OTTAWA - Mosha Folger, a.k.a. M.O., is garnering national attention this month as one of three Inuk performers nominated in the 2010 Canadian Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Awards.

Mosha Folger, depicted here in a recent portrait by his friend Morgan A. Cook, is preparing to release his second full-length album, String Games. Folger is also working on a highly personal 22-minute documentary film about the tragic final months of the life of his late mother, Suvina Mikijuk. To vote for Folger at the Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Awards, visit aboriginalpeopleschoice.com - graphic courtesy of Morgan A. Cook

Recording artists Tanya Tagaq, originally from Cambridge Bay, and Lucie Idlout, who splits her time between Iqaluit and Toronto, are also on the list of more than 100 aboriginal recording artists from across Canada.

Folger is nominated in the Best New Artist category and for Best Rap/Hip Hop CD for his 2009 full-length album, Eskimocentricity, which he released last August.

Originally from Apex, Folger, 31, is now based in Ottawa. He has tapped into the local spoken word scene and also performs in Montreal and Vancouver, where he often collaborates with other artists.

Eskimocentricity included tracks recorded with South Side Totems, a duo of Tlingit hip-hop artists from Alaska; Geothermal MC from Vancouver; and Ritallin, an Ottawa rapper of Caribbean descent.

Folger is teaming up with Ritallin again on his next album, String Games, which is due to launch in the fall. He is also preparing collaborations with Yellowknife rapper Aaron "Godson" Hernandez, and Greenlandic rapper Teand-el. The rapper plans to release the first single online on CD Baby next month. Titled Saturday (Ladies Night), the song features his sister, Napatsi Folger of Iqaluit, singing the chorus.

"I feel since I made Eskimocentricity the learning curve has been steep," Mosher said. "I've grown a lot musically. This album is much more spontaneous. It's going to be more of a polished feel. It's more of a streamlined sound."

Folger's sound is moving away from the linear rap narrative into more of a staccato hip hop storytelling style. "It has a chopped-up feel," he said.

The new recordings continue to build on the themes of contemporary urban Inuit life that filled his first CD.

"I've always written about Inuit interests and that is cont in this album," he said. One of his songs expresses his views on Nunavut's first decade and on another track he discusses the issue of suicide. The song is informed by experiences lifted from his own life.

"It's really a call to arms about this serious problem," he said. "We just have to talk to each other. We can't let the suicidal tendencies remain silent."

Folger is also hard at work on a 22-minute documentary film. The highly personal project will explore the final months in the life of his late mother, Suvina Mikijuk, who died in a park in Montreal when Folger was two years old.

Music fans can now vote in the first voting round of the Canadian Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Awards. Voting ends on Aug. 18. A shortlist will be selected on Aug. 25 and the final voting round will end on Oct. 6. Winners will be announced at the awards ceremony in Winnipeg on Nov. 5.

To vote for Folger at the Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Awards, visit aboriginalpeopleschoice.com.