Frank Ocean’s ‘Blonde’ Ineligible For Grammys

UPDATE: As many suspected, Frank Ocean intentionally refrained from submitting Endless and Blonde for Grammy consideration. Billboard added the following to their original report: “A source close to the situation tells Billboard that Ocean’s team was aware of the deadlines and made the decision.”

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Oh this is fun we can experience some Grammy rage months in advance because we already know Frank Ocean‘s Blonde will not win, or even be nominated for, any awards at next year’s ceremony. Despite the fact that it is unequivocally one of the best collections of music released in 2016. Because it is ineligible. “But the 2017 Grammy cutoff was September 30 and Blonde came out in August!” you explain. That’s correct. But an album mustn’t simply come into existence by that date. It must also be submitted to the Grammy cabal before the (secret) submission cutoff date. And Frank’s team simply didn’t submit Blonde or Endless for Grammy consideration. A representative for the Grammys confirmed this fact to Billboard.

As for the reasoning behind that decision, Frank’s camp has been silent, as expected. Maybe it was a simple logistical oversight. Or maybe it was another way for Ocean to extricate himself from the industry machinations, the same way he eschewed a marketing campaign, the same way he got out of his Def Jam contract with Endless.

The Grammys has a list of L’s as long as its list of memorable moments, and now they can add “Institution that recognized Al Walser but can’t figure out a way to recognize Frank Ocean.” Keep up the great work.