The SOCAN Foundation Her Music Awards presented by Anthem Entertainment, honoured several Canadian women for their musical contributions this March. The grand prize winners included legendary Shakura S’Aida (pictured left), and up-and-coming success, Lu Kala (pictured right).

Shakura S’Aida has been wooing audiences with her powerful vocals for more than two decades now. The Toronto based artist uses her platform to bring people together, gathering a plethora of accolades along the way. She has been a continuous supporter of women and Black communities, constantly invigorated by Black music tradition. While having experience in the industry, there is much more to come from this bluesy inspiration.

The seemingly overnight success of Lu Kala has been years of hard work in the making, according to the artist. Now a massive social media success, her catchy tunes imbued with emotional lyrics help her spread a message of body positivity and female empowerment. Singing for her daughter, and women everywhere, she uses her voice as a strong Black female to uplift listeners.

The SOCAN Her Awards celebrates female identified Canadian mid-career music creators who are on the verge of taking their career to the next level. The two grand prize winners are awarded a grant prize of $5000 after demonstrating excellence through artistic merit and showing how they may use the award to advance the applicant’s career. The Her Awards honours a selection of five special distinction prize grants as well. The 2024 winners were

Naduh, Sinzere, Angelique Francis, Jessica Sparvier-Wells, and Skye Wallace. Past grand prize winners include Kellylee Evans, Savannah Re, Nuella Charles, and inaugural winner Haviah Mighty.

The foundation offers a multitude of other awards including the Black Canadian Music Awards, programs for creative entrepreneurship, and grants to Canadian music publishers and creators.

The two grand prize winners represent the importance of then and now performers, growing together in Canadian music. The Her Music Awards come during International Women’s Month, giving the awards a boost of femme pride (Canada celebrates in October). Recipients were honoured March 5th, 2024, at the Phoenix Concert Theatre in downtown Toronto.

If you’d like to explore the Black Canadian musicians honoured at this year’s awards, you may find their CBMA biographies below.