Avant-garde rapper Backxwash has won the 2020 Polaris Music Prize for her album 'God Has Nothing to Do With This Leave Him Out of It'. Backxwash, the stage name of performer Ashanti Mutinta, blends gothic elements of rap and metal music with her own personal experiences with faith, family and her queer identity. Also nominated were Caribou, Junia-T, Kaytranada, nêhiyawak, Pantayo, Lido Pimienta, Jessie Reyez, U.S. Girls, and Witch Prophet.

The 2020 short list for the Polaris Music Prize has been officially unveiled, with 10 albums for the Canadian music prize whittled down from a 40 albums list. One grand prize of $50,000 will be awarded on October 19. The other short list contenders will receive prizes of $3,000 each.

The nominees are:

Backxwash - 'God Has Nothing To Do With This Leave Him Out Of It'
Caribou - 'Suddenly'
Junia-T - 'Studio Monk'
Kaytranada - 'Bubba'
nêhiyawak - 'nipiy'
Pantayo - 'Pantayo'
Lido Pimienta - 'Miss Colombia'
Jessie Reyez - 'Before Love Came to Kill Us'
U.S. Girls - 'Heavy Light'
Witch Prophet - 'DNA Activation'

Torres covered Portishead's 'Wandering Star', made quite a different song; string arrangements on Ladybug Transistor’s 'Giovanna Please' sound like open spaces and countryside; Brutus slowed down their metal on 'Sand', but keep the intensity and melody; Channel Tres' 'Weedman' is a funny song about a “notoriously unreliable” weed dealer; another funny one - Chai's 'No More Cake' about too much make-up; Bizou features former and current members of Light FM, Smashing Pumpkins and Glaare - their new single 'Crashing Sky' puts them between pop and dark; Htiekal is a music project by the actor Lakeith Stanfield, and 'Fast Life' is his step into leftfield pop; Jessie Reyez released a retro-soul song 'Coffin' featuring Eminem; 'Only Children' by Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit is a lovely sombre song.

The Polaris Music Prize honors the best album out of Canada and this year hip-hop is most heavily represented with Shad, Snotty Nose Rez Kids, and Haviah Mighty all getting a nod. The list also includes Toronto punk favorites PUP, electronic producer Marie Davidson, and funk-punk ensemble FET.NAT. Full shortlist of 10 albums looks like […]