Black Musicâs Early Canadian Struggle Despite a storied, pre-Drake history, Black music in Canada has historically had a hard time gaining widespread support. March 01, 2021 While itâs hard to deny the dominance of Black music across airwaves and streaming services around the world, it wasnât long ago that many genres had a tough time gaining a foothold in Canada. With storied histories across the country in genres like soul, reggae, and hip-hop, putting them on the deserved stages proved difficult beyond niche platforms. In the 1960s, artists like the late Jackie Shane, Eddie Spencer, and Johnnie Osborne made their way to Canada to invigorate burgeoning soul scenes in Toronto, Montreal, and Halifax. By the 1970s, Torontoâs Little Jamaica became a meeting ground for an international reggae scene, boasting Jamaican and Canadian-born artists like Frankie Paul and Jay Douglas, thanks to the cityâs then-growing Caribbean population. Artists like late jazz and blues icon Salome Bey and Detroit-born Liberty Silver, who became the first Black woman to win a Juno Award, would see local success in the 70s and 80s.