Haviah Mighty has added yet another huge accolade to her résumé as the winner of the 2019 Polaris Music Prize.
The 27-year-old Sorority-rapper beat out nine other nominees on the Polaris “shortlist” with her album debut, 13th Floor.
The 13-song project was released on May 10 with features by Sean Leon, Clairmont the Second, and Haviah’s sister Omega Mighty, who is also her choreographer and makeup artist. You can find it on Apple Music, Spotify, and various other digital streaming platforms.
“For me, the 13th floor is something that we remove from our reality because it is something that we don’t understand and therefore we dismiss it,” said Haviah Mighty.
“This is very parallel to so many of the experiences that I speak on, on this album. I’m in a room with so many different people from so many different walks of life who have acknowledged that this is something they feel is important. These people don’t necessarily share the narratives that I ,do or the walks of life that I have, and yet, here we are, finally on what I believe is the 13th floor. This is the moment of resurgence where the dismissal that has existed is now being removed, and the discussion is being had. I’m so grateful that the people around me push me to be brave enough to speak my truth and to have it be acknowledged in this way.”
Haviah Mighty’s victory came with a $50,000 monetary reward. The nine other Short List nominees each received $3,000 courtesy of Slaight Music.
Along with Haviah, this year’s Polaris shortlist featured two other notable Canadian hip-hop acts including JUNO Award-winner Shad for his album, A Short Story About A War, and Snotty Nose Rez Kids for their album, Trapline.
The Polaris Music Prize is a not-for-profit organization that annually honours and rewards artists who produce Canadian music albums of distinction. A select panel of music critics judge and award the Prize without regard to musical genre or commercial popularity. The organization was founded by former Warner Music Canada and True North Records A&R Executive, Steve Jordan.
Buy hard copies of Polaris posters here.
For more information visit the official website, PolarisMusicPrize.ca.
