A total of 12 drummers and 40 musicians have qualified for the quarter-final stage in the Ariya Repete Traditional Music and Drums Talent Hunt.

The talent hunt is aimed at developing drumming skills, Juju and Fuji music genres, while also rewarding up and coming acts in the music industry.

The auditions and selection was held in eight cities including Sango Ota, Ogun State, Ado Ekiti, Akure, Lagos, Ilesha, Ilorin, Ibadan and Oyo 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 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 “LalaleFriday” fame, Adebayo Faleke, and Ace radio broadcaster, Sikiru Agboola.

Others are Kabir 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, Nigerian Breweries (NB) Plc, Emmanuel Agu, the quarter finalists are competing for bigger prize money.

Compared to the previous editions, the overall winner in each category will go away with 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.

“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. We are 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, placed second.

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 second, followed by Olayemi Kehinde who came third. Meanwhile, in the Drummers Category the Ayangbayi Group came first and the Alofuge Group came second.

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.

They all booked a space in the quarterfinal.

The quarterfinalists will proceed to the Ariya Academy where they will be taught how to play Yoruba music instruments, Fuji and Juju music by prominent musicians.

The talent hunt is an initiative of Goldberg premium quality lager beer.