Drake has questioned the relevance of the Grammys in an Instagram story today (November 26), as the recent 2021 nominations continue to draw criticism from the industry.

Upon the announcement on November 24, the 2021 Grammy Award nominations presented some significant contenders alongside some arguably notable absences.

The likes of Billie Eilish, Taylor Swift, Beyoncé and Dua Lipa lead with the most nods, while in a highly publicised first, the nominees in the Best Rock Performance category are all female artists.

Yesterday (November 25), The Weeknd – a three-time recipient of a Grammy award – took to Twitter to share his disdain on not receiving a single nomination for his work on his latest album ‘After Hours’, saying that the organisation “remain corrupt” and that they “owe me, my fans and the industry transparency”.

In his post today, Drake said he thinks “we should stop allowing ourselves to be shocked every year by the disconnect between impactful music and these awards”.

He continued, “The other day I said The Weeknd was a lock for either album or song of the year along with countless other reasonable assumptions and it just never goes that way.”

Drake then tagged other artists overlooked for a nomination, including Lil Baby, Pop Smoke and Popcaan, adding, “too many missing names to even name.”

Nicki Minaj then reposted Drake’s statement to her own Instagram story.

Minaj had recently taken aim at the Grammys herself, remembering her own loss in 2012. “Never forget the Grammys didn’t give me my best new artist award when I had 7 songs simultaneously charting on billboard & bigger first week than any female rapper in the last decade,” she said.

Read Drake’s statement in full below:

Other artists have weighed in on the choices for next year’s ceremony.

Sir Elton John offered support for The Weeknd’s after his nomination snub, taking to Instagram to post the official artwork for The Weeknd’s smash single ‘Blinding Lights’ with a caption that expressed how he believes the song should be crowned Song of the Year and Record of the Year.

50 Cent has said the 2021 Grammy nominations are “out of touch”, as Teyana Taylor hit out at Grammy bosses for failing to include any female artists in the Best R&B Album category.

Elsewhere, Justin Bieber voiced his disappointment that his album ‘Changes’ had been classified as pop. The singer received nominations for Best Pop Solo Performance, Best Pop/Duo Group Performance, and Best Country Duo/Group Performance.

The Killers saw the funny side to not receiving any nominations for their August album ‘Imploding The Mirage’, mocking Donald Trump’s refusal to concede defeat in the U.S. presidential election.

Beyoncé, though, has received the distinction of being the most nominated female artist in Grammy history, receiving nine nominations for the 2021 Grammys alone.

BTS, meanwhile, have become the first K-pop act to receive a Grammy nomination, entering in the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance category.