If you’ve spent any time on the internet recently, you know that the Drake vs. Kendrick Lamar beef basically consumed the entire music world. It wasn't just about diss tracks; it spilled over into award season in a huge way. When the 2025 Grammy nominations dropped, Kendrick was everywhere. Meanwhile, the boy from Toronto? Not so much. It's wild to think about because for over a decade, you couldn't turn on a radio without hearing a Drake hook. But when it comes to the Recording Academy, things are... complicated.
Honestly, the answer to how many Grammys does Drake have is probably lower than you’d expect for the biggest artist of the streaming era.
Drake has 5 Grammys.
That’s it. Five. For a guy who has 13 Number 1 hits and more Billboard entries than literally anyone in history, five trophies feels like a typo. But it’s not. He’s been nominated over 50 times, but the "6 God" has spent the last few years basically at war with the Academy, and it shows in his trophy case.
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The Five Wins: A Breakdown
Drake’s relationship with the Grammys started out pretty normal. He showed up, he performed, he took home the gold. But even back then, you could tell he wasn't exactly thrilled with how he was being categorized.
- Best Rap Album (2013): Take Care won this, and it felt like a moment. It’s widely considered his magnum opus.
- Best Rap/Sung Performance (2017): "Hotline Bling" took this one home.
- Best Rap Song (2017): "Hotline Bling" again. This is where the tension started. Drake famously said the song isn't even a rap song—it’s a pop song—but because he’s a Black artist, they shoved it in the rap category.
- Best Rap Song (2019): "God’s Plan" was inescapable. He won, but his acceptance speech was so critical of the awards that they actually cut to a commercial while he was still talking.
- Best Melodic Rap Performance (2023): He won this for his feature on Future’s "Wait for U." Ironically, he didn't even submit his own solo work that year.
It's a weird list. He has more wins for "Hotline Bling" than he does for Views, Scorpion, and Certified Lover Boy combined.
The 2025 Humiliation and the Kendrick Factor
The 2025 Grammy Awards were a turning point. Kendrick Lamar’s "Not Like Us"—a song specifically designed to dismantle Drake’s entire reputation—won Record of the Year and Song of the Year. Imagine being Drake and watching the entire industry dance to a song about how much they dislike you.
The Academy voters clearly took a side. While Kendrick was racking up nine nominations for the 2026 cycle, Drake only managed to snag one. The momentum has shifted. It’s not just about the music anymore; it’s about the narrative. Drake has spent years telling his peers that "this show doesn't dictate s–t in our world," and it seems the voters finally took him at his word.
Why Drake Stopped Submitting His Music
You might be wondering why he doesn't have more wins recently. Well, he’s been actively boycotting. In 2022, he actually withdrew his nominations for Certified Lover Boy. He didn't even submit Honestly, Nevermind for the 2023 awards.
He thinks the system is rigged. Or at the very least, out of touch.
After The Weeknd was famously snubbed for After Hours (which was insane, let's be real), Drake went on Instagram and said we should stop being shocked by the disconnect between "impactful music" and these awards. He compared the Grammys to a relative you keep expecting to fix up, but they just won't change.
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He’s not entirely wrong. The Grammys have a long history of being "late" to what’s actually happening in hip-hop. By the time they recognize a sound, the culture has usually moved on to something else.
The Opinion vs. Fact Debate
Drake likes to say that music is an "opinion-based sport," not a factual one like the NBA. In his 2019 speech, he told aspiring artists that if people are singing your songs word for word, you’ve already won. You don’t need a trophy from a group of people who might not understand what a "mixed-race kid from Canada" has to say.
It’s a powerful stance, but it also feels a bit like "you can't fire me, I quit."
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If Drake had 28 Grammys like Kanye West or Beyoncé, would he still be calling it an "opinion-based sport"? Maybe. But the fact remains that his trophy count doesn't match his cultural impact. If you measure success by streams, he’s the undisputed king. If you measure it by gold gramophones, he’s significantly behind his peers like Jay-Z (24 wins) or Kendrick Lamar (17 wins).
What’s Next for the 6 God?
Looking toward the 2026 Grammys, it doesn't look like the frost is thawing. Trevor Noah is hosting for the last time, and the focus seems to be on a new generation of artists like Doechii and Chappell Roan. Drake is still "very much alive" and teasing new music, as his dad Dennis Graham recently put it, but he seems content to let the Academy do its own thing.
If you want to track Drake’s success, look at the Billboard Music Awards instead. He has 41 of those. He actually shows up to those. They’re based on data—sales, streams, and radio airplay—which fits his "factual-based sport" narrative much better.
Actionable Takeaways for Fans and Collectors
- Check the Credits: If you're looking for Drake's "hidden" wins, look at his features. His 2023 win for "Wait for U" shows he's still winning when he's part of a larger project, even if he's boycotting with his solo work.
- Context Matters: When you see a "snub," check if the artist even submitted their work. A lot of people thought Drake was snubbed for Honestly, Nevermind, but he actually chose not to enter the race.
- Follow the Data: If you want to see who is actually "winning" the year in terms of popularity, Billboard and Spotify Wrapped are more accurate metrics than the Grammy winners list.
Drake’s legacy won't be defined by those five trophies. It'll be defined by the fact that he changed the way rap sounds and how it's consumed. Whether the Recording Academy ever gets on board with that again is almost irrelevant at this point.