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Drake leads Canadians with 8 Grammy nominations; Justin Bieber has 4

Last Updated Dec 7, 2016 at 10:00 am MDT

Drake performs in concert as part of the Summer Sixteen Tour at Madison Square Garden on Friday, Aug. 5, 2016, in New York. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP

Drake and Justin Bieber ruled the charts this year and now they’re vying for several top Grammy Awards.

Both artists are in the running for album of the year, alongside country singer Sturgill Simpson and powerhouses Adele and Beyonce.

Drake leads the Canadian musicians with eight nominations, among them one for best rap album for “Views” and a record of the year nod with Rihanna for “Work.”

Only Beyonce has more — racking up nine nominations — while Rihanna and Kanye West also have eight.

Bieber’s hit single “Love Yourself” is contending for the best song and best pop solo performance categories, while his album “Purpose” grabbed a best pop vocal album nomination, bringing his tally to four.

Many other Canadians also made the Grammy list, which was revealed Tuesday.

Northern Cree co-founder Steve Wood, who also teaches First Nations students, learned of the group’s nod in the best regional roots category while getting the class ready for the day. His record label had sent him a text sharing the news.

The nomination for “It’s a Cree Thing” is the seventh for the group, which originates from the Saddle Lake Cree Nation in northern Alberta.

Wood says he was surprised to be included in a Grammy category again. His students were also excited for him.

“They thought it was pretty darn cool,” the Cree language instructor said.

“I like to share that with my students because I want them to believe in themselves. I want them to believe anything is possible because I live right here too in this community.”

Director Miles Jay learned of the best music video nomination for his powerful take on “River” by Leon Bridges when the label representative who hired him for the project texted congratulations. Jay was rushing into a meeting when he read the message.

“It was nice that it kind of came full circle,” he says.

The sombre “River” visual encapsulates a simmering racial tension in the United States, and features Bridges playing his guitar in a hotel room while watching news footage from last year’s Baltimore protests over the death of Freddie Gray while in police custody.

Jay says he wanted to capture “what it was like to go home after a moment of police brutality or a vigil.” He casted Baltimore locals to re-enact tender moments he’d witnessed in the city.

The video was shot with a production crew of mostly Canadians, including cinematographer Chayse Irvin, who also worked on Beyonce’s Grammy-nominated music film “Lemonade.”

Two Canadians are up for best dance recording, including Toronto songstress Kai who contributes a celestial vocal performance on Flume’s hit “Never Be Like You.” Together they received a nomination.

Vancouver electronic duo Bob Moses also took a spot in the category for their brooding single “Tearing Me Up” while the RAC remix of the song was nominated in the best remix recording category.

Jimmy Vallance, who performs with Tom Howie under the Moses pseudonym, said he was pleasantly surprised they made the Grammy cut.

“We’re just some underground electronic act,” said Vallance from his New York home.

“I guess we do well for what we do — but I didn’t expect a Grammy nomination, let alone two.”

Also nominated for a remix is Calgary-born James Teej, who joined German producer Timo Maas to retool the Paul McCartney and Wings track “Nineteen Hundred Eighty-Five.”

He learned about his nomination through an email from his manager.

“I’d just woken up,” Teej said.

“It was a thrill to have had the opportunity to do the remix in the first place. It was definitely a highlight of my career.”

Teej, whose real name is Thomas Mathers, said playing around with the vocals of McCartney happened by chance while he was staying with Maas at his home in Europe. He overheard Maas playing an a capella version of the tune from the 1974 album “Band on the Run” and was inspired.

He remade the song with a down-tempo house music beat, which he then sent to McCartney’s record label for a possible release. McCartney gave the track his seal of approval and it wasn’t long before it was playing in clubs.

Teej said he hasn’t talked to the former Beatle about the creation process, though he might have a chance at the Grammys in February.

“What I’m looking forward to is having the opportunity to shake McCartney’s hand,” he said.

“And just thank him for giving us the chance to do this.”

Other Grammy nominees with Canadian links:

— Toronto-area rappers Tory Lanez and PartyNextDoor both have nominations for best R&B song. Lanez is up for “Luv” while PartyNextDoor received a nod for “Come and See Me,” which features his record label boss Drake on the track.

— Canadian songwriter Steven Lee Olsen, who was born in Newmarket, Ont., is listed among the contributors to Keith Urban’s “Blue Ain’t Your Color,” which is nominated for best country song.

— Within the producer of the year, non-classical category is Toronto-based Nineteen85, born Anthony Paul Jefferies, for his catalogue of work over the year, which includes helping shape tracks like “Hotline Bling” and “One Dance” for Drake and “Rising Water” and “We Move” for James Vincent McMorrow. He’s also nominated in the best rap song category with Drake for “Hotline Bling.”

— Other frequent Drake collaborators with shared nominations include Noah (40) Shebib, producer Boi-1da and Noel (Gadget) Campbell.

— Among the nominees for best chamber music/small ensemble performance is ARC Ensemble — a group of senior members from Toronto’s Royal Conservatory of Music — for their release “Fitelberg: Chamber Works.”

— Vancouver-born Darcy James Argue leads the 18-piece ensemble Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society. Their “Real Enemies” is up for best large jazz ensemble album.

— Songwriter Bernie Herms lives in Nashville but was born in Canada. He’s in the running for best contemporary Christian music performance/song for his involvement in “Thy Will” performed by Hillary Scott & the Scott Family.

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