Rappers Haviah Mighty, Shad, rap duo Snotty Nose Rez Kids and singer-songwriter Jessie Reyez have all been named to the 2019 Polaris Music Prize short list.
They’re joined on the short list by Marie Davidson, Elisapie, Dominique Fils-Aimé, FET.NAT, Les Louanges, and PUP.
Brampton’s own Haviah Mighty of The Sorority was nominated for her latest album, 13th Floor.
Shad was nominated for his latest and sixth studio album, A Short Story About a War.
Canadian First Nations hip-hop duo Snotty Nose Rez Kids were nominated for their latest and third studio album, TRAPLINE.
Canadian singer-songwriter Jessie Reyez was nominated for her sophomore album, Being Human In Public, which also won R&B/Soul Recording of the Year at the 2019 JUNO Awards.
The Polaris short list features 10 acts in total, and is determined by members of Canada’s music media. The members initially vote on the Polaris long list released in June, featuring 40 different acts, and from there they’re asked to vote for their top five. Those votes are tallied up and leaves us with the short list. Some notable names didn’t make it past the long list round including Canadian superstars Carly Rae Jepsen and Shawn Mendes.
The 2019 Polaris winner will be decided on Sept. 16 inside Toronto’s The Carlu (444 Yonge Street).
The Polaris Music Prize was established in 2006 by Steve Jordan, former A&R Executive with Warner Music Canada and True North Records. It was originally modeled after the United Kingdom/Ireland’s Mercury Prize.
For more information about the Polaris Music Prize, visit the official website.
You can follow @PolarisMusicPrize on Instagram.
