Nunavut throat singer Riit a finalist for the Canadian SOCAN Songwriting Prize
Inuk electropop musician Rita Claire Mike-Murphy is a finalist for this year’s SOCAN Songwriting Prize.
This year is the 15th anniversary of The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada’s Songwriting Prize, and the equivalent Prix de la chanson SOCAN for francophone songwriters — which celebrates the talent of emerging Canadian songwriters.
Mike-Murphy, who goes by the stage name Riit and is also a throat singer, is nominated for #uvangattauq, which she co-wrote with Zahrah Ibrahim and Andrew Morrison.
Mike-Murphy is from Pangnirtung, Nunavut, and now lives in Iqaluit.
Her first album called ataataga was released in October 2019 and was a Juno Award nominee for Indigenous Music Album of the Year. Mike-Murphy has also been nominated for Best Radio Single (Indigenous Music Awards) and Indigenous Artist of the Year (Western Canadian Music Awards).
And she is also the television host of Anaana’s Tent, an Inuktitut and English-language kids show on APTN.
There are 10 finalists in both categories. The winner will be chosen with online voting by fans. Each grand prize winner receives $5,000 and other prizes while the other finalists will receive $500.
Between July 16 and 30, fans can vote for their favourite song from the nominees by visiting SOCAN’s website or on Twitter using the hashtag #mySSPvote and identifying the performer’s name in the tweet.
Fans can vote once daily in each of the English and French prize competitions.
The winning songs will be announced the week of Aug. 2.
Related stories from around the North:
Canada: How a group of grandmothers is reconnecting youth with Inuit culture in Arctic Canada, CBC News
Norway: BBC lists Sami journalist Sara Wesslin among world’s 100 most influential women, The Independent Barents Observer
Sweden: Calls for more Indigenous protection in Sweden on Sami national day, Radio Sweden
United States: Indigenous leaders at UN meeting push for decade dedicated to language revitalization, CBC News
