Calgary Alberta hosted the 31st annual Covenant Awards on October 23. The award ceremony celebrates the work of Christian musicians, songwriters and producers.
Canadian Aboriginal rapper,
Fresh IE, who has been nominated twice for a Grammy, with the distinction of being the first Canadian rapper ever nominated,
won Best Video of the Year and Best Urban Hip Hop of the Year at the Covenant Awards. His daughter,
Trisha North, known in the music industry as
Sadie was awarded the Aboriginal Youth Achievement Award at the ceremonies.
Fresh IE is no stranger to the music industry, and his talents have not gone unnoticed. He has been nominated for a Juno, Aboriginal Peoples Choice, Vibe, Shai and Western Canada awards. He has won many different Covenant awards. In a press release issued today, the musician said he has been mentoring his daughter for the past five years. Sadie has two CDs now, is working on a third. She hopes to soon be working on a video. Fresh IE has a live band called
Unashamed, and they are working towards releasing a new album in December. He has eight albums under his belt so far.
Fresh IE hails from Winnipeg, Manitoba. His website says that at one time he was living a hard life, addicted to illegal drugs and involved in violent crime. He credits an incident involving a strange synchronicity with a blind man one day as having turned his life around.
In 2008, Winnipeg police
forced Fresh IE to the police station, saying he had stolen the luxury car he was driving at the time. During the incident, Fresh IE was forced out of his car by police officers who had their guns trained on him. The police later apologized to Fresh and his passenger at a press conference for the incident, saying
"This was our mistake. "It was a human error."
The Winnipeg police force has a
troubled relationship with the Aboriginal population, but has been
working to turn that around. Aboriginals living in Winnipeg are "over represented" in the Criminal Justice System, a situation that is partially
attributed as being a result of the
poverty and other disadvantages the population faces. Fresh IE said
"Music is a universal language, it's a great tool to reach this generation, to bring healing to the ones hurting."
Sadie will be performing in Winnipeg during Aboriginal Music Week, early November.
The
Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards will take place in Hamilton Ontario from November 27 to the 29th.
Canada's Aboriginal music scene has become a vibrant industry, with all music genres represented.
