Jack Daniel’s Music Scouts 2015 launches with K.O, Culoe de Song & DJ Speedsta

3 July 2015: 2015 sees the third season of the much-anticipated Jack Daniel’s Music Scouts, the nationwide search for authentic musical talent. With the esteemed K.O, Culoe de Song and DJ Speedsta being announced as the 2015 Jack Scouts – and a grand prize that will springboard the talented winner onto a stellar career path – this is no ordinary talent search.

From unsigned musicians to vocalists or DJs across the full spectrum of South African music genres, the nationwide search is open to anyone with musical flair. 2014 winner, the exceptionally talented Hip Hop rapper Gigi LaMayne was signed to talent management agency and recording label Dream Team SA earlier this year and is quickly becoming a recognised name as she breaks ground for female rappers on the African continent.

The last two years have generated thousands of entries from across the country and this year sees a refreshed finalist phase. Two finalists will be selected at the beginning of August and another two at the end of August. All four artists will have the unique opportunity to star in their own music video profile, which will be featured on Channel O and Vuzu, along with interviews and profiling on Yfm. The finalists will also benefit from a day of mentoring and rehearsals in front of the Scouts, to prepare them for the finale. Taking place in October in Joburg, the finale will be broadcast live on Yfm and will see the winner announced after the finalists’ performances.

Win your calling
The ultimate prize is up for grabs because this year’s winner will get to share a stage with international sensation T.I at Jack Daniel’s Boomtown Joburg presented by Airey Scott Entertainment in Jo’burg on October 17th. They’ll also win a Dream Team SA deal to the value of R150,000, to start their career.

This epic artist deal includes studio time to record a 4-track EP that will go live on global digital music stores, the chance to shoot a music video and dedicated PR services for 6 months.

The inaugural Jack Daniel’s Boomtown Joburg – the inland version of the star-studded annual Durban event held at the Vodacom Durban July – is set to take place on October 17th. In an unprecedented move, the Jack Daniel’s Music Scouts 2015 winner will have the unique opportunity to share the stage with the enormously talented rapper and record producer, T.I, who will be headlining the event.

Dream Team SA’s Director, Refiloe Ramogase says, “I can’t think of a more sought after prize for an up-and-coming artist than a once-in-a-lifetime performance opportunity together with a music deal that’s designed to elevate a super-talented artist to the next level.”

He adds, “We’re looking for someone who is hungry and who truly believes they have what it takes to be SA’s next big star.” This year’s dynamic trio of Scouts echo these sentiments – it’s game on.

2nd Announcement Culoe, KO and Speedsta #JackBoomTown pic.twitter.com/pOF2iCSseH

— Yule (@YuleD) July 3, 2015

K.O
K.O is a veteran of South African Hip Hop, who earlier this year scooped the coveted Record of the Year at the South African Music Awards (SAMAs) for his single “Caracara”. It was the first time in the Awards’ 21-year history that a Hip Hop record has taken the honour.

Previously one-third of the well-loved group Teargas, who released four critically acclaimed, award-winning and commercially successful albums between 2006-2012, K.O then teamed up with Teargas’ Ma-E and long time music and marketing executive Thabiso Khati in 2013 to start Cashtime Life, an all encompassing entertainment and lifestyle company.

When asked for advice for Jack Daniel’s Music Scouts entrants this year, K.O says, ”Young people need to grab the opportunity with both hands because you just never know how far you can go. People don’t need another K.O, they need a new personality and that’s what you need to bring to the table.” He adds, “In my own business… maybe if it’s not the winner or one of the runner ups for this competition, I can get to snatch one of these guys and do something with them.”

Culoe De Song
Internationally acclaimed house DJ and producer Culoe De Song believes his serious music career began in early 2007 where he produced a track called “100 Zulu Warriors” that made him a feature in Black Coffee’s second offering, “Have Another One”.

Born in the northern parts of South Africa’s east coast as Culolethu Zulu, Coloe De Song hasn’t looked back after following his passion for music. Having produced a number of projects gaining him international recognition he has released tracks such as “The Bright Forest”, “Super Afro” & “African Subway” under Germany’s Innervisions and the Reggie Dokes “Let Me Go” EP released on Boddhi Satva’s Offering Recordings in Belgium.

But Culoe De Song’s heart remains in South Africa and commenting on the local music scene he says,” The SA music scene right now is really crazy and it’s very colourful… it’s about having all those colours come together to make something epic.”

“I’m not looking for the most talented person on the planet, I’m looking for someone who has a lot of enthusiasm, who has a vision, who has dreams, I’m looking for energy, I’m looking for that burning soul… because I think all those qualities are what’s going to get them through.”

DJ Speedsta
Third Jack Scout but by no means least, is DJ Speedsta, who at the age of 23 has already achieved noteworthy acclaim on nationwide radio stations and television screens across the continent. Born Lesego Nkaiseng, his success as resident mix DJ on 5FM’s “The Shakedown” as well as on DJ Fresh’s “Fresh in the Morning” shows together with an unfailing determination, resulted in him getting his own radio show on YFM called “The Hip Hop Floor “, as well as a show on Soweto TV called Soweto TOP 10, which is the successor to his previous show called “Urban Explosion”.

With a string of hit songs under his belt, Speedsta continues to work with some of South Africa’s best musicians, and firmly believes in being an active participant in the growth of the local music industry. Commenting on this year’s prize he says, “Jack Daniel’s is saying ‘come show us your talent and we’ll back you.’ Do the EP, shoot a music video, get TV interviews and radio interviews. Jack Daniel’s is giving you all this plus you get to open for an international act that goes on your profile. It’ll be there forever.”

Jack Daniel’s and music share a long history, with Jack himself having begun one of the oldest recorded music sponsorships in the 1860s – of the Silver Cornet band. Jack’s whiskey would become the unofficial whiskey of Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack. Rock ‘n’ roll would take over the mantle in the ‘60s and some have said the history of music is dripping with Jack Daniel’s.

With the help of the Jack Daniel’s Music Scouts, we’d like to continue Jack’s love affair with music by helping showcase up-and-coming artists creating their own authentic sounds.

S/O to @JackDanielsSA and @AireyScott for this #JackBoomTown pic.twitter.com/5TINbO6qqg

— Yule (@YuleD) July 3, 2015

Jack Daniel’s Music Scouts official media partners are YFM and VUZU AMPED.

Entrants can visit www.jackscouts.co.za from a mobile device or desktop to enter – deadline for entries is 21 August 2015. Follow our progress on FB at JackDanielsSA #Jackscouts, on Twitter @JackDanielsSA and Instagram @JackDaniels_SA

Jack Daniel’s Encourages Its Friends TO Drink Responsibly.

About Jack Daniel’s:
Officially registered by the U.S. Government in 1866, the Jack Daniel Distillery, Lem Motlow, proprietor, is the oldest registered distillery in the United States and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Based in Lynchburg, Tennessee, the Jack Daniel Distillery is the maker of the world-famous Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7 Tennessee Whiskey, Gentleman Jack Rare Tennessee Whiskey, Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Tennessee Whiskey, Tennessee Honey and Jack Daniel’s Country Cocktails.

Jack Daniel’s Music Scouts 2015 prize includes:
Live performance at Jack Daniel’s Boomtown Joburg presented by Airey Scott Entertainment, taking place on 17 October 2015 in Jo’burg, with headline act international sensation T.I
A deal with Dream Team SA that includes:
– Creation of a 4-song EP for electronic distribution to all major digital stores in SA and globally for a 12-month window. This includes associated studio time. **Note the master recording rights would rest with Dream Team as the recording label for this EP.
– Shooting of 1 music video for the artist and the sampling of this music video to various music TV shows and networks in SA and Africa. Also included would be the placement of the video on the www.youtube.com/dreamteamsatv YouTube page.
– Sampling of 1 song from EP to be created to radio across SA and Africa.
– PR services for a 6-month window that covers the following:
• Biography
• Publicity photography (3 looks up to 15 pics)
• Creation of and management of Facebook Fan Page, Instagram and Twitter page
• Sourcing and securing traditional and online media opportunities
• Placement of artist biog. on the Dream Team SA website and other touch points for a period of 6 months

About the Jack Daniel’s Music Scouts
K.O
K.O is a veteran of South African Hip Hop, who earlier this year scooped the coveted Record of the Year at the South African Music Awards (SAMAs) for his single “Caracara”. It was the first time in the Awards’ 21-year history that a Hip Hop record has taken the honour.

Born in Soweto, Johannesburg Ntokozo “K.O” Mdluli’s family moved to Piet Retief in Mpumalanga where he spent his growing years. His early music influences were greats like Snoop Dog and Dr Dre and he dreamed of one day being a Hip Hop great himself.

Attending Vaal University of Technology where he graduated with a PR degree, K.O met Ntukza and Ma-E and the three friends formed well-loved group Teargas. To date, the group has released four critically acclaimed, award-winning albums, namely “K’shubile K’bovu”, “Wafa Wafa”, “Dark or Blue” and “Num8er Num8er”.

In 2013, K.O then teamed up with Teargas’ Ma-E and music and marketing executive Thabiso Khati to start Cashtime Life, an all encompassing entertainment and lifestyle company, with K.O as its first artist. His first single, “Mission Statement” is enjoying massive airplay across Southern and Eastern Africa and March 3rd saw the release of his highly anticipated second single “Caracara”, which features fellow Cashtime Life artist Kid X. Basing this track on the legendary VW Caravelle mini bus and how it featured in South African township lifestyle back in the 90s, “Caracara” has been a runaway success. The song has reached number 1 on MTV, Trace TV, Channel O, Metro FM, Yfm, 5fm, Ukhozi FM as well as Nigeria’s The Beat 97.9 FM and Tanzania’s Choice FM and it was also the first South African Hip Hop music video to reach over 1 million views on YouTube.

When it came time to launch K.O’s follow up single “Son of a Gun” he decided to push the envelope further by strategically partnering with Twitter as part of a massive global campaign to launch Twitter’s audio service called Audio Card – a native app that enables the user to stream audio within a tweet.

K.O’s debut solo album “Skhanda Republic” has already produced six major hit records, all of which have dominated radio playlists across the country. It seems K.O’s success knows no bounds and his recent accolades include Record of the Year, Best Rap Album and Best Collaboration – all at this year’s SAMAs, he was voted MTV’s Hottest MC of the Year for 2014 and #2 African Artist to watch by BBC1 Xtra.

Culoe De Song
Internationally acclaimed South African producer, remixer and DJ Culoe De Song won The Best Male Artist category at last year’s Metro FM Awards for his album “Exodus” – an album that was also featured on Rolling Stones (South Africa) Top 500 Albums of 2013.

Born Culolethu Zulu in 1990 in Eshowe, Kwazulu-Natal, Culoe De Song began his music career in early 2007, DJing in South Africa alongside local acts like Black Coffee and international visitors like Louie Vega and Rocco. He soon began exploring production and collaborated with Black Coffee on a track called “100 Zulu Warriors”, which Black Coffee then included on his second album, “Have Another One”.

Culoe De Song was later signed to Black Coffee’s label Soulistic Music and was selected as one of the worldwide participants to attend the 2008 Red Bull Music Academy held in Barcelona, Spain. As one of the youngest participants in the academy’s history, he also performed at Club Macarena and Fellini in Barcelona and was later invited to perform
 at Sonar in Spain – one of the world’s most famous electronic music festivals.

Culoe De Song then embarked on his international showings while at the same time releasing his debut album, “A Giant Leap”, an album that went gold and secured him award nominations in multiple categories, for the 2010 South African Music Awards (SAMAs), the Namibian Museke Awards, and the 2010 Metro FM awards. His second album called “Elevation” was released in 2011 and saw him collaborating with France’s deep house DJ and producer Rocco as well as local South African acts like Goldfish and funk dub four piece 340ml.
Japanese label, Mule Musiq and German label, Innervisions released several singles centered on his Afrocentric rhythms and subtle digital textures.

Travelling extensively to perform at some at the biggest music festivals and clubs around the world, Culoe De Song’s heart remains in South Africa where he is quickly becoming an icon.

DJ Speedsta
At the age of 23 DJ Speedsta has already achieved noteworthy acclaim on nationwide radio stations and television screens across the continent. Born Lesego Nkaiseng, DJ Speedsta is the youngest DJ to achieve the critical acclaim that he has, having started his career in 2008 at the age of just 15. His career received a huge boost when he won the “So you think you can DJ” competition on DJ Euphonik’s “My House” show on 5fm, after winning 7 consecutive weeks of the competition whilst in matric in 2010.

DJ Speedsta’s success as resident mix DJ on 5FM’s “The Shakedown” as well as on DJ Fresh’s “Fresh in the Morning” shows together with an unfailing determination, resulted in him getting his own radio show on YFM called “The Hip Hop Floor“, as well as a show on Soweto TV called Soweto TOP 10, which is the successor to his previous show called “Urban Explosion”.

With numerous successful collaborations under his belt, DJ Speedsta has worked with some of South Africa’s most celebrated musicians. Hit songs include “Don’t Worry” ft. Cashtime Family; “Couple More” ft. Maggz and Ma-E; “Hangout” ft. Riky Rick and Kid X, “Bad Chick” ft. Da Les and Dotcom as well as “Special Somebody” ft. Riky Rick, Anatii and Cassper Nyovest – all of which have helped to spearhead Speedsta’s music career across all mediums. His music has been on high rotation on radio stations such as 5FM, YFM and Metro FM, and the respective music videos have taken over television screens across the continent, on channels such as Channel O, MTV Base, and TRACE to name a few.

DJ Speedsta is passionate about being an active participant in the growth of the South African music industry as a whole. Next up is the recording of his debut album, expected to be released in late 2015.

TI is coming to SA, damn. S/o to @AireyScott #JackBoomTown

— Yule (@YuleD) July 3, 2015