Zambian-Canadian rapper Backxwash is the winner of the 2020 Polaris Music Prize for the album God Has Nothing To Do With This Leave Him Out Of It.
The Montreal-based artist said of the big win, “Be as honest as you want to be and create the art that you want to.”
This is Backxwash’s first Polaris Music Prize honour.
The Prize, which was presented by CBC Music, goes to the best Canadian album of the year based on artistic merit without regard to genre, sales history, or label affiliation.
It was determined by a grand jury of 11 music media professionals drawn from the greater Polaris jury pool of 201 writers, editors, broadcasters, DJs, and personalities from across the country. This was the 15th edition of the Polaris Music Prize.
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Backxwash’s victory comes with a $50,000 reward. The nine other short-list nominees, including Caribou, Junia-T, and Pantayo, each received $3,000, courtesy of Slaight Music.
Backxwash’s name was revealed by Polaris 2019 winner Haviah Mighty, live from the stage of Toronto venue The Carlu during the 2020 Polaris Music Prize Celebration broadcast.
Due to COVID-19, Polaris chose not to host a winner gala event this year. Instead, they invited Canadian filmmakers to apply to create commissioned films inspired by each of the short-list-nominated albums. Hundreds of filmmakers applied, with the selected filmmaking teams being commissioned based on input from Polaris staff, CBC Music, and short-list nominee teams.
These 10 short films were streamed during the 2020 Polaris Music Prize Celebration, hosted by CBC Music’s Saroja Coelho.
“It’s an incredible and humbling honour to oversee this year’s Polaris Grand Jury,” said Polaris jury foreperson Melissa Vincent. “Their devotion to discussing and championing the work of an outstanding group of artists is a testament to the vitality of music coming out of Canada. We could not be more thrilled to congratulate the winner of the 2020 Polaris Music Prize!”
Past Polaris winners include Jeremy Dutcher (2018), Lido Pimienta (2017), Kaytranada (2016), Buffy Sainte-Marie (2015), and Tanya Tagaq (2014).
