Rising gay star Kaytranada wins Canada’s answer to the Mercury Prize
By Will Stroude
Kaytranada has won the 2016 Polaris Music Prize (Canada’s answer to the Mercury Music Prize) for his 2016 album 99.9%.
The openly gay producer and DJ beat competition from the likes of Carly Rae Jepsen and Grimes to snatch the award, which celebrates the best Canadian album of the year based on “artistic merit without regard to genre, sales history or label affiliation.”
“For me, it’s crazy to get this award,” said 24-year-old Kaytranada. “It’s really, truly, a big honour. It’s amazing. Ceci est pour Montréal, tous mes Montréalais. Shout outs to all of y’all. I want to thank the judges and everybody for voting for me. It’s an honour man, I don’t know what to say.”
Previous winners of the prestigious award include Feist (2012) Arcade Fire (2011) and Caribou (2008).
According to the Guardian, the Haiti-born musician, who is the first winner to come from the world of hip hop/r’n’b said, “I hope that the next generation are not afraid to do more.
“They can just do whatever they want. They can do it yourself like I did,” he added.
Check out the music video for ‘Glowed Up’, from the award-winning 99.9%, below:
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