Freddie Gibbs knew his last album Alfredo was Grammy Award worthy. In fact, he predicted the collaborative project with producer The Alchemist would win the coveted Best Rap Album award a year before it was nominated. “I told y’all niggaz,” he tweeted when nominations were announced in November. “I actually told y’all last year too.”

But Gibbs lost. And although many believe he deserved the recognition, the Recording Academy chose to give Nas his first Grammy Award for King’s Disease.

In a new interview with Mix Mag, Gibbs seemed to be in high spirits following his loss to Nas. He told the UK EDM magazine the he’s “blessed” and “things are going well right now.” He also chalked up his defeat to Esco’s greatness. “If you’re gonna lose to somebody, you’re gonna want to lose to Nas,” Gibbs explained. “Nas is a hall of fame MC. If anything it just shows how great I am to lose to such an MC. I could’ve lost to Macklemore or something.”

“I don’t really feel no way because [loads of] people trash the GRAMMYs when they don’t get nominated, but then they wear the tuxedos and shit when they do get nominated,” Gibbs added. “At the end of the day it was good for my career, so I’m gonna participate of course.”

On Grammy night, draped in a salmon colored Alexander McQueen suit, Gibbs delivered a concession speech after he found out he did not win the award. “I might’ve lost today,” he joked. “But I’m undefeated in court.”

Gibbs’s Alfredo album was highly praised upon its release. It debuted at number 15 on Billboards 200 chart and was placed in several publication’s best albums of 2020 year-end lists. Alfredo’s ten tracks were exclusively produced by The Alchemist and the album featured Rick Ross, Benny the Butcher, Tyler, the Creator, and Conway the Machine.