26 Nov Pop Smoke’s Manager, Steven Victor, Trashes GRAMMYs For Nominating D Smoke Over Pop For Best Rap Album and Believes Pop Should’ve Had More Nominations

By Yuriy Andriyashchuk
Hip-HopVibe.com Staff Writer

The 2021 Grammy nominations were revealed a few days ago and social media went wild. This is due to many artists being snubbed such as The Weeknd, Pop Smoke, and the Best R&B Album category where there were no women nominated, who were clearly deserving.

Smoke ended up getting nominated for ‘Best Rap Performance.’ This was for his 2019 breakout hit single, “Dior.” The other nominees were Big Sean’s “Deep Reverence” feat. Nipsey Hussle, DaBaby’s “BOP,” “WHAT’S POPPIN” by Jack Harlow, “The Bigger Picture” by Lil Baby, and Megan Thee Stallion’s “Savage” remix feat. Beyoncé.

Smoke’s posthumous debut studio album, ‘Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon,’ did not get nominated for Best Rap Album though despite its massive success and being a No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart twice this year. Smoke’s manager, Steven Victor, expressed his frustration with GQ and even dissed D Smoke in the process, who was nominated for his ‘Black Habits’ project. Victor believes that Pop should’ve been nominated in multiple categories.

“I think the Grammys is cap, bro. No disrespect, but who is D Smoke? This is an artist—I’m not saying he started a genre, because he didn’t start drill music—but [Pop] bought drill music to the forefront and made it mainstream. He had a huge impact. Forget about whether he passed away, his impact was felt way before that. He was going to be a superstar.”

“How does he not get nominated for Album of the Year or Rap Album of the Year or Best New Artist? This is his only chance to get nominated for these awards. So to me, the Grammys is cap. I don’t know who’s making these decisions. He should’ve been nominated for ‘Dior’ in more than one category, he should’ve been nominated for Best New Artist, he should’ve been nominated for Album of the Year, and he should’ve been nominated for Rap Album of the Year. He should’ve swept the whole thing. It doesn’t make any sense.”

Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon has since been certified platinum in the US. Records from the album such as “Mood Swings” featuring Lil Tjay and “For The Night” feat. DaBaby and Lil Baby have since gone platinum as well.

Follow Hip-HopVibe.com on Twitter and Instagram @HipHopVibe1.