It seems winning is just inevitable for Drake. Despite not submitting any music for the 2023 Grammys, the Toronto rap star still walked away with an award Sunday night. The “Rich Flex” rapper won best melodic rap performance for his guest appearance on Future’s No.1 hit, “Wait for U,” which also features vocals from Nigerian singer Tems. The track appears on Future’s album, I Never Liked You.
Even without entering any new music, Drake earned himself four nominations this year. Along with his work on “Wait for U,” the rapper also co-wrote and earned nominations for Jack Harlow‘s “Churchill Downs” and “Heated” from Beyoncé‘s album, Renaissance.
Unlike in years past, Drake opted out of submitting any work from his latest solo album, Honestly, Nevermind, or any of its singles like “Jimmy Crooks,” “Sticky,” and “Massive,” for awards. The now five-time Grammy winner has been critical of the awards show in the past. He even withdrew his two nominations for the 2022 awards.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, while attending the 2023 Recording Academy Honors, Drake honored Lil Wayne with a video message — one of the award’s honorees, along with Missy Elliot and Dr. Dre — and even took some jabs at Grammys while doing it.
“Good evening, Grammys. Well, I haven’t gotten to say that since 2016,” the rapper said in the video.
He continued, “Lil Wayne… I love you so much. I know I probably get annoying with saying how much you mean to me and my family, but I think I speak on behalf of everybody when I say that our careers, our cadences, our melodies, maybe our face tats or our outfits or our decisions, in general, would not have been the same without your natural gift to just be yourself.”