“Make some noise, Canada, make some noise!”
Those are words spoken by the biggest winner at the Juno Awards this past weekend at the Junos which took place at the Calgary Saddledome.
It was an historic weekend for Canadian R&B sensation The Weeknd, winning the most Juno awards of any artist – a first for an urban artist in 45 years of Juno awards presentations.
Abel Tesfaye, The Weeknd, took home an impressive haul of five of a possible six awards for which he was nominated. He won Best Single of the Year for “Can’t Feel My Face”, Best Album of the Year for Beauty Behind the Madness, Best Artist of the Year, Best Songwriter and Best R&B/Soul Recording for Beauty Behind the Madness.
Justin Bieber’s legion of fans voted in full force on social media to stop the complete landslide win for The Weeknd. Bieber took home Fan Choice award for his album Purpose.
This was a fitting Canadian recognition for The Weeknd, a famously shy 26 year old Scarborough singer/songwriter who has had an amazing year. He has already picked awards at the Grammys, American Music Awards and BET Awards.
There were several other urban artists that went home with Juno hardware. These include Drake who took home the award for Best Rap Recording of the Year for his album, If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late; Alessia Cara for Breakthrough Artist of the Year; Keys N Krates for Dance Recording of the Year for “Save Me” featuring Katy B, and Kafinal for Reggae Recording of the Year for “Nah Complain” featuring Daddy U Roy, and the aforementioned Bieber for his pop/urban Purpose.
This year’s Junos represent a sea change with respect to the high profile of Canadian urban music talent which has also dominated international charts.
