On Saturday night (April 1), Toronto lyricist Jazz Cartier took home the top rap recognition at the Juno Awards, Canada’s most significant music industry honor.
But despite winning Rap Recording of the Year for his Hotel Paranoia project, Cartier called out Canadian radio for its lack of support during his acceptance speech. However, his words didn’t air because his award was handed out during the show’s non-televised portion before the main event, as were the statues for fellow winners and Canadian musicians Drake, The Weeknd, and Kaytranada.
Cartier echoed his same sentiment toward radio in an Instagram post later that night, and added a challenge to the award show itself.
He wrote:
“This means a lot to me but like I said this evening the Canadian radio is gonna have to stop bullshitting and start playing our own on our radio so these kids don’t feel the need to leave to the states in order to make it or get heard. That’s going to be one of my goals this year to make sure that happens. And also @thejunoawards while you guys enjoy all the hip hop in the world at your after parties, next year you gotta have this category filmed on television.”
Jazz also paid tribute to Canadian artists who came before him including Kardinal Offishall (who he calls a mentor), “Jelleestone, Michie Mee, Maestro, Point Blank, Main Source, Adam Bomb.”
He gave nod to “Drake, Belly, Tory [Lanez] & Tasha [the Amazon]” too, saying, “You all inspire me I share this with you guys who deserve it more than I do.”
Drake won an International Achievement Award, while The Weeknd’s Starboy was recognized as Best R&B/Soul Recording of the Year and Kaytranada’s 99.9% won Electronic Album of the Year. Alessia Cara won Pop Album of the Year for Know-It-All.
Insider Access | Jazz Cartier headlines in NYC