The exciting finale party for Jack Daniel’s Music Scouts took place this past Friday at Turbine Hall in Newtown. Performing to a packed house of music lovers, fashionistas and Joburg’s glitzy celebrity set, JD Scouts T-BO Touch, Mandla “Spikiri” Mofokeng and DJ Vinny da Vinci were on top form, along with competition finalists Lection, iSesh and Velvet Suite Lounge. But there could only be one winner in this nationwide search for authentic South African musical flair, and that honour went to iSesh.
JD Music Scout Mandla “Spikiri” said, “iSesh was able to rock the crowd and for someone who is new in the game to be able to achieve that, proves there is something special about him. His music selection was really well thought out and well rehearsed.”
Mandla added, “Big up to the JD Music Scouts program for giving grassroots level artists a great opportunity to showcase their skills. The experience has been extremely amazing!”
iSesh said, “The competition was very tough but I’m so happy to have won. I’m still in shock!” He then added, “The support from the audience on the night was amazing and I had such a good time. It was a tight line-up.”
T-Bo Touch was the evening’s animated MC and following the finalists’ sets, Touch also took to the decks. Later, Mandla “Spikiri” lived up to his reputation for being the godfather of kwaito and later still, DJ Vinny da Vinci kept the crowd on their feet until the early hours with his much-loved signature deep house.
This epic campaign kicked off in July in partnership with the JD Music Scouts – T-Bo, Mandla “Spikiri” and DJ Vinny da Vinci – moving around the country to provide a platform to countless aspiring musicians at over 70 regional warm-up gigs.
Nominated from a combination of public votes via the Jack Daniel’s Facebook page and valuable input from the JD Music Scouts themselves, the grassroots level search has uncovered some of South Africa’s most inspiring talent.
iSesh will travel to the US with the three JD Music Scouts to discover the history of hip hop and house music.
