First update: March 23, 2021, 11:30 AM
Vancouver’s Filipino-Canadian Duo Manila Grey Nominated for the 50th Juno Awards
Mildred German
March 22, 2021
Vancouver, BC – Vancouver-based Filipino-Canadian R&B duo Manila Grey among who made the list of nominations for the Juno Awards of 2021. This duo has been nominated for the Breakthrough Group of the Year awards, and is the only Filipino-Canadian musicians on the panel of this year’s nominees. The Juno Awards is one of the most prestigious awards sought in the music scene by Canadian artists.
Formed in 2016, Manila Grey musicians are first-generation Filipino-Canadian Ghostride Neeko and Blame Soliven. Based in Vancouver, the duo’s home studio is in Vancouver’s Davie Street’s famous Celebrities nightclub, which is one of the busiest clubs and entertainment venues in the city.
Manila Grey has held up to many sold-out tours and in jam-packed clubs, such as their touchdowns in international stages such as in Hong Kong and the Philippines. Noteworthy, Manila Grey also had a fully-booked stadium homecoming show in the Philippines.
According to Scout, Manila Grey “leans toward elements of what it means to be a Filipino because deep inside they still want to be in touch with their roots,” even as they represent the Filipino Canadian diaspora.
Soliven, the art director, injects Filipino elements to their overall brand identity, and when asked why the name Manila Grey, Neeko told the Scout “the Grey is where we create the music. The Grey is Vancouver. The Grey is where Soliven and I completely express what we’ve learned growing up in a different country. ‘Manila’ is just showing love to our roots and where we came from”.
The Juno Awards 2021 nominations were announced by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences on March 9 in a virtual presentation streamed live via CBCMusic.ca/junos. The Juno award measures fan intensity, that voting rules according to the website are: “There are no limits to the number of times people can vote, so fans are encouraged to visit weekly, daily or by the hour…Voting is now open and Canadians are invited to vote for their favorite artist on TikTok, the official voting platform, and by visiting junofanchoice.ca for all voting options.” There will be awards in 37 categories, and some special awards will be presented as well.
In the past, some of the other Filipino-Canadian artists who were nominated for the Juno awards were Elise Estrada, who was nominated in 2009 for ”Best R&B/Soul Recording of the Year’ award, and Warren Dean Flandez, who was nominated twice, in 2017 and 2019 for “Contemporary Christian/Gospel”.
This year’s 50th Juno Awards will be broadcast on May 16 on CBC TV, CBC Gem, CBC Radio One, CBC Music, and will stream globally on CBCmusic.ca/junos.
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