Key Takeaways

• Cardi B will receive the Global Woman of the Year Award at the Billboard Canada Women In Music event.
• Summer Walker is honored with the Global Visionary Award for her innovative contributions to R&B.
• Bebe Rexha will be recognized with the Global Hitmaker Award, highlighting her versatile music career.
• Chxrry is set to accept the Billboard Canada Rising Star Award, marking her significant impact in the music industry.

Billboard Canada has announced some more major global names for Billboard Canada Women In Music, where Cardi B will accept the Global Woman of the Year Award.

Summer Walker will accept the Global Visionary Award. Walker has broken barriers to build a modern global R&B success story based on boundless creativity and radical vulnerability. This year, Walker transformed her now-complete Over It trilogy into her first arena tour, the Finally Still Over It tour, which sold out venues around the world. The tour told the tale of her three albums, kicking off in Toronto and culminating with a special finale in the U.K., with two sold-out nights at London’s O2 Arena.

Celebrating the feat in a special moment captured by Billboard Canada and Billboard UK, Walker paid tribute to the bold and loyal team that has helped her achieve new heights as she has built her own path within the industry.

Bebe Rexha will be honoured with the Global Hitmaker Award, which recognizes her decade-spanning career and illustrious path from songwriter to one of the most versatile charting stars on the music landscape. From pop to electronic, country and R&B, she has shown an ability to craft songs that resonate with massive audiences including multiple No. 1s in Canada and the U.S.

Now in 2026, the singer has taken greater creative control of her career, going independent and partnering with EMPIRE, a decision she describes as not just a business one, but a personal one, “embracing every part” of herself. Her 2026 album Dirty Blonde hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Dance Albums chart and reflects Bebe’s newly heightened creative ambition, which includes making music videos for every song on the album.

Chxrry will accept the 2026 Billboard Canada Rising Star Award.

It has been four years since the Scarborough-born, Los Angeles-based act (formerly Chxrry22) made history as the first female artist signed to The Weeknd’s XO record label. Chxrry has continued to build her audience, playing both intimate and stadium-sized concerts during her opening stint on The Weeknd’s record-breaking After Hours Til Dawn tour. This year, she played 16 sold-out shows across the globe, including two stops in Toronto.

The celebration will be hosted by Leandra Earl and Kylie Miller of The Beaches, the breakthrough Toronto band that was recognized as last year’s Women of the Year.

The band celebrated the major breakthrough that began in 2023 with “Blame Brett” and continued through their 2025 album No Hard Feelings and their graduation to an arena-level band. They have remained true to themselves and proudly worn their home country on their sleeve, all while continuing to build an impact that transcends beyond it.

In addition to being major honourees last year, they were undoubtedly the life of the party, celebrating with the other honourees and creating a viral moment as they shared their surprise while congratulations played from Elton John, Kid Cudi, Charlotte Cardin and more. Following the Women of the Year honour, they also became the first group to receive the Global Force Award at Billboard Women In Music in Los Angeles. They described the win, which recognizes their representation of Canada on the world stage, as a “dream come true.”

Kylie and Leandra’s charm has also breathed new life into their breakthrough hit “Blame Brett” as the guitarists lead a viral stage move that has become a viral staple during the band’s live sets. From Rebecca Black and the Off Campus cast to their own parents, the “Blame Brett hops” have become a fan-favourite moment and taken over stages of all sizes, from festivals like All Things Go to arenas where The Beaches opened for Louis Tomlinson this spring.

Read more here. — Billboard Canada

Drake Finances New Album From Canadian Rapper k-os

The return of Canadian hip-hop veteran k-os is imminent — and it’s fuelled by one of the country’s biggest global stars.

BLackneck will release on Oct. 30. It’s the genre-blurring Canadian rapper’s first full album in over a decade, and it has a major credit: Drake.

The new seven-track LP finds k-os reconnecting with the influence he’s left behind —the ambition of a Canadian artist willing to think beyond the country’s borders while also representing where he came from—and it took one of its biggest benefactors to bring it to life.

Drake is credited as an executive producer on the project. Though he wasn’t behind the boards, the Toronto star bankrolled the whole project while offering encouragement to k-os to make the album only he could make.

“Drake was like, ‘please make me a k-os record, please, please, please.’ That’s all he wanted,” k-os tells Billboard Canada over the phone from Mayne Island in B.C., where he’s putting finishing touches on mix for album.

By a ‘k-os record,’ he means an album that takes big swings and doesn’t pigeonhole itself into one genre or perspective—a vision that inspired young Aubrey Graham as he was building his Drake persona.

He grew up watching k-os on Canadian music video channel MuchMusic in early 2000s when k-os was making his name as major name in Canadian hip-hop. They collaborated on songs “Faith” part one and two in early 2010s and remained friendly ever since. They first reconnected, k-os says, in either 2021 or 2022 when they saw each other at club. They re-exchanged phone numbers and Drake asked him to send him some music.

“He was like ‘dude, clearly you’re still good at this,’” k-os remembers. “‘I want to put you into situation where you can make some music.’”

Drake spoke to Matte Babel, former MuchMusic VJ who now works closely with Drake as chief brand officer of his entertainment company DreamCrew.

Babel has been managing project with k-os with Drake as “chief financier,” says k-os.

“He’s like ‘oh he wants to go to this big studio? He wants to get this string section?’ It’s hard for label to spend that on artist these days,” says k-os who was formerly signed to major label Universal Music Canada and indie label Dine Alone. “If you’re new artist and you just get signed off streams you tell them you want Vancouver String Orchestra they’re going to say ‘we’re not paying for it.’”

But Drake is able to pay for it bringing him back into musical situation he was in when he was major label artist in pre-streaming world.

Read more here. — Richard Trapunski

Sophie Grégoire Trudeau Criticizes Tate McRae’s Victoria’s Secret Performance: ‘Nothing Empowering Here’

Sophie Grégoire Trudeau is criticizing Tate McRae’s debut performance of “Housewife.”

The Calgary-born pop sensation took stage at Victoria’s Secret fashion show on Sunday night (Oct. 18) to perform her new single “Housewife” live for first time along with hit singles “Sports Car” and “Dear God,” wearing sleek red lingerie ensemble that drew criticism from author and mental health advocate formerly married to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

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