America Is Still Trying to Figure Out How Canada Became Such a Musical Powerhouse
As a sparsely populated country of 35 million people–less than the state of California–Canada exports far, far more music that we should. We’ve produced Bieber, The Weeknd, Drake, Shania, Alanis, Rush, Celine, Bryan Adams, Nickelback, Avril and dozens more, meaning that we’ve been punching well beyond our weight class for a couple of decades. How is this possible? America would love to know.
They’re studying us, you know. Check out this article from FastCo:
Six years ago, Abel Tesfaye was just another musician making mixtapes and distributing songs for free on YouTube. Then Drake tweeted about him, fans went nuts, and—as the rock lore so often goes—he ascended from virtually nowhere to claim the celebrity throne. In February, Tesfaye—now far better known by his stage name, The Weeknd—was nominated for five Grammies and won two, including best R&B song for “Earned It,” originally written for the movieFifty Shades of Grey, and best R&B album for Beauty Behind the Madness, which included that song and two more, “Can’t Feel My Face” and “The Hills,” both also top Billboard hits.
Except the story isn’t quite as romantic as that. Tesfaye isn’t from nowhere. He’s from Canada (Toronto, to be exact). And his rise wasn’t just the result of a fortuitous tweet from a fellow Canuck. It was all part of a plan to create a musical super-scene, orchestrated by the Canadian government.
And the plan is working.
