Despite his four wins at Sunday’s Grammys, Macklemore is feeling remorse. The “Thrift Shop” rapper admits that his competitor Kendrick Lamar was robbed of his awards and is bearing the blame.
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis scored four awards including Best Rap Album, Best Rap Song, and Best New Artist, while Kendrick went home empty-handed, sparking outrage among hip-hop fans.
After the ceremony, Macklemore sent a heartfelt text to Kendrick, who was shut out of all seven of his categories.
“You got robbed. I wanted you to win. You should have. It’s weird and sucks that I robbed you,” wrote the Seattle rapper. “I was gonna say that during the speech. Then the music started playing during my speech and I froze. Anyway, you know what it is. Congrats on this year and your music. Appreciate you as an artist and as a friend. Much love.”
He shared the text on Instagram, along with the following note:
“My text to Kendrick after the show. He deserved best rap album… I’m honored and completely blown away to win anything much less 4 Grammys. But in that category, he should have won IMO. And that’s taking nothing away from The Heist. Just giving GKMC it’s proper respect.. With that being said, thank you to the fans. You’re the reason we were on that stage tonight. And to play Same Love on that platform was a career highlight. The greatest honor of all. That’s what this is about. Progress and art. Thank you. #grammys.”
Other rappers including ScHoolboy Q, Q-Tip, Mac Miller, and Meek Mill weighed in on Kendrick’s snub.
“Congrats 2 @macklemore for a incredible win and I believe Kendrick was robbed,” tweeted Meek. “This game was never fair….and awards can’t change the judgement of the culture…. I fucks wit Macklemore for this text….. Most of these awardsare always fucked up!”