The Polaris Music Prize long list for the Canadian Artist of the Year has been announced! You’ll find a nice mix of genres from pop to rock to hip hop to folk and a great representation of artists across Canada. Indigenous artists William Prince, Riit, nêhiyawak, Lido Pimienta and WHOOP-SZO were nominated. Other stand outs include nods to Jessie Reyez, Allie X, The Weeknd, Andy Shauf and Kaytranada among many more.
There were a lot of albums to choose from – 223 in fact! But the jury narrowed it down to 40 albums. Check them out:
- Allie X – Cape God
- Anachnid – Dreamweaver
- Aquakultre – Legacy
- Marie-Pierre Arthur – Des feux pour voir
- Backxwash – God Has Nothing To Do With This Leave Him Out Of It
- Badge Époque Ensemble – Badge Époque Ensemble
- Begonia – Fear
- P’tit Belliveau – Greatest Hits Vol. 1
- Caribou – Suddenly
- Daniel Caesar – CASE STUDY 01
- Chocolat – Jazz engagé
- Louis-Jean Cormier – Quand la nuit tombe
- Corridor – Junior
- dvsn – A Muse In Her Feelings
- Jacques Greene – Dawn Chorus
- Sarah Harmer – Are You Gone
- Ice Cream – FED UP
- Junia-T – Studio Monk
- Kaytranada – Bubba
- Flore Laurentienne – Volume 1
- Cindy Lee – What’s Tonight To Eternity?
- Men I Trust – Oncle Jazz
- nêhiyawak – nipiy
- OBUXUM – Re-Birth
- Owen Pallett – Island
- Pantayo – Pantayo
- Lido Pimienta – Miss Colombia
- Joel Plaskett – 44
- William Prince – Reliever
- Jessie Reyez – BEFORE LOVE CAME TO KILL US
- Andy Shauf – The Neon Skyline
- Riit – ataataga
- Super Duty Tough Work – Studies in Grey
- U.S. Girls – Heavy Light
- Leif Vollebekk – New Ways
- Wares – Survival
- The Weeknd – After Hours
- WHOOP-Szo – Warrior Down
- Witch Prophet – DNA Activation
- Zen Bamboo – GLU
In case you missed it, you can see a video stream of the long list being revealed on the Polaris Facebook page and YouTube channel.
The short list featuring the top ten albums and nominees will be revealed on July 15th from CBC Music.
The winner of the Canadian Artist of the Year award will walk away with $50,000 while the other nine artists will receive $3000 each.
Over the last five years we saw wins from Haviah Mighty (2019), Jeremy Dutcher (2018), Lido Pimienta (2017), Kaytranada (2016) and Buffy Sainte-Marie (2015).
What is your pick for this year’s Canadian Artist of the Year? Comment below.