking a knee in the music industry twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Frank Ocean Says Snubbing the Grammys Is His 'Colin Kaepernick Moment' by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Nov 16, 2016 4:01 PM UTC by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Nov 16, 2016 4:01 PM UTC Frank Ocean released two phenomenal [albums](http://time.com/4413818/frank-ocean-next-album-boys-dont-cry/?iid=sr-link1) this year, _Blonde_ and _Endless_, and fans (and [Kanye West](http://www.stereogum.com/1905672/frank-oceans-blonde-endless-ineligible-for-2017-grammys/news/)) were shocked when neither was submitted for consideration for a Grammy Award before the 9/30 deadline. Turns out, it was Ocean’s conscious decision not to participate. In a new—and very rare—interview with [_The New York Times_](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/20/arts/music/frank-ocean-blonde-interview.html?%5Fr=1), Ocean explained that his decision not to submit either [album](http://time.com/4439541/frank-ocean-new-album-boys-dont-cry-info/?iid=sr-link3) was to make a statement against the institution of the Grammy Awards, which he believes is “not representing” all artists equally. He described his refusal to submit his albums for award consideration to be his “[Colin Kaepernick](http://time.com/4469350/colin-kaepernick-national-anthem-protest/?iid=sr-link3) moment,” referencing the San Francisco 49ers quarterback who [takes a knee](http://time.com/4477383/colin-kaepernick-says-he-is-not-ant-american-and-respects-the-military/?iid=sr-link2) during the national anthem as a form of silent protest. Read about how it influenced the country in TIME’s [cover story here](http://time.com/4504023/athletes-america-patriotism/?xid=time%5Fsocialflow%5Ftwitter). Here’s the full quote from the _Times_ about his statement: --- > “” --- \[[NewYorkTimes](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/20/arts/music/frank-ocean-blonde-interview.html?%5Fr=1)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4573029/frank-ocean-on-grammys/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4573029/frank-ocean-on-grammys/"},"headline":"Frank Ocean Says Snubbing the Grammys Is His 'Colin Kaepernick Moment'","datePublished":"2016-11-16T16:01:56.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:38:43.201Z","description":"The Blonde artist is \"taking a knee\" in the music awards industry","url":"https://time.com/4573029/frank-ocean-on-grammys/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Music","grammy awards","Frank Ocean","Colin Kaepernick"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Locker","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4573029/frank-ocean-on-grammys/","name":"Frank Ocean Says Snubbing the Grammys Is His 'Colin Kaepernick Moment'"}}]}] ```