Canadian rapper Drake at the Billboard Music Awards in May 2019. Drake’s recent beef with American rapper Kendrick Lamar highlights how Canadian rap is often seen as distant from American hip hop culture.
(Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)
Beefs often target Drake’s race, constructing him as a Canadian who is not Black enough to claim an authentic connection to African-American hip hop culture.
Jay Park, right, of K-pop band Enhypen, who was born in Seattle, prepares to throw ceremonial first pitches with bandmates before a Seattle Mariners game, April 29, 2024, in Seattle.
(AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
New K-pop groups comprised entirely of North Americans, Korea’s ‘K-culture training visa’ to attract international participation and K-pop auditions in Canada are all signs of a K-pop evolution.
William Prince, Julian Taylor, Allison Russell, Aysanabee and Shawnee Kish perform a tribute to the late Robbie Robertson at the Juno awards, in Halifax, on March 24, 2024.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese
Paying tribute to departed and living musicians via memorial tributes and awards is a way of lifting up artists’ significant roles defining and shaping musical innovation and cultural identity.
Toronto band The Beaches, fronted by lead singer and bassist Jordan Miller, closes off the 2024 Juno awards in Halifax, March 24, 2024.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese
All-female rock bands like The Beaches are both a breath of fresh air and also heirs to a tradition of women in rock that includes early Black female guitarists and the 1990s riot grrrl movement.
Drake has made a career as a heartbroken player who sings and raps.
Drake accepts artist of the decade award at the Billboard Music Awards on May 23, 2021, in Los Angeles.
(AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)
Canadian R&B artists, including Drake, have built lifestyle brands that simultaneously reinforce and challenge dominant beliefs about R&B music as Black and American, and Canadian identity as white.
Buffy Sainte-Marie speaks at a rally of Indigenous people in Edmonton in November 1981.
(CP PHOTO/Dave Buston)
Canadian folk singer Gordon Lightfoot passed away on May 1. His legacy includes songs that memorialize tragic shipping disasters and the 1968 Detroit Uprising.
The Online Streaming Act aims to level the playing field between streaming giants and legacy Canadian radio and television broadcasters.
(Shutterstock)
The Online Streaming Act is set to soon become law in Canada. The act is a step in the right direction, but more needs to be done to support BIPOC content.
Paul Langlois, left, and Rob Baker from the Tragically Hip help unveil a plaque at Springer Market Square in Kingston, Ont., in February 2017.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Lars Hagberg
There is a distinction between deliberate use of a song to support a particular political campaign, and incidental music in the background at a social function hosted by a political party.
Tobi accepts the Juno Award for Rap Album/EP of the Year during the Juno Awards in Edmonton on March 13, 2023. Tobi is among the many Juno-nominated and Juno-recognized artists who have received grants partly funded by Canadian radio profits.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Timothy Matwey
Here’s how radio Canadian content policy started, and how Canadian legislation, C-11, could contribute to supporting and growing home-grown music in the digital era.
Neil Young isn’t the first artist to speak out about musicians’ relationships with large streaming servies.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Invision - Amy Harris
A Spotify boycott wouldn’t fix the working conditions of most musicians. Fostering a more equitable, community-based music culture requires changing how we listen to music and support its production.
Artist Alanis Morissette receives her lifetime achievement award from the Canadian Music Hall of Fame during the 2015 Juno Awards.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
Known variously in Juno history as ‘Best Single,’ or ‘Best-Selling Single,’ and now ‘Single of the Year’ this award always garners attention. Reflections on select singles since 1979.
Diga, frontman of the Yellowknife-based band Digawolf, says his goal is to pursue music “without having to move south.” Here, the band, nominated as Indigenous artist or group of the year, with Diga, David Dowe and Layne Rybchinski.
(Digawolf/Maia Lepage)
Three-quarters of the high-profile category Juno 2020 nominees were Ontario artists. This year’s awards have been cancelled, but new efforts to boost music development across the country are needed.
Gord Downie, the poetic lead singer of the Tragically Hip whose determined fight with brain cancer inspired a nation, has died. He was 53.
(THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young)
Good songs are like good poetry. Literature professor Robert Morrison reflects on The Tragically Hip’s best song, “Ahead by a Century,” and explains the politics of hope within the tune.
Four Seasons of the Canadian Flag, painted by Maxwell Newhouse for John Burge.
(Maxwell Newhouse)
Composer John Burge speaks of his drive to create a musical piece to mark Canada’s 150th year of confederation and to capture our collective experiences.