Brussels-born rapper Shay was awarded the Female Artist of the Year at the Flammes, a French hip-hop awards ceremony held on Tuesday evening in the Paris region.
"Receiving this award fills me with a lot of emotion and gratitude as I work hard to ensure my voice as a woman continues to be heard,” Shay expressed as she accepted her trophy, adding her thoughts for women "in Congo, Palestine, and elsewhere who fight not to be heard but just to survive."
The Belgian artist was in competition with Aya Nakamura, Eva, Lala &ce, Le Juiice, Maureen, Merveille, Meryl, Ronisia, and Yseult. The Female Artist of the Year award honours the artist “whose talent, aura or actions have stood out over the past year,” say the organisers.
Last year, Shay distinguished herself in France by winning a Victoire de la Musique award in the Audio-Visual Creation category for her video Commando.
The Brussels-born artist also starred on Netflix's Rhythm + Flow France as a judge.
Rapper Tiakola, the favourite of the third edition of the Flammes, was named Male Artist of the Year, thanks to a meteoric career and the success of his latest album BDLM Vol.1.
The Flammes were born in response to the Victoires de la Musique, often criticised for lacking representation of the hip-hop scene, and aim for greater scope, opening their doors to the public.
A total of 56 artists are represented across about twenty categories. Nominees and winners are primarily chosen through an equal combination of public votes and a jury of 26 people, including labels, promoters, and media representatives.
The ceremony took place simultaneously with another major musical competition, the Eurovision Song Contest, held in Basel, Switzerland.
