Apple gives five new Regional Artist of the Year awards to Aya
Nakamura (France), OFFICIAL HIGE DANDISM (Japan), RIN (Germany),
Scriptonite (Russia), and Wizkid (Africa)
Apple® today announced the winners of the third annual Apple
Music® Awards, recognizing the best artists of 2021 and their
influence on global culture.
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the full release here:
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The third annual Apple Music Awards
recognizes the best and boldest musicians of 2021. (Graphic:
Business Wire)
The Apple Music Awards honor achievements in music across five
distinct categories — Artist of the Year, Songwriter of the Year,
Breakthrough Artist of the Year, Top Song of the Year, and Top
Album of the Year — and winners are chosen through a process that
reflects both Apple Music’s editorial perspective and what
customers around the world are listening to the most.
This year, the Apple Music Awards will introduce a new category
of awards for Regional Artist of the Year, recognizing artists from
five countries and regions: Africa, France, Germany, Japan, and
Russia. The Regional Artist of the Year awards recognize artists
who made the greatest impact culturally and on the charts in their
respective countries and regions.
“The past 12 months have proved to be a remarkable year for
music, and we’re thrilled to honor the artists who are shaping
culture and connecting with fans around the world on Apple Music,”
said Oliver Schusser, Apple’s vice president of Apple Music and
Beats. “This year we’re also recognizing more regional artists,
showing the world the impact of extraordinary talented musicians
who are making waves globally.”
The Apple Music Awards celebration kicks off Tuesday, December
7, 2021, with interviews, original content, and more all streaming
worldwide on Apple Music and the Apple TV® app. Music fans who are
not already subscribed to Apple Music can sign up for a three-month
free trial at apple.com/apple-music.
And the winners are…
Global Artist of the Year: The Weeknd
Filtering R&B and pop through an ambitious widescreen lens,
The Weeknd took over popular music and culture on his own terms.
The global superstar’s 2020 album “After Hours” quickly surpassed
one million pre-adds on Apple Music, and is the most pre-added
album of all time by a male artist on the platform. “After Hours”
also holds the record for the most streamed R&B/Soul album in
its first week in 73 countries. The smash single “Blinding Lights”
peaked at No. 1 on Apple Music’s Daily Top 100: Global chart, and
ranks as one of the 20 most Shazamed® songs of all time. The Weeknd
also hosts the massively popular taste-making Apple Music Radio
show “MEMENTO MORI,” celebrated for its eclectic playlists and
major world premieres. He’s graced recent covers of TIME, Forbes,
Variety, Rolling Stone, Esquire, Harper’s Bazaar, and GQ, and blew
away fans with his 2021 Super Bowl LV Halftime Show, which was one
of the most Shazamed moments of the year.
“I’m so grateful for this huge honor and want to thank Apple for
all its support, not only for my work but also for great music by
newer artists, where it matters so much for creators to be found
and supported,” The Weeknd said.
Breakthrough Artist of the Year, Album of the Year, and Song
of the Year: Olivia Rodrigo
For Olivia Rodrigo, 2021 will go down as the year of epic
firsts. The 18-year-old singer-songwriter released her tear-soaked
debut single, “drivers license,” in January, which quickly topped
the charts and became one of the most streamed new releases of the
year. “drivers license” registered the highest first-week streams
ever for a debut single by an artist on Apple Music globally,
reaching No. 1 on the Daily Top 100: Global chart, where it
remained for over a month, and was the fastest-ever debut solo
track by a US artist to accumulate five million Shazams. Her highly
anticipated debut album, “SOUR,” followed in May, and was
celebrated with an Apple Music First Listen virtual event with fans
and an accompanying interview with Zane Lowe. “SOUR” carries the
highest first-week streams for a debut album on Apple Music
globally, with all 11 songs on the album ranked on the Daily Top
100: Global chart, as well as the Daily Top 100 chart in 66
additional countries. Rodrigo has been on the cover of Apple Music
playlists Today’s Hits, A-List Pop, and New Music Daily, and closes
her life-changing year as the deserving recipient of her first
three Apple Music Awards. She took home Breakthrough Artist, Album
of the Year (“SOUR”), and Song of the Year (“drivers license”).
“I did my first interview for ‘drivers license’ with Apple
Music, and so much has happened since then,” Rodrigo said. “It’s
truly surreal. Thank you to Apple Music for these amazing
awards.”
Songwriter of the Year: H.E.R.
Award-winning singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist
H.E.R.’s work within the R&B genre grew even more expansive in
2021 with the release of her acclaimed 21-track album “Back of My
Mind,” which captures the artist at her most brilliant, confident,
and freewheeling. The chart-topping album was the third most
streamed R&B/Soul album on Apple Music in its first week of
release by a female artist this year, with singles “Damage” and
“Come Through” (featuring Chris Brown) both spending multiple weeks
on the Daily Top 100 chart in over 30 countries. The former Apple
Music Up Next artist also penned the anthemic original “Fight for
You” for the celebrated motion picture “Judas and the Black
Messiah,” and covered Marvin Gaye’s “Inner City Blues (Make Me
Wanna Holler)” for Apple Music’s exclusive “Juneteenth: Freedom
Songs” compilation. H.E.R. is a regular guest on Zane Lowe and Ebro
Darden’s shows on Apple Music 1, and she has been featured as the
cover of popular Apple Music playlists New Music Daily, R&B
Now, and more.
“I am very honored and blessed to receive this recognition,”
H.E.R. said. “As a young Black and Filipino artist, and a woman who
is on the stage giving my all, there’s no doubt that representation
is important. Thank you so much, Apple Music.”
Artist of the Year (Africa): Wizkid
Singer-songwriter Wizkid is one of Africa’s biggest crossover
acts, having worked with Drake, Skepta, and Chris Brown, among
others. The Nigerian musician first found regional success in 2011
with the massively popular single “Holla at Your Boy,” which
appeared on his debut album, “Superstar.” Wizkid went global in
2016 after his collaboration with Drake on “One Dance,” which
soared to the top of the charts in 15 countries. Between 2019 and
2020, Wizkid was featured in Beyoncé’s projects “The Lion King: The
Gift” and its companion piece, “Black Is King.” In October 2020, he
released “Made in Lagos,” his critically acclaimed and most
commercially successful album, which included his hit song
“Essence,” a track that gained 125 million plays on Apple Music and
over 2.8 million Shazams. This past year, he’s been the most
streamed African artist on the continent on Apple Music and ranked
on the Daily Top 100 charts in 60 countries, in addition to his
monthly plays on Apple Music growing by more than 250 percent
outside of Africa. He’s also been featured on Apple Music's Today’s
Hits and R&B Now playlists, and he’s a frequent guest on Apple
Music Radio shows, including “Africa Now Radio,” “The Ebro Show,”
“New Music Daily with Zane Lowe,” and “OVO SOUND RADIO.”
“Thank you to Apple Music for this award,” Wizkid said. “It’s a
blessing to get to do what I do, and I’m proud to be representing
for Africa.”
Artist of the Year (France): Aya Nakamura
French-Malian pop singer Aya Nakamura is the most streamed
Francophone artist in the world. Best known for her hit song
“Djadja,” she has released three albums featuring countless
chart-topping songs, including “Copines,” “Pookie,” “Plus Jamais,”
and "Jolie nana,” and she has been on the cover of Apple Music’s
Hits Français playlist. In France, Nakamura is one of the only
female artists to consistently appear in the streaming charts in a
market dominated by male rappers, and her album “AYA” garnered the
highest first-week streams for an album released by a female artist
on Apple Music. Her songs “Jolie nana” and “Plus Jamais” hold the
top two spots for the highest first-week streams for a song by a
female artist on Apple Music in France, and all 15 songs on the
album entered the Daily Top 100 chart in France, Belgium, and
Niger, with “Jolie nana” peaking at No. 1 in those countries. Her
song “Bobo” also peaked at No. 1 on the Daily Top 100 chart in
France, Niger, Cape Verde, and Micronesia. It marked her fifth
single topping France’s Daily Apple charts.
“I am extremely honored to be the very first Francophone artist
to win an Apple Music Award as Artist of the Year (France),”
Nakamura said. “Thank you, Apple!”
Artist of the Year (Germany): RIN
Rapper Renato Simunovic, aka RIN, was born in 1994 in
Bietigheim-Bissingen near Stuttgart in the south of Germany. After
releasing his first EP, “Genesis,” in 2016, his debut album,
“Eros,” followed quickly in 2017. A 25-time gold and three-time
platinum artist, RIN has performed countless live shows, done
features with legends, and collaborated with some of the world’s
most influential brands. With his third album, “Kleinstadt,” RIN
freed himself from the idea of what German rap should sound like,
and fans and critics alike cite this album as hugely influential in
shaping the current sound of rap in the south of Germany. He was
the first German artist to host his own show on Apple Music,
“KLEINSTADTRADIO,” tied to the new album, and he has graced the
cover of Apple Music’s HYPED and Deutschrap 100 playlists.
“2021 was such a good year for me because it has borne a lot of
fruit of things that I postponed for a long time,” RIN said. “My
music has evolved in the same sense. I am much more personal.”
Artist of the Year (Japan): OFFICIAL HIGE DANDISM
Formed in Shimane, Japan, in 2012, OFFICIAL HIGE DANDISM, aka
HIGEDAN, consists of lead vocalist and keyboardist Satoshi
Fujihara, guitarist Daisuke Ozasa, bassist and saxophonist Makoto
Narazaki, and drummer Masaki Matsuura. They released their debut
mini album, “Love to Peace wa Kimi no Naka,” in 2014. Their first
full-length album, “Escaparade” — which includes their popular song
“No Doubt” — was released in 2018, but it was their second single,
“Pretender,” that rocketed to the top of the Apple Music charts in
Japan. HIGEDAN entered Shazam’s emerging artists lists in Japan and
Australia for the first time in June 2019, ahead of the release of
the band’s follow-up album, “Traveler,” which became their first
No. 1 album in Japan. The group has been featured in three
different Apple Music Japan commercials, with their hit songs
“Stand by You” and “I Love…,” along with the 2021 song “Apoptosis,”
taken from their third album, “Editorial,” which carries the
third-highest first-week streams for an album released in 2021 in
Japan, and was recently featured in an Apple Music Japan spatial
audio with Dolby Atmos commercial. The band has also made several
guest appearances on “J-Pop Now Radio” on Apple Music 1.
“We didn’t know Japanese artists could win this award and were
shocked when we were told,” the band said. “We’re super happy to be
the winners of the first Apple Music Award for Artist of the Year
(Japan).”
Artist of the Year (Russia): Scriptonite
Rapper Scriptonite, aka Adil Zhalelov, was discovered by Basta
and signed to his label Gazgolder in 2015. Scriptonite’s debut
album, “House with Normal Activity,” became an instant classic and
has been deemed one of the biggest records of the new Russian
hip-hop revolution. In 2017, Scriptonite followed up with two more
LPs on Gazgolder, rising to the top-ranked producer and performer
of the current hip-hop era, with fans and critics crediting him as
the most important voice and sound of the new generation. After
starting his own label, Musica36, in 2019, Scriptonite’s “2004”
album was released exclusively on Apple Music to critical acclaim,
becoming the No. 1 streamed record of the year. Scriptonite also
holds the record for the two most streamed albums for its first
week on Apple Music in five countries (Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, and Moldova). His single “Baby Mama” landed him in the
Top 20 of worldwide Shazam charts. In 2020, Apple Music exclusively
released the short film “Behind Scriptonite’s ‘2004’” along with a
“36 Jam” live concert of all Musica36 artists. This year saw the
release of his album “Svistki Y Bumazhki,” as well as a
COVID-postponed show in Moscow, both released exclusively on Apple
Music. Scriptonite has graced the covers of Apple Music’s
Kirillitsa, Russian Hits, and New Music Daily playlists, and he’s
currently working on his first English-language record in
collaboration with Gee Baller, a young Nigerian rising star who
recently signed to Musica36.
“This award is the culmination of an incredible few years, and
Apple Music has been with me for so much of it along the way,”
Scriptonite said. “Thank you for the recognition.”
About the Apple Music Awards
Apple designed a series of physical awards that represent the
extraordinary craftsmanship integral to creating music. Each award
features Apple’s custom silicon wafer suspended between a polished
sheet of glass and a machined and anodized aluminum body. The
result of this multi-month process, before it is sliced into
hundreds of individual chips, is stunning and distinctive. In a
symbolic gesture, the same chips that power the devices that put
the world’s music at listeners fingertips sit at the very heart of
the Apple Music Awards.
About Apple Music
Apple loves music. Apple revolutionized the music experience
with iPod® and iTunes®. Today, Apple Music celebrates musicians,
songwriters, producers, and fans with a catalog of over 90 million
songs, expertly curated playlists, and the best artist interviews,
conversations, and global premieres with the award-winning Apple
Music Radio. With original content from the most respected and
beloved people in music, autoplay, time-sync lyrics, Lossless
Audio, and immersive sound powered by Spatial Audio with Dolby
Atmos, Apple Music offers the world’s best listening experience,
helping listeners discover new music and enjoy their favorites
while empowering the global artist community. Apple Music is
available in over 165 countries and regions on iPhone®, iPad®, iPod
touch®, Mac®, Apple Watch®, Apple TV, HomePod mini®, CarPlay®, and
online at music.apple.com, plus popular smart speakers, smart TVs,
and Android and Windows devices. Apple Music is ad-free and never
shares consumer data with third parties. More information is
available at apple.com/apple-music.
Apple revolutionized personal technology with the introduction
of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in
innovation with iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Apple TV.
Apple’s five software platforms — iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and
tvOS — provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices and
empower people with breakthrough services including the App Store,
Apple Music, Apple Pay, and iCloud. Apple’s more than 100,000
employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth, and
to leaving the world better than we found it.
NOTE TO EDITORS: For additional information visit Apple Newsroom
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