YolanDa Brown OBE, musician, broadcaster and Chair of the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) and philanthropist James ‘JP’ Drake, are proud to announce that applications for the fourth annual Drake YolanDa Awards for emerging young artists are now open. The Drake YolanDa Awards are a series of cash prizes presented to up and coming musicians aged between16-30, enabling them to showcase their talent and assist them in taking their careers to the next level.
Ten promising artists will be awarded £3000 each, intended to support each winners’ artistic development in areas including touring, artistic development, recording new music, music videos, marketing, branding and purchasing new equipment.
Since 2019 the Drake YolanDa Award have supported the journey of over 60 emerging artists from all over the UK: Manchester, Birmingham, London, Glasgow, Newcastle to name a few.
With over £100,000 of investment, 80% of the grants were awarded to women, 97% of applicants had never received a grant before and 65% of applicants were from outside London.
Celebrating the rich and diverse nature of the UK music scene, The Drake YolanDa Award welcomes applicants from all genres and are specifically looking for independent artists that need support and do not currently have backing from major record labels or publishers. Application deadline is 4th September (at 12 noon), after which a team of leading music industry figures will select ten shortlisted artists.
Previous recipients of the award include singer-songwriter Jerub, who performed at King Charles Coronation and with Damon Albarn’s Gorillaz, Singer and guitarist Rosie Frater Taylor now endorsed by Gibson guitars and regularly touring the world, soulful songstress BEKA, who subsequently embarked on a world tour with HONNE and trumpet master Ife Ogunjobi part of the phenomenal Ezra Collective and also performing at sold out venues like Madison Square Garden with the likes of Wizkid and Burna Boy.
Speaking about the awards, YolanDa Brown comments: “Four years in to this award with over 60 artists as alumni and we continue to be blown away by the impact it has on the careers of these unique, genre bending artists. One of the biggest barriers to most creatives is access to finance and we are pleased to be able to answer that call for these artists and play a part of their evolving journeys at a critical stage… We only wish we had the capacity to support more artists.”
Applications are open now until 4th September. Artists must apply and submit a recent music video or audio recording via: www.drakeyolanda.org
