From celebrating Canada’s artist of the year, to adding a legend to the hall of fame, the JUNO Awards came and went, but not without making history and giving the country lots to talk about.
The official ceremony, hosted by Canadian icon Nelly Furtado, took place in Halifax on Sunday and recognized outstanding achievements in Canada’s music industry.
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“We’ve got an opportunity to do something great for us. It’s an honour to be the first hip-hop artist inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame,” Wesley Williams, also known as Maestro Fresh Wes, told the Brandon Gonez Show in an interview on the ceremony’s red carpet.
When asked how he felt about Canada finally giving respect where it’s due, he said he never paid too much attention to making sure he received his flowers and that everything is “divine timing.”
“When I got the phone call I was like alright, let’s rock, let’s make it happen,” he said. “[If you think] you deserve this and you deserve that, that’s a crutch to your personal and professional development.”
Canadian rapper Kardinal Offishal presented the rapper with his award and shared his excitement prior to hitting the stage.
“It’s not just about my friend, whether I know him or not, I’m honoured to have the opportunity to thank him on behalf of tens of thousands of artists across the country who came up on him,” Offishal said.
“The climate in which he came out, he was the first one to carve and forge a way for other people to follow in his footsteps, at a time when they were not playing Black music much less playing any rap music.”
Other artists also weighed in, including Omega Mighty who was nominated for Reggae Recording of the Year for her project Rush Dem.
“To have any bit of contribution to such an important time makes me feel like we are doing this together as a community. It’s huge,” she said.
Maestro Fresh Wes is the fourth Black artist to be recognized for this award and shared that he is optimistic about the state of rap in Canada.
“It’s more melodic and lyrical as opposed to just one or the other. Support to my brother Tobi,” he said, referring to the Nigerian-born Canadian singer and rapper who went on to win Rap Single and Album of the Year.
“He’s one of the ones doing it and I’m proud of him and where he’s going, it takes more than one artist.”
More history was made at this year’s award show, including Calgary-born TikTok sensation and singer Tate McRae, who won three out of four award nominations, including Single of the Year for “Greedy.”
The 20-year-old proved that age is nothing but a number after being dubbed the youngest artist to win artist of the year.
This comes after she was nominated for five awards last year and didn’t take home any wins, proving that patience always wins.
Also proving that perseverance is key is Indigenous artist Aysanabee, who grew up in a trailer in North Ontario without electricity or running water. He won for both Songwriter of the Year and Alternative Album of the Year for Hear and Now.
Before the artist’s win, Indigenous musicians rarely wonJUNO Awards outside of the Indigenous category.
Other big winners of the night were The Beaches for Group of the Year and Charlotte Cardin’s 99 Nights for Album of the Year.
