Pusha T Says He Isn't Surprised Drake Didn't Get Best Rap Album Nod

"I think everybody needs to stay in their respective category."

BYAron A.
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The hip-hop community can almost unanimously agree that Pusha T's Daytona was the best rap album of the year. The project garnered immediate critical praise and landed the G.O.O.D Music president a Grammy nomination for Rap Album Of The Year, a category that his nemesis Drake was evidently missing from. However, Push isn't shocked that the biggest album of the year from the biggest rapper in the world didn't garner a Rap Album Of The Year nomination for Scorpion.

Sitting down with the Associated Press, Pusha T spoke on his feud with Drake and explained why he didn't think that he and Drake shouldn't have been in the same category for Rap Album Of The Year at the Grammys. The rapper explained that the two are in different lanes and they should stick to it.

"No. I wasn’t surprised," he said. "I think everybody needs to stay in their respective category. I don’t think me and him are in the same category."

Push went onto explain that he was concerned that his feud with the Toronto rapper was going to overshadow the impact of Daytona, but in retrospect, it only gave him another W in his collection.

"That was a bit of distraction in regards to me being able to campaign that from the day that I put out the album up until something like the Grammys," he said. "We were sort of strategic about that. Very strategic on how we discussed it and what we talked about, because that wasn’t part of the album. That was extra credit."

However, he did explain who he did feel had one of the best rap albums of the year: Jay Rock.

"I actually liked Jay Rock’s album a lot," he revealed. "He’s probably one of the ones that I felt like really put together a really strong project, rap-wise." 


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About The Author
Aron A. is a features editor for HotNewHipHop. Beginning his tenure at HotNewHipHop in July 2017, he has comprehensively documented the biggest stories in the culture over the past few years. Throughout his time, Aron’s helped introduce a number of buzzing up-and-coming artists to our audience, identifying regional trends and highlighting hip-hop from across the globe. As a Canadian-based music journalist, he has also made a concerted effort to put spotlights on artists hailing from North of the border as part of Rise & Grind, the weekly interview series that he created and launched in 2021. Aron also broke a number of stories through his extensive interviews with beloved figures in the culture. These include industry vets (Quality Control co-founder Kevin "Coach K" Lee, Wayno Clark), definitive producers (DJ Paul, Hit-Boy, Zaytoven), cultural disruptors (Soulja Boy), lyrical heavyweights (Pusha T, Styles P, Danny Brown), cultural pioneers (Dapper Dan, Big Daddy Kane), and the next generation of stars (Lil Durk, Latto, Fivio Foreign, Denzel Curry). Aron also penned cover stories with the likes of Rick Ross, Central Cee, Moneybagg Yo, Vince Staples, and Bobby Shmurda.