Every fall, the Polaris Music Prize asks a jury of music critics and industry types to vote for the best Canadian album each year "without regard to musical genre or commercial popularity." Today, Polaris announced the 2016 long list of contenders up for the prize in Whitehorse, Yukon at the city's Transportation Museum. The nominees include former FADER cover stars, Drake and Grimes, recent GEN F alums PUP, Daniel Caesar, and Jessy Lanza, as well as Kaytranada, Majid Jordan, Dilly Dally, and Jazz Cartier.
In what looks like the awards’s most pop-friendly long list yet, Justin Bieber has received his very first Polaris nomination, and The Weeknd and Carly Rae Jepsen also made the cut.
Check out the full long list below. The short list will be revealed on July 14, with the winner announced on September 19 at The Carlu in Toronto.
The 2016 Polaris Prize Long List
Art Bergmann, The Apostate
Justin Bieber, Purpose
Black Mountain, IV
Jean-Michel Blais, II
Basia Bulat, Good Advice
Daniel Caesar, Pilgrim’s Paradise
Tanika Charles, Soul Run
City and Colour, If I Should Go Before You
Cœur de pirate, Roses
Dead Obies, Gesamtkunstwerk
Destroyer, Poison Season
Dilly Dally, Sore
Drake, Views
Essaie pas, Demain est une autre nuit
Fred Fortin, Ultramarr
FOXTROTT, A Taller Us
Grimes, Art Angels
Half Moon Run, Sun Leads Me On
Veda Hille, Love Waves
Jazz Cartier, Hotel Paranoia
Carly Rae Jepsen, E•MO•TION
Junior Boys, Big Black Coat
Kaytranada, 99.9%
Jessy Lanza, Oh No
Majid Jordan, Majid Jordan
Michelle McAdorey, Into Her Future
Nap Eyes, Thought Rock Fish Scale
Safia Nolin, Limoilou
Operators, Blue Wave
Peaches, Rub
PUP, The Dream Is Over
Daniel Romano, Mosey
Andy Shauf, The Party
The Strumbellas, Hope
Suuns, Hold/Still
U.S. Girls, Half Free
Un Blonde, Good Will Come To You
The Weeknd, Beauty Behind the Madness
White Lung, Paradise
Donovan Woods, Hard Settle, Ain’t Troubled