Montreal rapper Naya Ali wins inaugural Black Canadian Music Award

A Montreal rapper simply gained a brand new Canadian music award that acknowledges up-and-coming Black artists.

NDG’s Naya Ali has develop into one of many inaugural winners of the SOCAN Basis’s SiriusXM Black Canadian Music Awards.

It’s the newest accomplishment in her rapidly rising profession.

“It’s been wild. I feel even in direction of the tip of this previous yr, issues have been transferring quite a bit quicker,” Ali instructed International Information in an interview.

She was born in Ethiopia and got here to Montreal along with her mom when she was a toddler. Ali says her upbringing in NDG contributed to piquing her curiosity in changing into a rapper.

“When , ! It’s a fantastic, nice space, and a fantastic space for the humanities,” she stated.

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Ali could also be popping out with polished music and visually placing movies now, however the 32-year-old’s path to stardom was a winding one. One of many early stops was the NDG YMCA, the place in her early teenagers she’d watch yearly exhibits placed on by rappers from the group.

“There was a buzz. There was an NDG buzz and I at all times used to, , wish to be a part of it. However I didn’t understand how,” she stated.

She began writing poetry and rapping, however by her early 20s she had given up the dream.

“I didn’t suppose it was viable,” she stated. “I simply targeted on faculty and targeted on going to Concordia and McGill after which I labored in advertising and marketing.”

She says wasn’t comfortable. Working an workplace job, it turned clear what she actually needed to do.

“Whereas I used to be doing my 9 to 5, I’d get house and from six to 12 I’d work on my music,” she recounted.

She launched her first-ever single Rara in 2017, and rapidly received observed.

“That’s how I received my supervisor, after which it simply began snowballing by itself. For me, that was a affirmation, so I simply trusted the method and labored tougher,” she stated.

Since then, her momentum has solely grown, and this week turned considered one of 5 winners of the first-ever Black Canadian Music Awards. The objective of the honour is to propel budding Black expertise ahead. A jury of 10 Black artists and music business leaders picked her.

“We are able to’t deny the various systematic boundaries that artists face, particularly Black artists, and so we’ve got a duty to play our position all of us do within the business,” stated Charlie Wall-Andrews, govt director of the SOCAN Basis.

She stated the jury didn’t take the choices evenly, and reviewed lots of of submissions.

“Like all the different winners, Naya actually encompasses a singular spirit and has demonstrated momentum in innovation and creativity,” stated Wall-Andrews.

Ali stated the award means significantly particular to her as a result of she was chosen by friends within the music business.

The second a part of her album Godspeed is about to be launched in 2021. Her final objective is to observe within the footsteps of different Canadian hip-hop superstars and make it huge within the U.S. and past.