Why Did Jay-Z and Kanye West Skip the 2012 Grammys and Where Were They?

The hit song Otis, off their monster album Watch the Throne was their only pickup as a pair, winning Best Rap Performance, but Kanye also took home three trophies for his own work. His album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy got the Best Album nod, his song All of the Lights earned Best Rap Song and Best Rap Collaboration.

When the Otis award was announced Sunday night, viewers across the country were disappointed when it was announced that the duo were not in the house to accept it.

But it wasn't that surprising, as Jigga didn't make the trip to Los Angeles for the 2011 Grammys either (plus he has one-month-old daughter Blue Ivy Carter and wife Beyonce at home taking up much of his time.)

And he has been outspoke about the Grammys for years, declaring in a 2002 statement that he was skipping the event that year:

I am boycotting the Grammys because too many major rap artists continue to be overlooked, he said in 2002. Rappers deserve more attention from the Grammy committee and from the whole world. If it's got a gun everybody knows about it; but if we go on a world tour, no one knows.

And Kanye has had his share of Grammys issues in the past, including, most infamously, the Imma let you finish speech he gave after stealing the microphone from Taylor Swift at the 2009 MTV Music Awards as she was accepting the award for Best Female Video.

MTV reports that Kanye also may have been insulted that his album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy was not nominated for the Best Album Grammy, despite rave reviews from critics, and that the snub may have contributed to his decision not to attend.

As for where they were, that information has yet to emerge, as the two rappers have been silent on the topic and no one has leaked it. They were likely at home in their pajamas, watching in the comfort of their man caves.

Despite not being there for the ceremony, Kanye and Jay-Z couldn't stay out of the limelight, as Lil Wayne caused a small controversy by dissing the rappers in a freestyle before the main event started:

I met a bad red bone, I took the b---- home. I asked her what she want to watch, she said, 'Surely not the Throne,' he rapped, in a lyric aimed at insulting their Watch the Throne collaboration.

As Hov and Yeezy remained silent on the topic, Twitter erupted Sunday night with a number of viewers' suggestions of why rap's dynamic duo didn't make the event:

Jay Z n Kanye mustve known this would b the worst grammy ever and THATS why theyre not even there... #weak, tweeted Twitter user @wesramsey.

And Twitter user @NotBill Walton added his two cents: Jay-Z & Kanye West could not appear at the Grammy's. I guess they couldn't find parking for their yachts at the Staples Center.

Whatever their reasoning for choosing to skip the Gramms, Jigga and 'Ye were on the minds of those who picked the winners, and maybe they can ask them to Fed-Ex their golden gramaphones to their palatial homes?