Royce da 5’9 Says He Felt ‘Embarrassed’ by Grammy Nomination

Royce da 5’9 is having mixed feelings over his Grammy nomination.

The Detroit rapper earned a nod for Best Rap Album for his album The Allegory at this year’s ceremony. While he’s been critical of the Grammys in the past, he admits that he was happy yet somewhat “embarrassed” by the nomination.

“It feels cool. I’m not going to lie, man,” he told Ebro Darden on Apple Music’s “The Message.” “I’m a little bit embarrassed because I’m one of those guys that was like, ‘F**k the Grammys.’ And I’m totally like, ‘I’m fu**ing with the Grammys this year.’”

The nomination made him reflect on his own relationship with the Grammys. “It’s an opportunity to put some things in perspective, like when I see other artists complain about being snubbed, I look at it and go, ‘Oh, that’s how I was looking. I was looking like that.’ Alright, so I’ma make sure I don’t do that no more because you don’t want to come off that you’re not happy for somebody else.”

This is Royce’s second Grammy nomination. In 2011, he earned a nod for Album of the Year for his work on Eminem’s Recovery.

During the interview, he also shared his thoughts on Lil Wayne’s controversial comments about racism. “Cash Money, they signed their deal in 1997. So from then to now, they’ve walked billions of dollars into the Universal building. You can’t tell me that you feel like Universal has been protecting Lil Wayne,” said Royce.

He cited a 2016 interview where Wayne said, “I don’t know what racism is.” “Lil Wayne, I heard come out of his mouth in an interview that racism doesn’t exist,” said Royce. “Being famous early for a Black person is crippling.”

Royce also brought up Wayne’s criminal history, including his recent federal weapons charge. “My brother, you’re going to jail for the second time. The first time you went to prison, you went for a gun that wasn’t even on you. That’s racism, Lil Wayne,” he told the Young Money rapper.

Watch Royce’s full interview with Ebro below.