Morgan Wallen has declined to submit his chart-topping album I’m the Problem for consideration at the 68th Grammy Awards, ensuring his streak of never receiving a solo Grammy nomination continues.
The country superstar’s team confirmed the decision to Rolling Stone, following initial reports from Hits Daily Double and Billboard. Wallen will not submit I’m the Problem – which has dominated the Billboard 200 for 11 consecutive weeks at number one – in any album categories. He’s also bypassing individual song submissions for categories such as Record of the Year and Best Country Solo Performance.
The decision extends to songwriting nominations, with Wallen refusing to seek recognition for tracks he co-wrote on the album. However, his team won’t prevent other songwriters who collaborated on I’m the Problem from pursuing their own Grammy submissions.
Wallen joins a growing list of high-profile artists who’ve distanced themselves from the Grammy Awards. Drake, The Weeknd, and Frank Ocean have all declined submissions in recent years, citing concerns about the Recording Academy’s disconnect from contemporary music audiences, particularly in hip-hop and R&B genres.
Frank Ocean’s 2016 critique following his decision not to submit Blonde remains particularly pointed. “The Grammys don’t seem to be representing very well for people who come from where I come from, and hold down what I hold down,” Ocean said in a 2016 interivew. “I think the infrastructure of the awarding system and the nomination system and screening system is dated. I’d rather this be my Colin Kaepernick moment for the Grammys than sit there in the audience.”
Unlike Wallen, these artists staged their protests as established Grammy winners, though notably their victories came in genre-specific categories rather than the prestigious general fields of Song, Record, and Album of the Year.
Wallen’s Grammy history remains limited to two nominations, both as a featured artist on Post Malone’s “I Had Some Help”. His absence from solo recognition at the awards has been conspicuous given his massive commercial success and cultural impact in country music.
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The Recording Academy has implemented changes in recent years to diversify its voting body and increase transparency in the nominations process. Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. acknowledged these ongoing efforts at the 67th Grammy Awards in February, introducing a performance from The Weeknd that signalled a potential reconciliation between the artist and the institution.
