Tuesday’s announcement of the 2021 Grammy nominations had a lot of surprises, but there was one snub that seemed to be especially prominent: The Weeknd received zero nods for his After Hours album and its breakout hit “Blinding Lights.”
“Blinding Lights” not only had a four-week stay at the top of the Billboard Hot 100, but it also broke the record for most weeks in the Hot 100’s top 10 and was crowned 2020’s most-streamed song on Spotify (so far). After Hours, meanwhile, debuted atop the Billboard 200, where it remained for four consecutive weeks and had the biggest streaming week for an R&B album ever. But the three-time Grammy winner didn’t make the cut this year.
The Weeknd himself had some thoughts on the situation, tweeting Tuesday:
A number of the singer’s peers agreed with his frustration. Kid Cudi wrote, “Abel was robbed man this sh–s weak,” following the Recording Academy’s announcement, while Tinashe replied with a line of trash can emojis under a tweet about The Weeknd’s zero nominations.
Even though his own artist Justin Bieber fared well in the nominations, Scooter Braun weighed in, writing that The Weeknd and his manager Wassim “Sal” Slaiby “deserved to be there as well and deserved better. Brilliant artist and brilliant album.”
Canadian producer Boi-1da, who’s not credited on After Hours, said the album was “criminally robbed,” as “ROBBED,” “abel” and “weeknd” all began trending on Twitter in the U.S. and worldwide. Fans even began rewriting the opening lyrics to his Hot 100 No. 1 hit “Heartless,” “Never need a Grammy/ I’m what a Grammy need.”
Check out reactions to The Weeknd’s 2021 Grammy snub from fellow artists and fans below.
