South Asian music will gets its due at Junos this weekend, reflecting rising popularity in Canada

Jackson Weaver · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 28, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 8 minutes ago

Yanchan Rajmohan, known professionally arsenic Yanchan Produced, is connected unreality nine.

"It feels similar a imagination travel true," helium said in an interrogation with CBC News astir his caller Juno nomination.

While an awards motion is simply a large woody to astir artists, to Yanchan, this designation has an added aspect. He is nominated for South Asian euphony signaling of the year, a caller class for the 2025 Juno Awards, which instrumentality spot connected Sunday.

"I've watched the Junos each year, and to yet person a class that represents South Asian artists and to beryllium a portion of this for the archetypal clip ... it conscionable feels similar anticipation to me," helium said.

That designation comes amid the music's increasing popularity — particularly successful Canada. SiriusXM precocious announced a caller South Asian euphony channel, citing the "massive maturation of South Asian euphony successful Canada."

WATCH | Chani Nattan and Inderpal Moga connected caller South Asian euphony award:

In 2023, Warner Music's Canadian and Indian divisions jointly founded 91 North Records, a statement meant to enactment and capitalize connected the emergence of South Asian artists.

It's since gone connected to motion South Asian powerhouses similar Jonita Gandhi and Chani Nattan — some of whom are nominated for Junos this year.

And conscionable past year, Indian instrumentalist Diljit Dosanjh took to the signifier successful beforehand of 54,000 radical astatine Vancouver's BC Place — the largest-ever Punjabi performance extracurricular of India, according to Billboard Canada.

It was a followup to a 2022 sold-out amusement astatine the city's Rogers Arena that some B.C. manufacture members pointed to arsenic a seminal infinitesimal for South Asian euphony successful the country.

That power appears often on the Junos shortlist. There, artists Karan Aujla, Sukha, AP Dhillon and AR Paisley amusement up everyplace from instrumentality prime and single, to medium and breakthrough creator of the year.

But it is successful the caller class — created, the Junos explained successful an announcement, for a state that's go the "epicentre of South Asian euphony globally" — that the postulation of endowment is intolerable to miss.

Yanchan said their occurrence tin proceed to make much change.

"I'm hoping that I tin unfastened the doors," he said. "Then down maine is simply a full service of different talented musicians, who tin travel their ain way and, you know, adhd their ain interaction to the industry."

LISTEN | Yanchan connected his Juno nomination:

Music writer Jeevan Sangha said this alteration has been a agelong clip coming. That's particularly existent successful her state of British Columbia, wherever the awards are acceptable to instrumentality spot and wherever AP Dhillon, Karan Aujla and chap South Asian nominee Jazzy B telephone home.

"I'm from Surrey, truthful if you locomotion the streets of Surrey, you're going to perceive Punjabi music successful the streets. It's precise normal," she said. "I conscionable deliberation that now, much and much radical are getting exposed to it done programming similar the Junos, wherever they get to spot it astatine an grant amusement successful a antithetic light."

There are a fig of imaginable reasons for its growth. According to Statistics Canada, the South Asian colonisation successful Canada astir quadrupled between 1996 and 2021. In the 2021 census, much than 2.3 cardinal Canadians reported South Asian ethnicity, with ample numbers in Alberta, B.C. and Ontario, wherever they correspond 7.1, 9.6 and 10.8 per cent of the population, respectively. 

'Language isn't needfully a barrier,' says journalist

Sangha doesn't property the rise in the music's popularity conscionable to radical of South Asian background. She said the euphony has gained a foothold passim the country, perchance bolstered by the advent of streaming.

It's an effect observed elsewhere: According to a 2023 year-end study by American euphony expert institution Luminate Data, astir 40 per cent of American euphony listeners reported listening to songs successful a non-English language.

It was portion of a larger trend: Between 2021 and 2022, Luminate reported, determination was an 85 per cent summation of songs successful the apical streaming tracks that originated outside of the United States. That far-reaching sensibility, Sangha said, could beryllium bolstering involvement successful South Asian music.

"I would wholly accidental connection isn't needfully a barrier," she said of American and Canadian listeners considering Punjabi music. "It mightiness adjacent beryllium a hook."

Still, portion the new category astatine the Junos is simply a bully archetypal step, Sangha said, she has reservations.

"My interest ... is this benignant of turning into a bucket wherever we tin enactment South Asian artists and not person them recognized successful mainstream categories," she said.

"I'm hoping that this is 1 measurement towards not needing a South Asian class astatine each and conscionable seeing, you know, South Asian artists and artists from each crossed the satellite being recognized alongside artists that possibly are much acquainted to Canadians connected the radio."

Given the information that South Asian artists are dispersed passim the nominations list, Sangha said, that's astatine slightest not the lawsuit this year.

For Toronto's Jonita Gandhi, who is besides nominated successful the caller class and is slated to execute astatine the awards, the inclusion is thing but bully news. Growing up successful Mississauga, Ont., she said, she was often bullied for her appearance.

After getting into music, for which she credits streaming for creating a wide audience, it led to a self-acceptance and self-confidence that she said felt intolerable arsenic a child.

But having a class similar this would person helped her get determination overmuch faster, Gandhi said.

"I decidedly would person loved to spot much radical similar maine erstwhile I was younger to benignant of look up to and beryllium like, 'Hey, it's each close — it's OK to beryllium brown," she said. "It's OK to beryllium Punjabi and beryllium antithetic fundamentally successful a batch of antithetic ways.'"