This years JUNO Awards (the Canadian Grammys, in case you forgot) were considerably less stuffy than past editions thanks to a rightful celebration of essential voices young, old, and departed. Toronto rap veteran Tory Lanez won his first JUNO after nearly a decade in the game, while late Tragically Hip frontman Gord Downie was honoured for his advocacy of Indigenous stories and issues. Also, Grimes presented with Buffy Sainte-Marie, which is cool on several levels when you think about these two talented Canadian women making boundary-pushing electronic music several generations apart from each other.
It was Torontonian soul stars Jessie Reyez and Daniel Caesar who ended up basically stealing the show with several wins, with Reyez snagging Breakthrough Artist of the Year and Caesar winning R&B/Soul Recording of the year for Freudian. The two also did a new duet performance of Reyez’ neo-doowop hit “Figures,” both showing off the bottomless pits of soul that are their distinct, powerful voices.
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Because sometimes good things happen, the studio version of that performance is now available to stream and guess what…. it’s still very great. “Figures, a Reprise” might be the song’s final form: a harmonious meeting of two of Canada’s brightest young talents, both of whom have put in work for years to get to where they are now. It’s also way less lame than the Ed Sheeran/Beyoncé duet, no disrespect to either. Listen to “Figures, a Reprise” below.
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