Drake, Buffy Sainte-Marie among Polaris Music Prize finalists

TORONTO — Drake and Buffy Sainte-Marie will compete for this year’s Polaris Music Prize, it was announced Thursday.

The annual award recognizing the best Canadian album will be handed out Sept. 21 in a ceremony hosted by Fred Penner.

Drake’s If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late and Sainte-Marie’s Power In The Blood are on the short list along with Tobias Jesso Jr.’s Goon, The New Pornographers’ Brill Bruisers, BadBadNotGood and Ghostface Killah for Sour Soul, Braids for Deep In The Iris, Caribou for Our Love, Jennifer Castle for Pink City, and the self-titled albums by Viet Cong and Alvvays.

The list is decided by a panel of music journalists from across Canada.

The Polaris Music Prize winner gets $50,000 and runners-up receive $3,000.

Last year’s winner was Tanya Tagaq and previous winners include Arcade Fire and Feist.