Ten Canadian contenders will vie for the Polaris Music Prize tonight.
The $50,000 award for this year’s best Canadian album will be handed out during a gala event at the Carlu in Toronto.
Among the nominees are rapper Shad, First Nations hip hop act Snotty Nose Rez Kids and Toronto singer-songwriter Charlotte Day Wilson.
Others up for the prize include pop provocateur Hubert Lenoir, Congolese-Canadian dance-pop artist Pierre Kwenders and electronic orchestral composer Ouri.
Indigenous duo Ombiigizi, St. John’s-based Kelly McMichael, Vancouver rock band Destroyer and Rosaireville, N.B.-raised Lisa LeBlanc round out the list.
The Polaris Music Prize names the best Canadian album of the previous year — irrespective of genre or sales — as chosen by a group of journalists, broadcasters and bloggers.
Last year, the Polaris went to hip hop artist Cadence Weapon for “Parallel World,’” his poetic reflection on race, policing and technology that was largely inspired by the George Floyd protests in 2020.
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