Sounds of Blackness Award also known as S.O.B.A. or SOBA is an annual
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
awards in hip hop and urban music in
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Government of Canada, Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is ...
and
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...
.
SOBA was established by
Ruddy B. Eloi, well-known from a French-language Quebec television series ''
Watatatow
''Watatatow'' was a Canadian French-language children/youth television series, that aired from 1991 to 2005 on Radio-Canada. The first show aired on September 17, 1991. 104 half-hour episodes were filmed every year; they were shown four afternoo ...
''.
MorburnMusic: Sounds of Blackness Awards (Gala SOBA)
/ref> He wanted to create a platform to reward artists hailing mainly from the black community of Quebec and Canada, without restricting it to just black-Canadians but open to all urban artists. He successfully organized two such events in 1996 and in 1999. But it obviously wasn't an annual event.
2007 saw the relaunching of SOBA as an annual gala event called GalaSOBA. It awards artists, singers, athletes, politicians and media personalities who have contributed to the development of the black culture in Canada.
Artists who have won Sounds of Blackness Awards include Empire ISIS
Empire I (true name Miriam Moufide, also stage-named The Gangstress) is a singer, songwriter and social activist based in Kingston, Jamaica. Her musical style has been described as a blend of dancehall, reggae, hip hop, pop and World music. Sh ...
, Imposs
Stanley Rimsky Salgado, known by his stage name Imposs, is a Haitian-Canadian rapper based in Quebec. Before becoming a solo artist, he was part of Muzion, one of the well-known hip hop bands of Quebec. He has collaborated on many occasions wit ...
, Karl Wolf
Carl Abou Samah ( ar, كارل أبو سمح; born April 18, 1979), better known by his stage name Karl Wolf, is a Lebanese-Canadian musician based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He has been a singer, songwriter, and producer since 2001, releasing ...
, Sir Pathétik
Raphaël Bérubé, known by his stage name Sir Pathétik, is a Canadian rapper who has released a number of albums and collaborated with many artists, earning several best rapper awards from ADISQ. He started in music 2000 and when he joined th ...
References
{{Reflist
External links
Gala SOBA website
Awards established in 2007
Canadian music awards