TORONTO – Allison Russell paid a gentle tribute to her friend and mentor Joni Mitchell at the SOCAN Awards on Monday night, while superstar Drake emerged as the big winner.

Even though the Toronto rapper didn’t show up for the industry soiree, he walked away with a historic six wins — the most of any artist in one year — including his fourth consecutive award for songwriter of the year in the performer category.

He also pocketed three rap music trophies, an R&B award and a dance music prize for his appearance on “Sideways,” a song by Maryland-raised DJ Gordo.

Dozens of SOCAN awards were handed out to homegrown songwriters, composers and music publishers at Toronto’s Rebel concert venue. The SOCAN ceremony uses a conveyor-belt style of naming winners in small batches of around three to f

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