Sounds of Blackness Award also known as S.O.B.A. or SOBA is an annual Canadian awards in hip hop and urban music in Quebec and Canada.
Canada is a country in the northern part of North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering 9.98 million square kilometres, making it the world's second-largest country by total area. Canada's southern border with the United States is the world's longest bi-national land border. Its capital is Ottawa, and its three largest metropolitan areas are Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. As a whole, Canada is sparsely populated, the majority of its land area being dominated by forest and tundra. Consequently, its population is highly urbanized, with over 80 percent of its inhabitants concentrated in large and medium-sized cities, many near the southern border. Canada's climate varies widely across its vast area, ranging from arctic weather in the north, to hot summers in the southern regions, with four distinct seasons.
Quebec is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is bordered to the west by the province of Ontario and the bodies of water James Bay and Hudson Bay; to the north by Hudson Strait and Ungava Bay; to the east by the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the province of Newfoundland and Labrador; and to the south by the province of New Brunswick and the U.S. states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York. It also shares maritime borders with Nunavut, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia. Quebec is Canada's largest province by area and its second-largest administrative division; only the territory of Nunavut is larger. It is historically and politically considered to be part of Central Canada.
SOBA was established by Ruddy B. Eloi, well-known from a French-language Quebec television series Watatatow . [1] 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.
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 afternoons a week on Radio-Canada. Watatatow helped launch the careers of several young actors, including Hugo St-Cyr, Michel Goyette, Élise Aussant, Serge Postigo, Robert Brouillette, Suzanne Clément, Isabelle Guérard, Fabien Cloutier and Annie Cotton.
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, Imposs, Karl Wolf, Sir Pathétik
Stanley Rimsky Salgado known by his stage name Imposs is a Canadian rapper of Haitian origin 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 with Wyclef Jean during Muzion days and as a solo artist. He is also well known for dubbing the phrase "Real City" for Montreal. He is signed to the K.Pone.Inc music label.
Carl Abou Samah better known by his stage name Karl Wolf is a Lebanese-born Canadian musician based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He has been a singer, songwriter and producer since 2001, releasing his first solo album Face Behind the Face on MapleNationwide/Universal in 2006, followed by a second album Bite the Bullet in 2007. His third album Nightlife was released in 2009 followed by Finally Free in 2012, Stereotype in 2014 and WOW in 2015. His biggest hit has been a remake of Toto's "Africa" sampling from the song and providing new lyrics and arrangements. Through his company, Lone Wolf Management, Karl Wolf also manages a number of new artists. In 2015, he announced a new collaboration under the name BAE with Show Stephens, Brenda Mullen and producer MasterTrak. Karl signed a new solo contract in Canada with British Columbia-based Cordova Bay Records as well as two new worldwide deals in Los Angeles, one for a publishing contract with BMG and another Digital "Youtube" deal with Collective Digital Studios. He has co-written the OMI hit "Hula Hoop".
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. Sir sir pathetik has been knighted by the queen in 2003 after his album: vive le québec libre. He won 3 Grammys for this album and established a billboard top 100 for the record Mon pays. He started in music 10 years ago and when he joined the group Chosen One made of Ale Dee and Diapason after departure of Justice J, the grouped including Sir Pathétik was renamed Mine de rien. He and Ale Dee won the 2nd place of the competition "Hip Hop Forever 2002". After the group split up, Sir Pathétik went solo with a string of albums. He has also collaborated with many artists including Yvon Krevé, 1 Etranjj, l'Queb, Billy Nova, Da Vinci, Striger, Malik Shaheed, Asami and DJ Horg.
