Chris Brown mocks the competition after losing at the 2023 Grammys

Chris Brown didn’t show up for the 2023 Grammys, but the singer still found a way to be heard after failing to win the award for R&B Album.

Brown, whose tenth studio album Breezy was nominated, lost to musician Robert Glasper and his album Black Radio III.

The “Run It” singer took to social media to complain, hurling insults at his competition and writing on Instagram: “You all play. Who the heck is that?” over Glasper’s name, accompanied by a series of crying-laughing emojis, according to reports and screenshots of the now-deleted story posts.

He continued his social media tirade by asking, “Who the heck is Robert Glasper?” and separate story posts, in which they write, “I keep kicking you—! Respectfully,” and a video of him playing the harmonica, captioned, “New level unlocked, Harmonica ‘Breezy’.”

The R&B Album award was presented at the Grammy premiere ceremony at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, a non-televised event prior to the main show. Other nominees included Mary J. Blige, who gave an earth-shattering performance during the main show, PJ Morton and Lucky Daye.

Despite Brown’s taunts, Glasper is no stranger to Grammy success, earning 11 career nominations and winning five.

The pianist, whose collaborations include some of the most influential R&B and hip-hop acts including Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, Common, Q-Tip and Yasiin Bey (formerly known as Mos Def), won the 2013 R&B award for his album Album Grammy Black Radio and was nominated again for the top R&B award in 2015 for Black Radio II. In 2021 he won the Grammy for R&B songs alongside HER and Meshell Ndegeocello.

Glasper is aware he’s not a household name, and last week shared a humorous post on his Instagram asking, “Who the hell is Robert Glasper?” Brown echoed Glasper’s previous post, lifting the confident joke during unaware of the insults on Sunday. Glasper is known for making self-deprecating jokes on social media, often poking fun at his apparent inability to rap or sing.

“My safety pin popped out of my pants while I was running,” Glasper joked as he pulled up his pants on stage at the Microsoft Theater after winning the award on Sunday. The pianist appeared not to take notice of Brown’s insults on Monday, instead sharing a litany of praise from fans, friends and others in the industry on his Instagram story.

Brown has become a controversial figure since pleading guilty to the crime of assaulting then-girlfriend Rihanna in 2009. Last year, Brown’s win at the American Music Awards as a male R&B artist drew a mix of cheers and boos. Brown skipped that awards ceremony as well, leaving it to Kelly Rowland to accept the award on his behalf and come to his defense.

Brown claimed on Instagram that his AMA appearance — a tribute to Michael Jackson — was canceled “for reasons unknown,” and later posted rehearsal footage captioned, “U SERIOUS?”. with a face palm emoji.

Despite Brown’s continued critical and commercial success, he remains close to the Grammys, snagging 19 nominations, with his only win coming for his 2012 album FAME.