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Is Kanye West Sick After Major 2017 Grammy Nominations Snub?

By Alan Ewart
Published on: 03:45 PST, Dec 6, 2016

Most people are likely aware that Kanye West recently had an extended spell in the hospital. Kanye’s fans feared for the rap superstar’s mental health after West had an onstage meltdown during a show in Sacramento last month. Just days later, Kanye had to cancel the remaining dates on his tour. West was hospitalized shortly afterward, reportedly suffering from sleep deprivation and exhaustion. Kanye remained in the hospital for two weeks, but he was deemed well enough to return home last week.

Anyone who has followed Kanye’s career will understand that he has a very high opinion of his own abilities. During his 2015 Glastonbury headline appearance, Kanye told festival goers that he was the world’s greatest living rock star. Earlier this year, Kanye announced to the world that he was “finished with the best album of all time.”

Kanye’s decision to release The Life of Pablo exclusively through the Tidal streaming service backfired badly. As a result, West’s self-declared “masterpiece” was only heard by a relatively small number of people. The cancellation of the tour in support of the album must have been a huge blow to West. As a result, Kanye’s “best album of all time” wasn’t even rated in the top five Kanye West albums by Consequence of Sound. They only rated The Life of Pablo as West’s seventh best album.

So, What About The 2017 Grammy Nominations?

As you would expect, Kanye is well represented in the 2017 Grammy nominations. After all, West has amassed a total of 21 Grammy Awards from a total of 57 nominations. That said, West will be disappointed to find that he has been snubbed by the Grammys in all the major awards categories.

USA Today reports that West has a total of eight Grammy nominations, but none are in the categories he is likely to cherish.

“Once again, the major Grammy categories continue to elude the rapper. While West is a perennial winner for best rap album and song, he’s never broken through to win song or album of the year. As a consolation prize, West could be recognized in the album of the year category, with a production credit on for Drake’s Views.

“That’s likely not good enough for the notoriously ego-driven star.”

Of course, Kanye is not alone in missing out on the big categories. Many had expected Prince and David Bowie to be among the nominations given that they both passed away this year. However, both are nominated only in minor categories.

Rolling Stone reports that West’s nemesis, Beyonce, tops the Grammy nomination chart. She is in the running for nine awards. According to Billboard, the Grammys have “stopped fighting the future” with this years nominations. They claim that Justin Bieber’s nomination in the best album category for his Purpose release “would have been unthinkable” just a few years ago.

It was perhaps predictable that West would not be nominated in any of the major categories. The majority of Kanye’s nominations are for his collaborative work with the likes of Rihanna and Drake. The major Grammy categories, Album of the year, Song of the year, and Record of the year look to be a scrap between Adele and Beyonce, something that is sure to annoy West.

This year’s Grammy nominations seem to indicate a shift in the Academy’s view of the mainstream pop market. Artists at the lighter end of the music scene seem to have more nominations than ever in the major categories. This year, Kanye is up for Best Rap Album, Best Rap Performance, Best Rap Song for “Ultralight Beam,” and Best Sung Performance for “Famous.” Most artists would be delighted to be nominated for Grammy’s in any category, but it is unlikely that Kanye West will be satisfied at being a minor player in the 2017 Grammy Awards.

[Featured Image by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP Images]

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