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.
