SiriusXM Black Canadian Music Awards
The SOCAN Foundation’s SiriusXM Black Canadian Music Awards honour outstanding Black music creators from across Canada and all musical genres. The Foundation is proud to announce its fourth year cohort of Award recipients: Bukola, Haleluya Hailu, Kalisway, Nia Nadurata and Obediya Jones-Darrell.
The Black Canadian Music Awards were established to recognize the creativity, talent, and contributions of Black music creators in Canada. Thanks to the generous support of SiriusXM Canada, each of the five award recipients will be granted $10,000 to advance their careers, with an additional five “Ones to Watch” Awards each valued at $1,000. Recipients were chosen by a jury composed of Black Canadian artists and music industry professionals.
“I’ve had the honour of being part of this great jury over the past few years. To see the development of black artists across Canada is exciting and inspiring. I think I speak for the entire jury when I say that the unfolding of the amazing talent shown in the submissions is going to be quite exciting,” said SOCAN Foundation Jury Chair, Dena Williams. The applicants this year were challenging to shortlist - but this is a good problem to have! I can truly say that I’m seeing a new level of quality, creativity, and genre diversity emerging within our community from coast to coast. These selected winners are just a snapshot of what’s to come from black artists across the country! To the artists out there, keep applying and keep creating, you never know whose ears your work will land on and whose creativity you'll inspire!”
“The SiriusXM Black Canadian Music Awards by SOCAN Foundation are vital to the growth of Black excellence in Canada, and we’re thrilled to celebrate a fresh group of talented recipients each year,” said SiriusXM Canada SVP, Programming & Operations, Michelle Mearns. “We extend our congratulations to this year's winners for their remarkable achievements.”
The “Ones To Watch” recipients are: AfrotroniX, Kwazii, Seago, Laurie Torres, and iaamSaam. Press photos are available here.
For additional information on the SOCAN Foundation and its programs, please visit socanfoundation.ca.
Black Canadian Music Award Recipients:
Bukola is a Nigerian-Canadian artist from Vancouver who fuses R&B vocals, jazz guitar, and heartfelt storytelling into what she calls “handcrafted R&B for the antisocial butterfly.” Inspired by India Arie, Amy Winehouse, and Corinne Bailey Rae, she began learning guitar on YouTube at 12 and has since performed across Canada, including shows at Toronto’s El Mocambo and BC Place stadium. Her music has appeared in Netflix’s Ginny & Georgia and Disney+’s The Princess, and her latest EP, The Confessions of an Antisocial Butterfly, produced by Baca & Brandn, explores coming-of-age themes through a unique radio show concept.
Raised in Vancouver, Haleluya Hailu is a multi-instrumentalist, poet, and activist. Eclectic, energetic, and constantly moving, Hailu manages to turn the awkward transition to adulthood into songs that anyone could lose themselves in. Her debut release eternally, yours with Canadian music powerhouse 604 Records features a vibrant and sparkling collection of alternative-minded tracks that effortlessly straddle emo, punk, and pop.
Kalisway is a Toronto-based funk, alternative R&B artist, songwriter and producer, writing and creating music that feels like palm trees on a beach while the sun is setting. She never understood what that meant until she started to feel colours and emotions through her music. Daily she records instant ideas of grooves, feelings and rhythms through her phone. No matter the weather, Kalisway records it all. Her new EP Take Me Back (World of Eras) was released on March 28th, 2025.
24-year old indie pop sensation Nia Nadurata began her musical journey in 2021. Since then, she has collaborated with artists such as Russ, Preston Pablo, Nonso Amadi and more, made her solo debut in 2023 and has amassed over 4 million streams to date. On January 3rd, 2025, Nia released her debut EP Still Living With My Parents, alongside hit single “Souvenirs”. With more music to share this year, Nia is here to light the way for a new generation of artists.
Obediya Jones-Darrell is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, and sound engineer whose work is rooted in Afro-Diaspora musical aesthetics. Educated at Simon Fraser University and Douglas College, he has presented his award-winning music at over 60 international festivals and composed for major theater companies across the U.S., including Cleveland Public Theatre, Karamu House, and Cleveland Playhouse. Internationally, he has written for ensembles such as the Grammy-winning Czech National Symphony Orchestra, Budapest Symphony Orchestra, and Symphony Nova Scotia. In addition to scoring for film, TV, and electro-acoustic projects, he has collaborated with artists across hip hop, R&B, reggae, and Afro-Colombian genres. He also serves on the board of the Canadian Folk Music Awards.
About The SOCAN Foundation
Founded in 1992, the SOCAN Foundation is dedicated to fostering musical creativity and promoting a better understanding of the role of music creators in today's society. The SOCAN Foundation is part of the SOCAN group of organizations, and guided by its own Board of Directors, which consists of composers, songwriters and music publishers, and reflects the variety of concert music and popular music genres as well as the geographic and linguistic regions of Canada. socanfoundation.ca
About SiriusXM Canada
Sirius XM Canada Inc., operating as SiriusXM Canada, is the country's leading audio entertainment company. SiriusXM creates and offers ad-free music; premier sports talk and live events; comedy; news; podcasts; and exclusive talk and entertainment. SiriusXM is available in vehicles from every major car company, as well as on smartphones and all connected devices on the SXM App. For more information, visit siriusxm.ca.