The Drake YolanDa Award has announced the winners of its 2021 prize, to be celebrated at an award ceremony taking place at North London’s Roundhouse Studio Theatre on 6th November, where all recipients of the prize will perform.
Welcoming artists from all backgrounds and musical genres ranging between ages 16-30, the music prize was founded in 2019 by the two time MOBO winner and broadcaster YolanDa Brown and the philanthropist James JP Drake, to support the careers of young artists by providing financial support to spend on touring, marketing, recording or other ways to further their careers.
The 10 winners of the 2021 award were selected from over 600 entries by an industry panel including Paul McNamee, Editor of The Big Issue; Adam Sherwin, music journalist at The i newspaper; the publisher, manager and PR Paulette Long OBE, award winning musician Lemar and chaired by YolanDa Brown. A total sum of £35,000 was awarded to 10 emerging artists working across music genres ranging from hip hop to funk, folk, country, jazz and indie, receiving £3,000 each, with 10 runners up also receiving £500 each.
The exciting list of winners are all promising artists at different stages of their careers, varying from self-produced musicians cutting their first record, to artists on the rise that have achieved a range of other accolades. Please see the full list of winners below.
YolanDa Brown, co-founder of Drake YolanDa Award: “The 2020 award could not go ahead due to the global pandemic and subsequent lockdowns. As an industry, we are starting to see that the combination of covid 19 and Brexit has created significant damage to the gig economy for emerging artists. Their income has been affected due to live music venues being closed, the complexities of touring in Europe post Brexit and many other complications. It is with this responsibility to continue supporting emerging artists, that the Drake YolanDa Award pressed on with urgency for the 2021 award, another mind blowing collective of eclectic talent, pushing the boundaries within their individual genres and already building momentum with their careers in music.”
With up and coming artists facing a myriad of challenges to their careers of late, not least due to new restrictions as a result of Brexit, The Drake YolanDa Award is a vital addition to UK’s music prize circuit and has proved to be a success story as a launch pad for new talent.
