The SOCAN Foundation has announced the five recipients of the 2022 SiriusXM Black Canadian Music Awards, created to recognize and celebrate the artistic merit demonstrated by Black music creators: Adria Kain, AHI, Desarae Dee, Nonso Amadi and Zach Zoya, each of whom will receive $10,000 (double last year’s amount) to support their development.
Special distinctions and awards of $1,000 are also being made to City Fidelia, Haley Smalls, Leila Day, Promise, and Shreez.
To listen to the music of all of the 2022 winners, click here.
“What an honour to participate in amplifying Black creatives. So many of the submissions were incredible, making this the hardest jury process to date,” said Keziah Myers, Executive Director at ADVANCE Music Canada, and chair of the jury. “I learned of writers and composers that I didn’t know about, automatically looked up their projects, and it inspired me to think of ways to amplify them within the industry, and provide more vehicles for opportunity. Congratulations to the winners!” Myers was part of the SOCAN Foundation committee that created the Black Canadian Music Awards, and has also served as a jury member for the last three years.
This year, the Awards had a record number of applications from artists across Canada, spanning a multitude of genres. Winners were selected by a jury and advisory council of prominent Black artists and industry leaders. Jury members include Keziah Myers (Executive Director at Advance), Nicolas Ouellet (Radio Host at Radio-Canada), Lord Quest (Executive Creative, Black Music, at SOCAN), Marika Siewert (Recording Artist) and Wayne Samuels (President and CEO at Wired Management Inc).
“We’re so proud to help bring this program to life for a third year, and to double the prize money for these incredibly talented and deserving recipients,” said Michelle Mearns, VP, Programming & Operations, SiriusXM Canada. “SiriusXM is committed to supporting Black Canadian artists, and I can’t wait to see what these artists create in the future.”
For more information about the SOCAN Foundation, please visit www.socanfoundation.ca.