Polaris Music Prize Reveals 2021 Short List

Cadence Weapon, Dominique Fils-Aimé, the Weather Station, Zoon and more have made the cut

BY Alex HudsonPublished Jul 15, 2021

The Polaris Music Prize's 2021 short list is here, highlighting the best Canadian albums of the past year.

Following the prior long list announcement, the cross-Canada jury of journalists and industry professionals whittled down the 40 contenders to a short list of 10. These finalists were announced during a broadcast on CBC Music, hosted by Exclaim! contributor A. Harmony.

Albums appearing on the 2021 short list include Exclaim!'s pick for Best Album of 2021 So Far, Leanne Betasamosake Simpson's Theory of Ice, along with Cadence Weapon's Parallel World and TOBi's ELEMENTS Vol. 1. Also included are efforts from Klô Pelgag, Dominique Fils-Aimé, DijahSB, Zoon, the OBGMs, Mustafa and the Weather Station.

A grand jury will determine which of these 10 nominees will win this year's Polaris Music Prize. The winner will be announced on September 27. Polaris has decided to forego hosting a gala event this year, due to uncertainty surrounding pandemic lockdowns. More details about the winner announcement will be revealed in the coming weeks.

The Polaris Music Prize winner will receive $50,000. Each of the nine long list runners up will receive $3,000 courtesy of Slaight Music.

See the complete short list below ahead of revisiting the 2021 long list.

2021 Polaris Music Prize Short List:

Cadence Weapon - Parallel World
DijahSB - Head Above the Waters
Dominique Fils-Aimé - Three Little Words
Mustafa - When Smoke Rises
The OBGMs - The Ends
Klô Pelgag - Notre-Dame-Des-Sept-Douleurs
Leanne Betasamosake Simpson - Theory of Ice
TOBi - ELEMENTS Vol. 1
The Weather Station - Ignorance
Zoon - Bleached Wavves

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