- Words Miriam Balanescu
Find out who won the Prospect 100 Global Music Competition and the artists who were highly commended.
Creative-support organization Prospect 100, whose competitions aim to allow the next generation of musicians, designers, and filmmakers to flourish, has rounded up the finalists for this year’s Global Music Competition. After thousands of applications spanning 82 nations, the judges are pleased to reveal that the overall winner this year is Bosnian-British hip hop artist, 5EB.
5EB, otherwise known as Seb Weal, snatched the top prize for his entry “3 Phones”. The young musician is now all set to take the main stage at Cambridge’s Strawberries and Creem Festival, along with undertaking a six-month mentorship with Grammy-award giant, producer, and CMNTY Culture founder Philip Lawrence.
5EB has spoken about his reaction to the win: “My friend called me up and I had a good feeling. I was gassed, I was really happy and proud of myself. I was with my friends and we were just talking festivals. I love music more widely than just rapping so the mentorship will be sick as it will help me expand my skillset and help me get opportunities in the industry. Winning this competition made my mum cry with happiness. That’s priceless.”
Alongside the young hip hop artist, 4 other talented finalists have been announced: Coupdekat with her song “Love Online”, Feux with his song “Life?”, No Home with their song “Judgemental Fool” and When Chai Met Toast with their song “When We Feel Young”. Each will receive mentoring from industry titans Ollie Ayling, who has represented Rita Ora, Nicole Sherzinger, and Zayn Malik, record label Mind of a Genius, and producer Blue Rondo.
The entries were judged by French rapper Kalash Criminel, English-French artist Charlotte Gainsbourg, electronic music maverick Jean-Michel Jarre, techno producer Nina Kraviz, singer-songwriter Tom Misch, 80s French legend Michel Polnareff, former Sister Sledge member Kathy Sledge, SSGKobe, Alfie Templeman, and the one and only Philip Lawrence.
Millinsky of Prospect 100 has commented, “We can’t wait to witness everything these wonderful artists will achieve in their career after receiving mentorship from Philip Lawrence, Ollie Ayling, Blue Rondo and the Mind of a Genius team. All these artists, the finalists but also all the participants, are now part of our community and that’s the most important. All these young talents are bound by their passion for music and desire to create something new. They want to start a conversation, and we are here to support them. Hopefully, they all continue to chase their dreams and apply again to our next competitions.”
Great things will certainly be in store for this exciting new crop of musicians.