SA’s Vaughn Prangley named finalist of Unsigned Only Music Competition 2021

Prangley, who is the only South African in the prestigious competition, will compete in the Teen category against Ada LeAnn (US), Aidan Gallagher (US), Belle Sisoski (Malaysia), Bree Rusev (Australia), Jackson Chase (US), Jo MacKenzie (US), Lilbreez (US), Robin Ashcroft (Scotland), Ryann Eve (US), Sophie Pecora (US) and Zoe August (US).

“I am beyond excited to be a finalist in the Unsigned Only competition,” Prangley wrote on social media. ”It feels unreal to be the only South African out of tens of thousands of entries. I had a ton of fun making this acoustic performance of my song ‘Breathing’. Thanks to all of you who are invested in my journey.”

Other African finalists this year include Kojau (Uganda/R&B-Hip Hop category), LiveFAST (Botswana/R&B-Hip Hop category), Maffymiller (Nigeria/R&B-Hip Hop category), Tarrah (Nigeria/Screenshot category), Daraa Tribes (Morocco/World Music category), King B-Fine and Afrikaya Band (Sierra Leone/World Music category), M6Day (Guinea/World Music category), Mikahely (Madagascar/World Music category) and Orobosa Phil (Nigeria/World Music category).

The grand-prize winner will receive $20 000, various music gear, mastering of an album, publishing services, and 12-month subscriptions to music-related services, while the winners and runners-up in each of the 18 categories will get an assortment of non-monetary prizes.

The Unsigned Only Music Competition is known for featuring a panel of celebrity judges, with this year’s roster including Tinariwen, Darryl McDaniels (Run DMC), Robert Smith (The Cure), Anthony Hamilton, Derek Brown (The Flaming Lips) and Ryan Adams, among many others, as well as music professionals such as talent buyers, artist managers and influential music journalists.

In parallel to the formal judging, Unsigned Only is also running a fan voting competition, where the public can vote for their favourite artists and songs. The song with most public votes will be the winner of the Fandemonium competition, which is in addition to and separate from the regular winners selected by the judges. Vote here.