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By ChartAttack.com Staff (Actual Writer not Specified)
Well, we certainly didn’t call it. For the third year in a row, Swollen Members won the Best Rap Recording Juno — and this year it wasn’t even for a proper album! (SM’s Monsters In The Closet is a collection of alternative versions, B-sides and rarities.) In fact, the Swollen boys were so sure they couldn’t pull off a threepeat that they weren’t even on hand when the award was given out at the untelevised Juno ceremony on Saturday night (April 5).
"We were doing the soundcheck for tonight," Madchild said on Sunday when asked where the hell they were during the ceremony. "We were really honoured that we won, but we were just as surprised as a lot of people."
Nevertheless, the now four-piece crew are very grateful for the honour. It’s been a helluva good year for Swollen — they picked up a couple of extra members, hired Todd McFarlane to direct a video, hooked up with Nelly Furtado and scored an American record deal. For those reasons, Prevail says that this Juno is extra sweet.
"It’s been a lot of hard work for us and I think it’s the first year that we’ve really felt a responsibility placed on us to step up to the plate and make the best music that we can and put on the best live show that we can," Prevail says. "And just being honest with ourselves and the music that we make and the way we present ourselves. And we feel that this year was a real stepping stone for us. And we didn’t expect to win — straight up."
This year, in addition to scooping up the Rap award, Swollen Members were also nominated in the Best Group category, which, as far as anyone can remember, is a first time for a hip-hop group. While they didn’t win (Sum 41 picked up that honour), Prevail feels like the nomination is proof that Swollen have reached a new level.
"For us it’s awesome because it’s a great honour to share such great company," said the faultlessly polite MC said. "We’re excited that Sum won, straight up, those guys work hard, they deserve it, they make great music and they’re a great group of guys. But, like I said, we’re stoked to have been nominated in the category. But the thing that I was really happy about was making history and winning three years in a row. Especially in this genre, it’s something that we really take to heart and we’re really proud of."
April 09, 2003 [ChartAttack.com]