Femi Bright wins Goldberg’s Ariya Repete 2018 ultimate prize

Upcoming Juju artist, Femi Bright whose real name is Ayodele Olatunji, has emerged winner in the just concluded Goldberg’s Ariya Repete 2018, as he won for himself  the N2million cash prize and a chance to be Goldberg’s ambassador. The cash prize was presented to Femi Bright by the Marketing Director of the Nigeria Breweries Plc, Franco Maria Maggi.

The winner, a National Diploma (ND) holder from Federal Polytechnic Ado-Ekiti in a chat said he was ecstatic as he thanked organisers for their resolve to promote and keep local genre of Yoruba music alive.

“I am so happy to become the winner. This prize money of N2million will enable me pursue my dream as a musician and I give all glory to God. My profound appreciation goes to Goldberg, Nigeria Breweries Plc for this feat,” he said.

Emmanuel Agu, Portfolio Manager, Mainstream Lager and Stout brands, Nigerian Breweries said Fuji and Juju music are up for a rebirth with the quality of talent witnessed in the competition.

“For a long time in the 80s and early 2000s, Yoruba music enjoyed considerable global acclaim; however the emergence of Afro hip hop and other new wave musical genres being widely accepted by young people in Nigeria has negatively impacted Yoruba music in some ways. Nevertheless, with the introduction of Ariya Repete which already is in its second year, the glory days of Yoruba music are here again and we at Nigerian Breweries as a pro-Nigeria brand are glad to be leading this resurgence,” said Agu.

Goldberg’s Ariya Repete talent hunt is an initiative of the premium lager beer to develop and promote Yoruba traditional music genre and drumming; while 16 finalists battled for the ultimate prize of the Goldberg’s Ariya Repete 2018 talent hunt.

The grand finale which held at the Trans Amusement park in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital yesterday, saw the winners of the Fuji and Juju categories walking home with cash prize of N2 million while the Winner of the drum and dance got N1 million only.

Wale Crown, second runners up was presented with a cheque of N1million, while Bukola Hameed, the 3rd runner up got a cheque of N750, 000, bringing the total winning for the Juju category to N3.75million.

The 32 up and coming acts who slugged it out at the Lagos semi-final had emerged from a keenly contested quarter final round at Ado-Ekiti. They were all taken through the Ariya Repete Academy where they were groomed and mentored by some veterans in Juju and Fuji music, as well as drumming.

Of this group, five Fuji and Juju musicians, and six traditional drummers progressed to the grand finale in Ibadan to compete for the cash prize in each category.

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