Frank Ocean notably chose not to submit his albums Blonde and Endless for Grammy consideration this year. However, his rationale is not what everyone assumed.
Grammy producer, Ken Erlich, and writer, David Wild, gave an interview to Rolling Stone in which they pinned Ocean's issues with the musical awards show on his less than stellar performance back in 2013. "So, his feelings about the Grammys right now, I would imagine, probably go back to that in one way," Erlich speculates.
While many assumed this was the case, Ocean decided to take to Tumblr to clear up the misconception. In a long post he writes about his Forrest gump performance:
"Ok Ken (and David). As much as I hate to make you guys famous or even respond to you directly. We all die one day and you're old so f--k it. Yea yea my 2013 performance at the Grammys was absolute s--t. Technical difficulties, blah blah. Thanks for the reminder. Very much appreciated. F--k that performance though. You think that's why I kept my work out of the Grammy process this year? Don't you think I would've wanted to play the show to 'redeem' myself if I felt that way?"
The Grammy winner then went on to discuss his success before revealing the true cause of his Grammy boycott. After a huge year in 2015, Taylor Swift was given the honor of having the best album of the year, and Ocean was not impressed.
"I've actually been tuning into CBS around this time of year for a while to see who gets the top honor and you know what's really not 'great TV' guys? 1989 getting album of the year over To Pimp A Butterfly. Hands down one of the most 'faulty' TV moments I've seen. Believe the people. Believe the ones who'd rather watch select performances from your program on YouTube the day after because your show puts them to sleep. Use the old gramophone to actually listen bro, I'm one of the best alive. And if you're up for a discussion about the cultural bias and general nerve damage the show you produce suffers from then I'm all for it. Have a good night."
The Grammys air on Sunday, February 12 on CBS.