A trailblazing Canadian singer recently faced a wave of mockery on social media following her unconventional act at the Juno Awards over the weekend.

Tanya Tagaq, a renowned Indigenous activist and artist known for fusing contemporary music with traditional Inuit throat singing, took the stage at the predominantly government-supported Canadian music awards on Sunday evening.

During her performance, she delivered a tribute to pop sensation Nelly Furtado, who was honored with an induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. Tagaq’s rendition featured her distinctive throat singing style.

A video clip capturing the performance has been making the rounds on X, drawing numerous reactions. Many users have humorously commented on Tagaq’s unique vocalizations, which included melodic grunts, groans, and moans, set to Furtado’s song, “Powerless.”

Despite the mixed reactions, Tagaq maintains a respectable level of success. She boasts approximately 26,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, and her YouTube track “Retribution” has garnered nearly 320,000 views.

Critics on social media also took aim at Tagaq’s 2022 release, “Colonizer,” poking fun at its heavy reliance on throat singing, supplemented by minimalistic lyrics.

In the song, Tagaq repeats the word ‘colonizer’ six times before repeating ‘oh, you’re guilty’ three times. She then repeatedly says ‘colonizer’ ten more times, and then repeats ‘you colonizer’ 12 more times. 

The music video includes imagery of a church burning under the Aurora Borealis. 

Tanya Tagaq, an indigenous activist and artist who blends modern music with Inuit throat singing, has been getting mocked on social media for her recent performance 

Tagaq sang a tribute melody for pop star Nelly Furtado at the Canadian Juno Awards, in which she incorporated her signature throat singing

Critics of Tagaq’s performance also pointed to her song, Colonizer, in which she repeats the word dozens of times. A still from the music video is pictured

Jonathan Kay, the senior editor for the online magazine Quillette, posted a clip of Tagaq’s performance on his X account with a caption that read: ‘This is called “the juno awards.” 

‘It’s a hallowed annual Canadian ritual where government-subsidized Canadians pretend that ordinary Canadians enjoy listening to whatever this is supposed to be.’

He later posted a follow-up tweet pointing out the song Colonizer’s rudimentary lyrics and provocative imagery of a church burning. 

‘In Canada, we call this musical genre, “reconciliation,”’ Kay wrote. 

Many other users on X posted the clip of Tagaq’s performance, and the tweets have collectively received hundreds of thousands of views and thousands of likes and comments. 

‘All the talent has left Canada. What in the hell would you call this performance at the Juno awards?’ one user wrote.

‘I think I’ve heard this Juno lady singing drunk at 2:00 am at Ducky’s Karaoke in Calgary,’ said another. 

‘Just died of second hand embarrassment. This is SO bad,’ a third user chimed in. 

Critics took issue with imagery of a church burning under the Aurora Borealis in the Colonizer music video

Tagaq is a moderately successful singer with about 26,000 monthly listeners on Spotify. She has won Juno awards in the past and is pictured during her recent performance

This tweet, posted by the senior editor of the online magazine Quillette, was one of many making fun of Tagaq’s performance. The person in the paused video is not Tagaq

Jon Kay, the Quillette editor, posted this follow up tweet highlighting Tagaq’s song, Colonizer, and pointed out its rudimentary lyrics and provocative imagery of a church burning

People in the comments of those posts mostly agreed with the sentiment and took the mocking a step further.

‘Even the part using actual words she cannot hit notes,’ a user replied to the ‘second hand embarrassment’ tweet. 

But a minority of people who commented did support Tagaq and blasted people for making fun of her performance.

‘Mixing Inuit throat singing with modern music. Not to everyone’s taste but the concept is brilliant and Tanya has represented Canada around the world and has worked with Bjork, spreading awareness of indigenous Canadian culture,’ one supporter wrote. 

‘If you don’t like it, just don’t listen to it. But, throat singing is very difficult to do. There are variations of it around the world including Tibet and Mongolia,’ the user concluded.

‘Yall ignorant c**** that claim this is the decline are embarrassing,’ another supporter said. 

‘Blending ancient traditions that existed before any instrument was invented w/ modern sounds on a massive stage. Her talent squashes most “singers”. You not getting it doesn’t change that.’

This tweet and those below are more examples of people mocking the performance. They have collectively received hundreds of thousands of views and thousands of likes and comments

Tagaq has previously won Juno awards. In 2015, she received the award for Aboriginal Recording of the Year, and in 2017, she received the award for Classical Album of the Year. 

The singer-activist was not nominated for any awards this year.