The JUNO Awards will be heading to Southwestern Ontario as the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) has announced that London will host the 2019 JUNO Awards. Officials made the announcement Monday morning at the London Music Hall.
The 2019 JUNO Awards, along with all JUNO Week festivities will take place from Monday, Mar. 11 to Sunday, Mar. 17, 2019. The 48th Annual JUNO Awards will be broadcast live on CBC from Budweiser Gardens, on Mar. 17.
“We’re excited to be bringing the 2019 JUNOS to London. This city has seen incredible growth with its music scene and as such, is the perfect platform to celebrate Canadian talent,” said Allan Reid, President & CEO, CARAS/The JUNO Awards and MusiCounts.
“We want to thank the Government of Ontario for their support in bringing the JUNOS back to Ontario. We look forward to supporting and showcasing the city’s diverse music scene.”
KILLY at the 2018 Festival d’ete de Quebec (Photo: Vladymir PH/HipHopCanada)
Earlier today, JUNO organizers revealed this year’s nominations, including the Rap Recording of the Year category which we featured here.
Somehow, despite being one of the biggest artists in the world, and one of the most successful artists in Canadian history (arguably, the most successful)—and having a chart topping album in 2018 and being the most streamed artist of ALL-TIME—Drake is nowhere to be found in the list of nominees. Could this be another example of music industry politics at play since Drake hasn’t exactly embraced the JUNOs recently? It’s a little odd that he isn’t nominated in even one category. Even Drake’s under-the-radar American rival Kendrick Lamar is on there for his “Pray For Me” collaboration with The Weeknd.
The reason for the snub? According to CARAS, it’s because his album, Scorpion, was never actually submitted by Drake or his team. Reid confirmed as much to CBC earlier:
“It’s unfortunate he chose not to submit, and hopefully, he will come back at some point.”
That explanation makes sense for the genre-specific categories like Rap Recording of the Year or Reggae Recording of the Year. Does the same apply for the more prestigious awards like Artist of the Year, or Album of the Year? Did Cardi B and Post Malone’s labels submit Invasion of Privacy and beerbongs & bentleys through official channels before being nominated for International Album of the Year? Hopefully they did so there’s some consistency to the reasoning Reid provided.
HipHopCanada reached out to CARAS on Tuesday for comment but so far we haven’t heard back.
And why wouldn’t Drake’s camp submit to Canada’s most recognized music awards show? He could be a bit jaded by past experiences. Most notably, CARAS was promoting the hell out of Drake in 2011 when he was set to host their 2011 award show in his hometown of Toronto. The OVO rapper went into the evening with a total of six nominations. By the end of the show, he hadn’t won any of them, and lost to Shad in the Rap Recording of the Year category.
A. Harmony from Exclaim! offered CBC this explanation for Drake’s camp not submitting:
“I think it may be him redirecting his focus to the audience that actually cares about him. It’s great to have that recognition, but it’s certainly not something that hip hop artists need in order to grow their platforms.”
Drake
Aside from the Rap Recording of the Year category, Canadian hip-hop has fared quite well this year.
Classified and SonReal are up for Video of the Year with “Powerless” (directed by Andrew Hines) “Have A Nice Day” (directed by Peter Huang). KILLY, NAV, and Tory Lanez are up for JUNO Fan Choice Award, and Tory is also up for Artist of the Year. KILLY is in the running for Breakthrough Artist of the Year, and 88GLAM is up for Breakthrough Group of the Year. Also, Toronto producer Frank Dukes is up for Songwriter of the Year for his work on Cardi B’s “Be Careful,” Post Malone’s “Better Now,” and The Weeknd’s “Call Out My Name,”
You can find the full list of JUNO nominations, across all categories, below:
2019 JUNO Award Nominations
JUNO Fan Choice Award
Alessia Cara
Avril Lavigne
bülow
Elijah Woods x Jamie Fine
KILLY Secret Sound Club
Loud Luxury
NAV
Shawn Mendes
The Weeknd
Tory Lanez
Single of the Year
Alessia Cara – “Growing Pains”
bülow – “Not A Love Song”
Loud Luxury – “Body”
Shawn Mendes – “In My Blood”
The Weeknd and Kendrick Lamar – “Pray For Me”
International Album of the Year
Camila Cabello – Camila
Cardi B – Invasion of Privacy
Maroon 5 – Red Pill Blues
Post Malone – beerbongs & bentleys
Travis Scott – ASTROWORLD
Album of the Year
Hubert Lenoir – Darlène
Jann Arden – These Are The Days
Shawn Mendes – Shawn Mendes
The Weeknd – My Dear Melancholy
Three Days Grace – Outsider
Artist of the Year
Alessia Cara
Michael Bublé
Shawn Mendes
The Weeknd
Tory Lanez
Group of the Year
Arkells
Chromeo
Metric
The Sheepdogs
Three Days Grace
Breakthrough Artist of the Year
bülow
grandson
Johnny Orlando
KILLY
Meghan Patrick
Breakthrough Group of the Year
88GLAM
Dizzy
Elijah Woods x Jamie Fine
Loud Luxury
The Washboard Union
Songwriter of the Year
Afie Jurvanen (Bahamas – Earthtones; “No Wrong,” “Way with Words,” “Any Place”)
Donovan Woods (Donavan Woods – Both Ways; “Our Friend Bobby”, “Truck Full of Money”, “Next Year”)
Frank Dukes (Cardi B “Be Careful”; Post Malone “Better Now”; The Weeknd “Call Out My Name”)
Jessie Reyez (Sam Smith and Calvin Harris “Promises”; Dua Lipa and Calvin Harris “One Kiss”; Jessie Reyes “Apple Juice”)
Shawn Mendes (Shawn Mendes – Shawn Mendes; “Lost In Japan,” “Youth,” “In My Blood”)
Country Album of the Year
Brett Kissel – We Were That Song
Jess Moskaluke – A Small Town Christmas
Meghan Patrick – Country Music Made Me Do It
The Reklaws – Feels Like That
Tim Hicks – New Tattoo
Adult Alternative Album of the Year
Bahamas – Earthtones
Dan Mangan – More Or Less
Gabrielle Shonk – Gabrielle Shonk
Rhye – Blood
The Barr Brothers – Queens Of The Breakers
Alternative Album of the Year
Destroyer – ken
Dizzy – Baby Teeth
Fucked Up – Dose Your Dreams
Tokyo Police Club – TPC
U.S. Girls – In A Poem Unlimited
Pop Album of the Year
bülow – Damaged
Chromeo – Head Over Heels
Hubert Lenoir – Darlène
Shawn Mendes = Shawn Mendes
Tyler Shaw – Intuition
Rock Album of the Year
Arkells – Rally Cry
Monster Truck – True Rockers
The Sheepdogs – Changing Colours
The Trews – Civilianaires
Three Days Grace – Outsider
Vocal Jazz Album of the Year
Diana Krall & Tony Bennett – Love Is Here To Stay
Diana Panton – solstice/equinox
Holly Cole – Holly
Jodi Proznick ft. Laila Biali – Sun Songs
Laila Biali – Laila Biali
Jazz Album of the Year: Solo
Alexis Baro – Sandstorm
Alison Young – So Here We Are
Larnell Lewis – In the Moment
Renee Rosnes – Beloved of the Sky
Robi Botos – Old Soul
Jazz Album of the Year: Group
Allison Au Quartet – Wander Wonder
Andrew Rathbun Large Ensemble – Atwood Suites
Andy Milne & Dapp Theory – The Seasons of Being
Liebman/Murley Quartet – Live at U of T
Quinsin Nachoff’s Flux – Path of Totality
Instrumental Album of the Year
Aerialists – Group Manoeuvre
Gordon Grdina – China Cloud
Kevin Breit – Johnny Goldtooth and The Chevy Casanovas
The Fretless – Live from the Art Farm
Toninato / Thiessen – The Space Between Us
Francophone Album of the Year
Cœur de pirate – en cas de tempête, ce jardin sera fermé
Hubert Lenoir – Darlène
Loud – Une année record
Philippe Brach – Le silence des troupeaux
Tire le coyote – Désherbage
Children’s Album of the Year
Beppie – Let’s Go Bananas
Ginalina – It Takes a Village
Raffi – Dog on the Floor
Sonshine and Broccoli – It’s Cool To Be Kind
Splash’N Boots – You, Me and the Sea
Classical Album of the Year: Solo of Chamber
Andrew Wan & Charles Richard-Hamelin – Beethoven: Violin Sonatas Nos. 6, 7 & 8
Angela Hewitt – Scarlatti: Sonatas Vol.2
Blake Pouliot with Hsin-I Huang – Ravel & Debussy: Sonates
Gryphon Trio – The End of Flowers: Works by Clarke & Ravel
Marc-André Hamelin – Schubert: Piano Sonata in B Flat Major D.960; Four Impromptus D.935
Classical Album of the Year: Large Ensemble
Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra/Orchestre du Centre National Des Arts du Canada conducted by Alexander Shelley – New Worlds/Nouveaux Mondes
James Ehnes with Seattle Symphony and Detroit Symphony Orchestra – Newton Howard & Kernis: Violin Concertos; Tovey: Stream of Limelight
Louis Lortie with BBC Philharmonic – Saint-Saëns: Piano Concertos Nos. 1, 2 and 4
Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra conducted by Arthur Post with Gryphon Trio – Into the Wonder
Toronto Symphony Orchestra conducted by Peter Oundjian featuring Louis Lortie, Sarah Jeffrey, & Teng Li – Vaughan Williams
Classical Album of the Year: Vocal or Choral
Barbara Hannigan with Reinbert De Leeuw – Vienna: Fin de siècle
Choeur de l’Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal with Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Conducted by Kent Nagano with Guest Soloists – Bernstein: A Quiet Place
Elmer Iseler Singers featuring Patricia O’Callaghan – David Braid: Corona Divinae Misericordiae
Joyce El-Khoury – Écho
Miriam Khalil – Ayre: Live
Classical Composition of the Year
Ana Sokolović – Golden Slumbers Kiss your Eyes
Bekah Simms – Granitic
Cassandra Miller – About Bach
Nicole Lizée – Katana of Choice
Vincent Ho – Arctic Symphony
Rap Recording of the Year
88GLAM – 88GLAM RELOADED
Belly – Immigrant
KILLY – Surrender Your Soul
NAV – RECKLESS
Tory Lanez – LoVE me NOw
Dance Recording of the Year
AZARI – “Gotasoul”
Dzeko & Tiësto – “Jackie Chan (ft. Preme & Post Malone) ”
Jacques Greene – “Avatar Beach”
Keys N Krates – “CURA”
Loud Luxury – “Body”
R&B/Soul Recording of the Year
Anders – Twos
Black Atlass -Pain & Pleasure
Charlotte Day Wilson – Stone Woman
Jessie Reyez – Being Human In Public
The Weeknd – My Dear Melancholy,
Reggae Recording of the Year
Blessed – Money Don’t Grow Pon Trees
Chelsea Stewart – Genesis
Dubmatix – Sly & Robbie meet Dubmatix – Overdubbed
Exco Levi – Narrative
Kafinal ft. Queen Ifrica – Talk Or No Talk
Indigenous Album of the Year
Elisapie – The Ballad of the Runaway Girl
Jeremy Dutcher – Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa
Leonard Sumner – Standing in the Light
Brothers and Sister – Nitisanak
Snotty Nose Rez Kids – The Average Savage
Contemporary Roots Album of the Year
AHI – In Our Time
Donovan Woods – Both Ways
Kaia Kater – Grenades
Megan Nash – Seeker
The Deep Dark Woods – Yarrow
Blues Album of the Year
Colin James – Miles To Go
Jack de Keyzer – Checkmate
Myles Goodwyn – Myles Goodwyn and Friends of the Blues
Samantha Martin & Delta Sugar – Run To Me
Sue Foley – The Ice Queen
Contemporary Christian/gospel Album of the Year
Brian Doerksen – Grateful
LOVECOLLIDE – Tired Of Basic
Manic Drive – Into the Wild
Tim Neufeld & The Glory Boys – The Buffalo Roadshow
Dean Flandez – Speak Warren
World Music Album of the Year
Ayrad – Zoubida
Boogát – San Cristóbal Baile Inn
Emmanuel Jal and Nyaruach – Naath
Telmary y Habana Sana – Fuerza Arara
Wesli – Rapadou Kreyol
Jack Richardson Producer of the Year
David Foster and Michael Bublé (“My Funny Valentine”, “Where or When” [co-producer Jochem van der Saag]) LOVE – Michael Bublé
Eric Ratz (“People’s Champ”, “Relentless”) RALLY CRY – Arkells
Greg Wells (“Waving Through a Window”) DEAR EVAN HANSEN (BROADWAY CAST RECORDING) DELUXE – Katy Perry (“This Is Me”) – THE GREATEST SHOWMAN (ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK) – Keala Settle, The Greatest Showman Ensemble
Mike Wise (“Not A Love Song”, “Two Punks In Love”) DAMAGED – bülow
Thomas D’Arcy (“I’ve Got A Hole Where My Heart Should Be”) CHANGING COLOURS – The Sheepdogs (“Love The Way You Are” [co-producers James Younger, Jeffrey Innes]) CRITICAL HIT – Yukon Blonde Dine Alone*Universal
Recording Engineer of the Year
Ben Kaplan “Get Up”, “It’s Alright” DANCE AND CRY – Mother Mother
Jason Dufour “Truck Full Of Money” BOTH WAYS – Donovan Woods “When My Body Breaks” HOLY SMOKE – Kandle
Robbie Lackritz “No Wrong”, “Way With Words” EARTHTONES – Bahamas
Shawn Everett “Slow Burn,” “Space Cowboy” GOLDEN HOUR – Kacey Musgraves
Steve Bays “Flashes” PHASES – Dear Rouge, “UnAmerican” UNAMERICAN – Said The Whale
Album Artwork of the Year
Gareth Auden-Hole (Art Director), Emil Mateja (Illustrator) LEFT TO OUR OWN DEVICES – Jack Pine and The Fire
Geordan Moore (Art Director, Designer, & Illustrator) CROSSWORLDS – Joshua Van Tassel
Michael DeAngelis (Art Director & Designer), Matt Barnes & Jess Baumung (Photographers) RALLY CRY – Arkells
Mike Milosh (Art Director, Designer, Illustrator, & Photographer) BLOOD – Rhye
Simon Dupuis (Art Director, Designer, Illustrator, & Photographer) VIENS AVEC MOI – Les Hôtesses d’Hilaire L-A be – Let artists
Video of the Year
“No Depression – Ali Eisner (Bahamas)
“Places” – Andrew De Zen (Alaskan Tapes)
“Powerless” – Andrew Hines (Classified)
“Hang Ups” – Ben Knechtel (Scott Helman)
“Have A Nice Day” – Peter Huang (SonReal)
Electronic Album of the Year
Ekali – Crystal Eyes
Felix Cartal – Next Season
iamhill – Give It a Rest
Milk & Bone – Deception Bay
REZZ – Certain Kind of Magic
Metal/Hard Music Album of the Year
Beyond Creation – Algorythm
Cancer Bats – The Spark That Moves
KEN Mode – Loved
Kobra And The Lotus – Prevail II
Voivod – The Wake
Adult Contemporary Album of the Year
Jann Arden – These Are The Days
Michael Bublé – Love
Molly Johnson – Meaning To Tell Ya
Nuela Charles – Distant Danger
Whitehorse – A Whitehorse Winter Classic
Comedy Album of the Year
Chanty Marostica – The CHANTY Show
Dave Merheje – Good Friend Bad Grammar
Debra DiGiovanni – Lady Jazz
Mayce Galoni – Awkwarder
Pat Thornton – Chicken!
For more information about CARAS and the 2019 JUNO Awards, check out JUNOAwards.ca.
