Keys N Krates: Award Winning Trap From Toronto

Keys N Krates can now add the title of “Award Winning” to their resume!

Fresh off their Midnite Mass Tour, the Toronto based trap trio took home an award this past weekend at the Juno’s – better known as the Canadian equivalent of the Grammy’s. Although the Juno’s aren’t anywhere near the same scale as the Grammy’s, or even the MTV Music Video Awards, they do hold a bit of weight up in the Great White North. And with a name like Keys N Krates taking home Dance Recording of the Year, hopefully it’s a sign of things to come.

Historically, the Juno’s have been kind of dry and seriously lacking in terms of electronic representation. While many talented musicians call Canada home, it’s only recently that the electronic music scene has been represented at the biggest musical award show in the country. Although the award for Dance Recording of the Year has been around for 25 years, it took until 2011 before the Juno’s decided that the electronic scene as a whole should be recognized as an individual category.

Unfortunately aside from Deadmau5, electronic music has been poorly represented at the Juno’s. Even with the recent addition of Electronic Album of the Year, the nominees are often lacking in terms of real Canadian talent. Artists like Adventure Club, Caribou, A Tribe Called Red, and Keys N Krates have helped show signs of improvement over the past few years, but we’re still yet to see a nomination like Stickybuds, Excision, Longwalkshortdock, or any of the resident DJs from Shambhala – an international success and one of Canada’s longest running electronic music festivals.

While we find this lack of bass disturbing, what matters today is what Keys N Krates have been able to accomplish over their 8 year history. The trio has come a long way from their beginnings as a live hip-hop act to take home an award with their track “Save Me”. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come as the popularity of electronic music becomes more widespread.

The trio started off 2016 with a bang, dropping the Midnite Mass EP before embarking on a continental tour with stops in the all over the PNW. If you weren’t able to catch them this time around, don’t hesitate on finding a ticket to Shambhala or Summer Meltdown festival! And keep your eyes peeled for other stops around our neck of the woods this summer!