The 2015 grad’s debut album was nominated for “Best Reggae Recording of the Year”

By Amira Benjamin

Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) alumna Naomi Cowan says music met her before she met music.

Cowan’s parents met while working in the Jamaican music industry. Her mother, having just moved to Kingston from Toronto, was a rising recording vocalist and her father was a producer and booking agent.

Cowan credits her existence to the genre of reggae, which is what makes her first JUNO nomination all the more special. The RTA ‘11 graduate will be competing for “Best Reggae Recording of the Year” alongside artists like Exco Levi and Kirk Diamond with her debut album, Welcome to Paradise.

For Cowan, her JUNO nomination in the reggae categorymakes her feel like she’s “a part of music history.”

“Reggae and Canada have such a deep history, as well as Jamaica,” said Cowan. “Jamaican [and Caribbean] culture have influenced Toronto so much and Canada played a role in the growth of reggae. It’s a bigger country so the fact that it became a bigger sound meant it expanded the genre globally.”

The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences initially announced its intention to remove the reggae category for the 2025 ceremony, but backtracked from the decision.

“[Reggae] doesn’t discriminate because of how it touches so many people,” said Cowan. “There’s a specific feeling that emits in everyone who listens to it…I can’t think of one person who listens to reggae and doesn’t feel better.”

Cowan says that reggae allows her to embody the values she feels the genre provides to the world. “The type of person I am and the type of human being I always wanted to continue to be is someone who emits a lot of love…and acceptance and inclusivity,” she said.

Jamaican and Carribean culture have influenced Toronto so much

Although she was raised surrounded by musicians and artists, Cowan grew up avoiding the music business. Instead, she said her first choice of a career was media production.

“I wanted to have my own name, I wanted to forge my own path [outside of music]. I was really turned off by a lot of negative sides of the [music] business,” she explained.

Music was always popping up. It was like this thing I couldn’t shake…

Cowan still developed a passion for storytelling and public speaking as she grew up, so it was natural for her to go into broadcasting and media production. TMU was the only school she applied to.

She still attributes her time at the university as helping build her “creative confidence,” especially coming from academically-rigorous high school in Jamaica. “I was able to see that the world was much bigger than where I was coming from.”

Her commitment towards music didn’t begin until she entered her Master’s of Digital Media in 2015. “At the time, being in music was the last thing on my plate. But it was like…music was always popping up. It was like this thing I couldn’t shake.”

The catalyst for Cowan’s full immersion into music was the restructuring of a startup she landed after graduation in 2015, including some potential layoffs. Cowan was offered to stay but at a lower salary.

“I remember when that happened…I was thinking ‘wow nothing in this world really is guaranteed,’” she recalled. “It had me realising that if I was going through all of these ups and downs, why not go through these…while creating something I envisioned?”

It was very magical in its own way

Cowan said it was a blessing in disguise—she decided to move back to Jamaica six months later and pursue her music career.

Even her boss at the time offered to pay Cowan a two months’ salary to help financially support her pursuing music.

“[My boss] said…if you can give this thing a shot, I would encourage it because you seem to have a lot of support,” she said. “It was very magical in its own way.”
The 2026 JUNO awards will be presented on March 29 at the TD Coliseum.