Classified Predicts Juno Awards Will Be 'Nuts'

East Coast rapper Classified clearly remembers when the Juno Awards took place in his hometown of Halifax, Nova Scotia in 2006. That year he received his first-ever nomination, ironically for his tenth album, titled 'Boy-Cott-In The Industry.' He saw the small city come alive and expects St. John's, Newfoundland will be the same next week when the Junos return for a second time since 2002.

"The whole weekend it was just Junos, Junos, Junos; every club had something to do with the Junos. It was just more of an atmosphere thing and a whole weekend event, more than just one gala show on Sunday night type thing," he says of Halifax. "We play in Newfoundland a lot, and even us having one little club night gets the whole town excited, so the Junos is going to be nuts up there."


Classified is up for three awards this year: Rap Recording of the Year for 'Self Explanatory,' and Single of the Year and Video of the Year for 'Anybody Listening.'

He grabbed another Best Rap Recording nomination in 2007 for his album 'Hitch Hikin' Music,' but hadn't been able to attend because of his touring schedule. This time he'll be walking the red carpet along with the rest of the nominees and presenters, but acknowledges it's a far cry from how he's treated the other 364 days of the year.

"It's a nice year-end wrap up, but a lot of people they see the Junos on TV and they see the red carpet and we're dressed up and they think that's the life of a musician, but it's a lot of hard work," Classified says. "You get in the minivan with the guys and you spend 80 percent of your day trying to get an extra hour of sleep or traveling.

"The great thing about the tour thing for me is always the performance. You get the hour onstage a night where you get to connect with the fans and do the music you like to make. But other than that a lot is a pain in the a--, just travel, travel, travel, which can get old pretty quick if you don't get a chance to go see the sites."