Drakeo the Ruler’s Brother Calls Out Recording Academy For Excluding Rapper From Grammys In Memoriam Segment
In an official statement obtained by TMZ, Ralfy shared how it made him feel to not see his brother be included in the section.
“On behalf of Drakeo The Ruler, Ketchy The Great and The Stinc Team, it comes off as a spit in the face disregarding the facts that we’ve created an entire movement that generated the momentum for underground emerging L.A. artists to have a platform,” Ralfy said in a statement. “Let alone the reality that we lost my Brother, Drakeo The Ruler, the poster child for systematic prejudices against rappers by law enforcement using lyrics against our culture and violating what they call our constitutional rights of freedom of speech- The First Amendment.”
He also added that seeing his brother being omitted has a major reflection on how little the music industry cares about certain parts of the music industry.
“Leaving Drakeo out of their tribute and by not giving him any acknowledgment of his existence sums up exactly what we feel the industry has been trying to do. Erase us,” he concluded.
The Recording Academy has also received another heavy critique for their In Memoriam tribute after they honored Virgil Abloh as a “Hip Hop Fashion Designer” despite his groundbreaking accomplishments in the fashion/sneaker industry and his revolutionary role as the first Black Artistic Director of Louis Vuitton Menswear.
The Academy has not yet responded to its In Memoriam segment.
