Scarborough, Ontario-based R&B artist Jhyve takes the 2021 Toyota Searchlight grand prize
The four runners up are Peterborough’s Elyse Saunders, Vancouver’s Michaela Slinger, Edmonton’s RIELL and The Royal Foundry from Sherwood Park, AB
CBC today announced Scarborough-based R&B artist Jhyve as the grand prize winner of CBC MUSIC’S TOYOTA SEARCHLIGHT 2021 contest. With applicants from every province and territory submitting original songs and 725,000 votes cast from the public, the panel of judges awarded the top spot to Jhyve for the song “Down” from his 2020 album Rapture. New to this year’s contest, four additional acts from the previously announced Top 10 ; Elyse Saunders (Peterborough), Michaela Slinger (Vancouver), RIELL (Edmonton) and The Royal Foundry (Sherwood Park) will also receive Runner Up prizes courtesy of Toyota Canada.
Upon finding out that he had won TOYOTA SEARCHLIGHT 2021 Jhyve told CBC Music “That's so amazing, I feel like I want to find a mountaintop and scream off it! 'Down' was written in one of the hardest times in my life. I was working with a record label that I was having creative differences with, and a personal relationship that was really big for me had ended earlier that year. 'Down' represented the low, a breaking point. It's kind of crazy to think that something that came from such a dark place has had such an impact on people. It makes me feel like it wasn't for nothing. It's kind of poetic."
In 2018, the guitar-playing singer-songwriter was nominated for a JUNO Award for R&B/Soul Recording of the Year, alongside heavy hitters like Jessie Reyez and Daniel Caesar. After creative differences with his label, Jhyve wrote, self-produced and released the album Rapture in 2020 - a personal album rooted in mental health and finding one's purpose through tragedy. The album has garnered almost 2 million streams across all platforms to date.
As part of the grand prize, Jhyve will take part in the Allan Slaight JUNO Master Class talent development program, receive a residency at the National Music Centre in Calgary, a Play MPE distribution deal and $5,000 towards the purchase of musical equipment and recording time courtesy of Toyota Canada. Full prizing details for the grand prize winner and the four Runners Up can be found at CBCMusic.ca/searchlight.
Download a high-res photo of Jhyve here and a clean version of “Down” can be found here.
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About CBC/Radio-Canada:
CBC/Radio-Canada is Canada’s national public broadcaster. Through our mandate to inform, enlighten and entertain, we play a central role in strengthening Canadian culture. As Canada’s trusted news source, we offer a uniquely Canadian perspective on news, current affairs and world affairs. Our distinctively homegrown entertainment programming draws audiences from across the country. Deeply rooted in communities, CBC/Radio-Canada offers diverse content in English, French and eight Indigenous languages. We also deliver content in Spanish, Arabic and Chinese, as well as both official languages, through Radio Canada International (RCI). We are leading the transformation to meet the needs of Canadians in a digital world.
About CBC Music
CBC Music is the leading curator of emerging and diverse Canadian music talent across platforms, playing the most Canadian artists and genres on radio, CBC Listen and cbcmusic.ca. We prioritize Canadian artists in a wide variety of genres on over 200 playlists available on CBC Listen, and publish daily national music coverage. CBC Music Live features live music recordings from across the country. Our music partnerships and events include The JUNOS, the Polaris Music Prize, Searchlight, the CBC Music Festival, The Canadian Music Class Challenge and Canada Listens.
About Toyota Canada
Toyota Canada Inc. (TCI) is the exclusive Canadian distributor of Toyota and Lexus vehicles. Toyota has sold over six million vehicles in Canada through a national network of 286 Toyota and Lexus dealerships. Toyota is dedicated to bringing safety, quality, dependability and reliability to the vehicles Canadians drive and the service they receive. TCI’s head office is in Toronto, with regional offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal and Halifax, and parts distribution centres in Clarington and Vancouver. Toyota also operates two manufacturing facilities in Canada. Having produced more than nine million vehicles, popular Canadian models built at these facilities include Toyota RAV4, Toyota RAV4 Hybrid, Lexus RX 350 and RX 450h hybrid. Recent investments at its facilities in Ontario will allow for increased production of the top-selling Toyota RAV4 and RAV4 Hybrid models for the North American market.
For more information, please contact:
Teaghan Hawke, CBC PR
