"Thank you God, the academy and... Ryerson?" ryerson.ca ETERNIA - It's Called Life Reported by: Adam Gonshor Ryersonian Staff Eternia speaks proudly about Ryerson at any chance she gets. Sunday, the country may have to listen. Eternia, the hip-hop artist who graduated from the journalism program in 2004, is the lone female nominated for Rap Recording of the Year and promises to thank Ryerson if she wins, and if she remembers. "Now that you reminded me, sure!" she says. "I will write that on my hand, 'shout out Ryerson.' "It's not that you guys are number 20 on my list. It's because I'm one of those people who forgets to shout out the most important people." Nominated for her first full-length album, "It's Called Life," Eternia, realizes she is the underdog. She is up against strong competition, including urban music veteran Kardinal Offishall and critically acclaimed Somalian rapper K'naan. Sounding genuinely honoured by the nomination - which she found out about by e-mail - she is not sure how excited she will be until she arrives in Halifax, where the awards are being held. "It hasn't sunk in yet. I might get excited when I walk the red carpet. I'll be happy when (the ceremony) is in front of me," she says. Eternia, born Silk Kaya, invited her brother - who introduced her to hip-hop as a kid and helped finance her album - to be her date. She admits she's not the most fashionable person and laughs when she talks about having a stylist. "This is stupid," she chuckles, somewhat in disbelief. "I have a stylist." But being a Canadian rap artist is not always so glamorous. When she's not shooting music videos and touring the world, she's dealing with rent payments and trying to survive in a business that was not designed with starving artists in mind. The urban music business in Canada is a dichotomy, she explains. "How can you be nominated for a Juno Award and still have a hard time paying the bills? Canada has an illusion of stardom where if you're on TV every day or you attend these big award ceremonies, then you must be a rich superstar. But it's the exact opposite." It's "discouraging" trying to make a living as a Canadian urban artist, she says, because of a lack of infrastructure - little radio support and a small audience, for example. "There is a glass ceiling in Canada that's very difficult to penetrate." Eternia is not craving fame and fortune. She just wants enough to be able to continue making music. The only way that she could succeed as a rap artist, she believes, is by expanding her fan base into the U.S. That is why she moved to New Jersey last year, not in search of that fairy-tale "big break," but rather more chances. "It's been frustrating but there's been progress," she says. "It won't happen overnight. I need to increase my market to make this a living. I'm not doing this as a hobby, I've been doing this too long for it to be a hobby. It's almost like a big puzzle for me and I'm trying to figure out all the different pieces." Last summer, she was one of the only hip-hop acts among over 50 punk bands on the annual Warped Tour, performing across North America. Seems like an odd fit, and it was. With punk acts simultaneously performing in other areas of the venue, she sometimes performed in front of nobody. She was lucky if people passed her without making fun of the hip-hop genre. "How can you be nominated for a Juno Award and still have a hard time paying the bills?" - Eternia, hip-hop artist "You're playing for a crowd that doesn't really want you there," she says. But she is proud to have been part of the tour - one of the summer's most successful and best attended - just like she is proud to be associated with Ryerson. Her journalism training has allowed her to write her own press releases and biography. Besides studying journalism, Eternia worked in the continuing education department, up until a year after she graduated. "I miss everyone in that department because it was more than just work. They were always very supportive of my music from the beginning. I would have program directors from CE coming to these loud hip-hop parties to support me. The love that Ryerson has given me is a beautiful thing." In May, Eternia will be part of a cross-Canada high school tour, which will bring AIDS awareness to students. She hopes her music video for "Love," released last week, will raise awareness for Amnesty International's campaign to stop violence against women.