The highly esteemed Polaris Music Prize revealed this year’s Long List and Short List. The not-for-profit organization annually honours artists who produce Canadian music albums of distinction. The distinction is selected by a panel of music critics who judge and award the prize, regardless of musical genre or popularity of the album. Congratulations to our distributed artists and labels who have landed on both lists!
Landing on both the Long List and then distilled down to a few on the Short List, Junia-T, the stage name of Jonathan Lindo, is a Toronto-based producer and rapper. Junia-T wears many hats, one of which is Jessie Reyez’ longtime creative collaborator and DJ. His album Studio Monk features artists including Jessie, Nate Husser, STORRY, Benjamin A.D., Miloh Smith, Sean Leon, and more. The contagiously brilliant 13-track album is a piece of art, a mirror image of his distinct musicianship and production talent, extremely well-received from press including The Fader and BBC Radio 1xtra. As Complex exclaimed, “Junia-T’s collaborative nature foregrounds the palpable authenticity oozing from the soulful sheen of the album”. Similarly, Lyrical Lemonade said, “With three distinct singles, it should come as no surprise that the selling point of the complete Studio Monk experience is the range of sounds, styles, and colors.”
While his song “Sad Face Emojis” is all Jessie Reyez sees (or at least sings about it in the song), we’re seeing a bunch of happy face emojis and ecstatic ones celebrating this release.
Congrats to all those who were named to the Long List and Short List! A winner will be announced on October 19.
Long List:
Begonia – Fear (Birthday Cake)
Corridor – Junior (Bonsound)
Junia-T – Studio Monk (Pirates Blend)
P’tit Belliveau – Greatest Hits Vol.1 (Bonsound)
Short List:
Junia-T – Studio Monk (Pirates Blend)
