40 Artistes, 12 Traditional Drummers Qualify For Goldberg Ariya Repete  Quarter Final

Fifty two winners have emerged in the Ariya Repete Traditional Music and Drums Talent Hunt, which is proudly sponsored by Goldberg Lager Beer for Nigerian Breweries Plc.

The talent hunt, which is aimed at developing drumming skills, also rewards up and coming acts in the Juju and Fuji music genres of the Nigerian music industry.

The audition and selection stage was held in eight cities including Sango Ota, Ogun State; Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State; Akure, Ondo State; Lagos; Ilesa, Osun State; Ilorin, Kwara State; Ibadan and Oyo both in Oyo State where several contestants came to slug it out for a place in the quarterfinals of the competition.

The artistes and groups in the first and second round of auditions impressed the judges with their talents and craftsmanship.

The Panel of judges were then able to make the final selection of artistes who qualified for the quarterfinal.

The successful contestants will now go into the Ariya Repete Academy where they will go through mentorship and grooming from experienced musicians and managers.

The panel of judges in Ota who screened the qualifiers were Juju musicians, Wale Thompson of  “Lalale Friday” fame, Adebayo Faleke, an ace radio broadcaster, Alhaji Sikiru Kolotiti Agboola, Alhaji Kabir Kehinde Akanni popularly known as Baby Barrister, Dele Bravo and Babatope Temidayo popularly known as “Puffy-Tee”.

According to the Portfolio Manager, Mainstream Lager and Stout brands, NBPlc, Emmanuel Agu, participants at this year’s edition of Ariya Repete are competing for a bigger prize money compared to the previous editions, with the overall winner in each category carting away a grand prize of N2 Million.

He further reaffirmed Nigerian Breweries’ commitment to discovering new talents in the two indigenous Yoruba music genres as well as in drumming.

“Goldberg’s Ariya Repete creates an avenue for fuji, juju musicians and traditional drummers to showcase their talents as a means of promoting Yoruba language and rich heritage. Nigerian Breweries is committed to discovering new talents in the two indigenous Yoruba music genres of Juju and Fuji as well as in drumming, and the Ariya Repete platform is positioned to make this happen.”

The Juju artistes selected in Sango Ota, Ogun State are:  Prince Ade Michael who came first, while Bukola Ahmed came in second place. Also, Oriade Calypso came first, closely followed by Sulaimon Ajao in the second position and Mohammed Adewale came third in the Fuji category.

Meanwhile in the drumming category, Igba-Iwase Group came first while the Eniafe Group came second.

In Ado Ekiti, Ayodele Olatunji came first in the Juju category, closely followed by Adeyemi Ase who came second.

In the Fuji category, Gbenga Adeyeye came first, Saheed Aremu was second and followed by Olayemi Kehinde who came third.

Meanwhile, in the Drummers Category the Ayangbayi Group came first and the Alofuge Group came second behind them.

In Oyo, Sadeeq Ishola won the Fuji category followed closely by Taiwo Suleiman while Luqman Ishola came third.

In the Juju category, Femi Ayeni and Sunny Adura booked their places in the quarterfinal.

In Akure, Dauda Muritala won the Fuji category while Oladele Damilola and Osoba Adeshina came second and third respectively.

In Juju, Amao Babatunde came first followed by Adebayo Adetayo.

In the traditional drum category, Sekere Group came first with Sakuba Group coming second.

All of them booked a space in the quarterfinal.

The upcoming artistes, drummers and dancers selected from the auditions will proceed to the Quarter Finals and Ariya Academy where they will be trained on Yoruba music instruments, Fuji and Juju music by some prominent Juju and Fuji musicians to help hone their musical skills.

Ariya Repete is an initiative of Goldberg premium quality lager beer. Goldberg is brewed to golden standard by the master brewers; Nigerian Breweries Plc.