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Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Indigenous artists win big at Canada's 2025 Juno Awards
Miles MorrisseauICT Indigenous musical artists in Canada are being recognized at the highest levels, taking home some of the year's top prizes at the annual Juno Awards with outstanding music across multiple Snotty Nosed Rez Kids, Haisla Nation, led the way by taking home one of the night's biggest awards, Rap Album of the Year, for their release, 'Red Future.' SUPPORT INDIGENOUS JOURNALISM. The duo of Darren 'Young D' Metz and Quentin 'Yung Trybez' have been nominated three times in the past, but this was their first win and the first for an Indigenous artist in the category. They were also nominated this year in two other categories, for Rap Single of the Year for the song, 'BBE' and for Contemporary Indigenous Artist or Band. 'I think I can speak for both of us, when I say that we really love rap music, we really love hip hop which is why this award means so much to us,' Yung Trybez said. 'We made this album to add voices to the Indigenous people in the future. We created a vision for ourselves and where we see ourselves in the future. And what Indigenous excellence truly looks like.'The highlight of the awards night presentation was the performance by the Kids with Tia Woods, Saddle Lake Cree Nation, who was also up for an to the It would seem the future is now because Indigenous artists were representing in numerous categories and 2025 Juno Awards — the Canadian equivalent of the Grammy Awards — were handed out Sunday, March 30, in Vancouver, British Columbia, with host Michael Bublé. Adult Alternative Album of the YearElisapie, 'Inuktitut'Elisapie, Inuk, won the award for Best Adult Alternative Album for her release, 'Inuktitut.' The album features covers of contemporary pop songs from a wide array of artists including Metallica, Pink Floyd, Fleetwood Mac, Cyndi Lauper and more, all performed in the Inuktitut album is literally unlike anything you have ever heard, and also received a nomination in the highly coveted Album of the Year category.'This is so beautiful and so heavy,' Elisapie said after greeting the audience in her language. 'I am so proud to be an Inuk woman. I am so proud to be singing in my language. I would just like to say 'thank you' to all the artists who accepted and let me translate their songs that have meant so much to us.' Classical Composition of the YearDeantha Edmunds, 'Angmalukisaa'Another big win for Indigenous music that signals how Indigenous artists are creating and elevating in a variety of musical genres was Inuk soprano Deantha Edmunds, who took home the award for Classical Composition of the Year for 'Angmalukisaa.'Edmunds composed and performed the music in collaboration with the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra. Traditional Indigenous Artist or Group of the YearBlack Bear Singers, 'New Comings'Black Bear Singers took home the award for Traditional Indigenous Artist or Group of the Year, for their latest, 'New Comings.' Also nominated in the category were Brianna Lizotte for 'Winston and I'; Cree Confederation for 'Travelling Home'; Northern Cree for 'REZilience'; and Young Spirit for 'Ostesihtowin/Brotherhood.' Contemporary Indigenous Artist or Group of the YearSebastian Gaskin, 'Brown Man'The big prize for Contemporary Indigenous Artist or Group of the Year went to Sebastian Gaskin for his release, 'Brown Man.' The other nominees include Adrian Sutherland for 'Precious Diamonds,' Tia Wood for 'Pretty Red Bird,' Celeigh Cardinal for 'Boundless Possibiities,' and the Snotty Nose Rez Kids for 'Red Future.' Other nomineesIndigenous artists and groups were nominated in a variety of other categories, as well, including Blues, Adult Contemporary and Children's Album.*Classical Album of the Year (Large Ensemble): Luminous Voices, a Calgary-based chamber choir, was nominated for 'Ispiciwin,' a project by Cree Composer Andrew Balfour. Ispiciwin means 'journey' in Cree. Additional artists in the project include Walter Macdonald White Bear of Moose Factory Cree Nation, who performs the Native American courting flute, and Jessica McMann, Cowessis First Nation, on bass flute. The winner in the category was the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.*Blues Album of the Year: Blue Moon Marquee received a nomination for Blues Album of the Year for their release,'New Orleans Session.' The band led by A.W. Cardinal, Métis-Cree, took home the award last year for their album, 'Scream, Holler and Howl.' The winner was Big Dave McLean for 'This Old Life.'*Children's Album of the Year: Kym Gouchie, Lheidli T'enneh Nation, was nominated for Children's Album of the Year for 'Shun Beh Nats'ujeh: We Are Healing Through Songs.' The winner was Raffi and The Good Lovelies for 'Penny Penguin.'*Adult Contemporary Album of the Year: Celeigh Cardinal, Cree, was nominated for 'Boundless Possibilities.' The winner was Maia Davies for 'Lovers' Gothic.'*Contemporary Christian/Gospel Album of the Year: Elenee, Metis Nation–Saskatchewan/Greek was nominated for her self-titled release, 'Elenee.' The winner was Ryan Ofei, 'Restore.'*Contemporary Roots Album of the Year: Julian Taylor, West India/Mohawk, was nominated for his album, 'Pathways.' The winner was Kaia Kater, 'Strange Medicine.'*Alternative Album of the Year: Ruby Waters, Slovak/Métis, was nominated for her release, 'What's the Point?' The winner was Nemahsis for 'Verbathim.' Our stories are worth telling. Our stories are worth sharing. Our stories are worth your support. Contribute today to help ICT carry out its critical mission. Sign up for ICT's free newsletter. ICT, formerly Indian Country Today, is a nonprofit news organization that covers the Indigenous world with a daily digital platform and news broadcast with international viewership.


CBC
25-02-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
For Snotty Nose Rez Kids, the wait for Red Future was worth it
Social Sharing Snotty Nose Rez Kids' recent album, Red Future, was ready to go over three years ago, but the pandemic prompted a change in direction. However, the wait seems to have been worth it, with the album earning the rap group one of three award nominations at the 2025 Junos — which happen to be taking place in their home city. The group, made up of Quinton "Yung Trybez" Nyce and Darren "Young D" Metz, say they're stoked to be attending and performing at the Vancouver awards show on March 30. The duo, originally from from Kitimaat Village in northern B.C., performed in Toronto at the 2022 Juno Awards. But Metz says performing at the Junos in Vancouver is "definitely a special moment for us, to be able to do what we do here in front of our hometown." Red Future, the group's sixth album, is nominated for Rap Album of the Year. Snotty Nose Rez Kids are in the running for Rap Single of the Year with BBE, which stands for "big braid energy," and Contemporary Indigenous Artist or Group of the Year. While being nominated in the Indigenous category might seem like an obvious choice to some, Metz says nominations in two rap categories feel like "it should have happened years ago," acknowledging the confidence that it takes to be a rapper. The rap category at the award show was first introduced in 1991, and the Aboriginal recording category, now known as Indigenous Artist or Group of the Year, debuted three years later. Red Future Growing up without exposure to Indigenous artists because of slow internet access on the reserve and no social media at the time, Snotty Nose Rez Kids say that their music is meant to inspire future generations of Indigenous youth. Red Future represents the future generations of Indigenous artists to come. As Nyce describes it, the album tells stories of Indigenous futurism and excellence. The album was initially slated to come out in 2021, but the COVID-19 pandemic prompted a different release, Life After, which represented life after the pandemic. After that came " I'm Good, HBU?" showing the world that the pair was good now. Now, Red Future looks into the future. Committed to creating space for Indigenous art, the album features 12 other Indigenous artists, including Tia Wood, Dreezus and Travis Thompson. "We wanted to have as many Indigenous voices as we could because we all come from the same place, but we all have different points of view," said Metz. "A lot of people don't make music like we do. For us, there's only so many people that are out there that are able to digest our music. We make music for a certain demographic of people, and the way that we represent them, we take that very seriously," said Nyce. Nyce says opportunities to perform were rare for an up-and-coming rap group in Vancouver. Because of this, the group worked to create that opportunity for themselves and others. "We didn't have a lot of opportunity to be able to showcase what we were capable of in this city, but what we did have is each other, and we had a community that followed us anywhere we went." Soon, they'll be performing again on one of the biggest nights in the Canadian music calendar.