Kendrick Lamar on Macklemore’s wins at Grammy Awards: ‘It’s well-deserved’

NEW YORK, N.Y. – Kendrick Lamar is taking a philosophical approach to being shut out at the Grammy Awards.

Lamar, one of Sunday night’s top nominees with seven nods, was shut out, prompting four-time winner Macklemore to send a text of apology later that night after winning best rap album.

“It’s well-deserved. He did what he did, man,” Lamar told XXL magazine. “He went out there and hustled and grinded. Everything happens for a reason. The universe comes back around. That’s how it go.”

Lamar made the remarks after a performance of “Backstreet Freestyle” at rapper Dom Kennedy’s show Tuesday night in New York. They come two days after The Recording Academy’s voters gave Macklemore & Ryan Lewis three trophies in the rap categories, angering some in the hip-hop community. Macklemore and Lewis also won best new artist.

There was an effort by the academy’s rap committee to exclude Macklemore and Lewis from the rap categories, but it was overruled and the Seattle duo won best rap album for “The Heist” and best rap song and rap performance for “Thrift Shop,” featuring Wanz — a pop hit that sold more than 7 million copies.

Macklemore said before the awards that he felt Lamar’s “good kid, m.A.A.d. city” should win best rap album. He posted to Instagram a text he sent to Lamar following the awards that said in part: “It’s weird and sucks that I robbed you.”

XXL also asked Lamar if he felt the Grammys undervalued hip-hop. Only three rappers — Jay Z, Macklemore and Lewis, and Lamar — performed during the telecast. All three were show highlights for different reasons.

“I definitely feel like they should always have more of the culture up in there, for sure, because we definitely stand out just like any other genre,” Lamar said. “We part of the world. We part of the movement. So I think any awards, including the Grammys, should always push for more hip-hop because it’s music as a whole, it’s not just splitting different regions. Everything moves as far as sound and vibrations, and that’s how it goes. And we are a part of that.”