Everything You Need To Know About The 2015 Juno Nominees For Rap Recording Of The Year

Marco Polo, Naturally Born Strangers, P Reign, Saukrates, and Tre Mission are all up for the award.

The Juno Awards are on Sunday, and the most important category probably won’t even be televised. The presentation of the award for Rap Recording Of The Year rarely gets any shine on the official Junos broadcast, but that doesn’t mean these nominees don’t deserve to be recognized on the same level as the guy who sings “Why you gotta be so ruuuuude?”

The most exciting music being made in Canada today is hip-hop. Period. Our rappers have never been more relevant, our producers have never been more innovative, and there’s a vibrant community in place to support our homegrown talent. Even though the Junos won’t give rap any airtime, it’s a disservice to these nominees to write off the Junos as irrelevant.

This year, both veterans and newcomers have been singled out in equal parts, with projects by Marco Polo, Naturally Born Strangers, P Reign, Saukrates, and Tre Mission all in contention for the award. Here’s everything you need to know about the 2015 Juno nominees for Rap Recording Of The Year.

Marco Polo, ‘PA2: The Director's Cut’

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The lone producer in a category that traditionally recognizes vocalists, Toronto-born beatmaker Marco Polo is lauded by the International hip-hop community for cultivating the classic boom-bap sound that epitomizes the golden era of New York City hip-hop. On his second solo full-length, PA2: The Director's Cut, Polo enlists a who’s-who of legendary vocalists, including MC Eiht, Masta Ace, Pharoahe Monch, Styles P, Kardinal Offishall, and more, not only showcasing his skills as a beatmaker, but as an executive producer as well. On album highlight “G.U.R.U.,” Marco Polo and Brooklyn rapper Talib Kweli craft an emotional tribute to the late Gang Starr emcee, featuring scratches by none other than DJ Premiere himself. There are some incredible grooves on PA2: The Director's Cut, but the most impressive thing about the project is that Marco Polo was able to construct a 19-track album featuring over 30 vocalists, and have the end result sound like a cohesive piece of work, rather than a compilation.

Naturally Born Strangers, ‘The Legends League Presents: Naturally Born Strangers’

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Naturally Born Strangers is Toronto hip-hop's answer to The Avengers. Comprised of veteran Scarborough emcee Tona, revered battle rapper Adam Bomb, and prolific Toronto rapper/producer Rich Kidd, the Naturally Born Strangers mixtape is a 13-song, sample-driven beast that exudes Toronto-bred credibility. This free mixtape was conceived, presented, and creatively inspired by Toronto-based designer Bryan Espiritu, as a musical component to his clothing line, The Legends League. Lyrically, the project is an exploration of a fringe existence, and finding power in a life less ordinary, with the voices of three distinct Toronto talents colliding on a musical landscape brought to life by seasoned producer Rich Kidd.

P Reign, ‘Dear America’

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P Reign’s Dear America EP has a pretty fascinating backstory. After being arrested for cocaine trafficking in 2004, the Reps Up-affiliated Scarborough rapper accepted a conditional discharge, resulting in no jail time, and no time served. Even though his record is considered clean in Canada, the American border saw things differently, and would deny him entry on every attempt to cross. This was especially problematic, given that RCA signed P Reign to a record deal, on one condition: he had to be able to access the United States.So, the Dear America EP is essentially a plea for admittance. P Reign’s border troubles have finally been sorted, and thanks to a coveted Drake co-sign, he’s finally experiencing success in Canada, America, and beyond. His first single “DnF” features hooks by Drake and Atlanta rapper Future (who contributes all of three words to the song, two if it’s the censored version) has over 15 million views on YouTube.

Saukrates, ‘Amani’

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If you’re even peripherally familiar with Canadian hip-hop, Bigg Soxx should need no introduction. Iconic Toronto vocalist and producer Saukrates has contributed to nearly every major Canadian hip-hop release, working with Juno winners Choclair, Kardinal Offishall, Jully Black, Devine Brown, k-os, Rascalz, and Swollen Members, but he’s never won a Juno for one of his own songs. Saukrates has been nominated in this category three times before, but this could be his chance to take home some hardware for the first time. Amani is brief, but it showcases a return to form for Bigg Soxx, in just 4 songs and 14 minutes. From the amped up power move “Kingdom Come,” to the soulful ode to Toronto’s premiere gentleman’s club “FYEO,” Saukrates is two decades deep in the game, and still getting better.

Tre Mission, ‘Stigmata’

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Tre Mission is Canada’s ambassador of grime, fusing the sounds of East London with North American rap on his debut record Stigmata. Largely self-produced, and released on acclaimed grime label Big Dada (in partnership with Last Gang), Stigmata boasts features from grime legends Wiley, JME, and Skepta, which should be enough to silence anyone wary of Tre’s ties to a sound that was, until recently, fundamentally connected to the UK. Kanye West put the world onto the superstars of grime via his “All Day” Brit Awards performance, so it’s inevitable that the sound comes to the United States. Thanks to Tre Mission, grime is already here in Canada.

Watch the Juno Awards Cypher, with Saukrates, Tre Mission, and Naturally Born Strangers rapping over beats by Marco Polo below.

 

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