Drake dropped jaws this week when he announced intent to withdraw entries for his blockbuster last album, ‘Certified Lover Boy,’ from GRAMMY consideration despite being nominated for Best Rap Album (‘Certified Lover Boy’) and Best Rap Performance (‘Way 2 Sexy’ featuring Future & Young Thug’) at next year’s ceremony.

While shocking to some, the move is in line with his previously revealed stance about the Academy – one voiced in earnest during last year’s headline-grabbing fiasco with his fellow Canadian hitmaker, The Weeknd, when the latter was snubbed and didn’t see any of his ‘After Hours’ songs recognized by the GRAMMYs (despite being one of the year’s biggest albums).

With more eyes on the Academy’s voting committee than ever with regards to improved transparency, diversity, and inclusion, its CEO, Harvey Mason Jr., sat down with Billboard recently to discuss these subjects and more.

Hop inside to see what he said.

Although it’s been over a year since The Weeknd drama was incited, it still remains quite the hot topic.  When quizzed on the matter recently, Harvey said:

“It’s not distracting, it’s understandable. People that make music are passionate people inherently. These [projects] are their babies. When they get upset, it doesn’t affect us or offend us. The perception of the academy and our process is important because it allows us to do the work that we want to do.” 

Later in the chat, he suggested he believes the better “first step” would be for aggrieved artists to come to the Academy directly than to the press.

“Having input from the community is important. Sometimes it might be nice not to hear it always in the press; maybe it’d be nice to get a phone call or a text,” he said. “But regardless of how we get it, it’s important that we evaluate it and find out actionable steps on how to be better. At the end of the day, when our members and our community say, “We’d like to look at something differently and we think there is a new way of doing this, it’s better,’ we listen, and we move.”

That’s not all he said.  Click here to read the interview in full.

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Bonus:  Press ‘PLAY’ on the video below to watch Mason’s recent chat with That Grape Juice.

[Photo source:  Rich Fury for Getty Images]

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