Magicsticks, Mbryo, others unveiled as jury for Akinyemilaw songwriting contest

Building on the legacy of being one of the biggest talent discovery initiatives tailored for songwriters in Africa, the organisers of Akinyemilaw Songwriting Contest have announced a call for entries in Nigeria and Ghana for the 2024 edition, the sixth in its series.

The announcement also came with a significant increment of the prize money to $5,000, which will be split between the top three winners, a remarkable difference from the previous edition where the winner took all.

This year, the winner gets $4,000 while consolation cash prizes of $750 and $250 will go to the second and third spots winners respectively. Additionally, Showgear, a leading event, rental, and music retail company, will give the winners equipment worth $1,000.

According to organisers, the competition which opened On November 1, will close on Sunday, December 15. Interested music talents from Nigeria and Ghana are expected to adhere strictly to the qualification requirements. They are to create a 90 seconds original song (108-113 BPM) in any African genre with the title, ‘Come to my party.’

After this, they are required to upload the song to Instagram and audiomack with the hashtag #TalSongContest2024. All contestants are required to follow the official Instagram handle, @talcsongcontest, while the streaming link is expected to be submitted through the competition portal on www.talsongcontest.com.

The jury composition for the award includes music and production stars such as Kareem Olasunkanmi Temitayo, professionally known as Magicsticks (Nigeria), Yaw Boadu-Ayeboafoh (Ghana), Prince Omoferi well known as Mbryo (Nigeria), and Purple Georgelyn Ames (Ghana).

They will examine entries through the lens of fundamental music values such as production quality, lyrics, and melody.

Winners’ selection will be announced in two stages, beginning with a shortlist of the top 10 and followed by the final stage unveiling of the top three winners.
Speaking on the competition, the convener, Akinyemi Ayinoluwa, said, “we successfully crossed the half-decade mark and are excited to announce our call for fresh, original voices that capture the essence of storytelling through music.”

Last year, the $3,000 grand cash prize went to budding songwriter, Akujobi Elvis better known as Zichy alongside his producer, Olalekan Oluwadamilare Adeleke otherwise called Kss. The tag team emerged victorious with their original song and beat out a total of over 1,200 entries reviewed by the organisers in Lagos.