Nigeria's Dotti wins first MTN Y’ello Star music contest

The contest was created by telco and data services provider MTN Nigeria, in partnership with the Afrinolly Creative Hub, Berklee College of Music in New York, Henley Business School (UK) and Stephen Budd Music Management. The competition seeks to unearth new local musicians and be a springboard to launch their careers.

Dotti beat his competitors Storm, Gideon, Ceasar, Fay Fay and Freeborn to win the ultimate prize, which includes ₦5 (about $13 000) in cash, a scholarship to study at Berklee College of Music, an apartment with a built-in studio, a recording contract and a brand new car. Additionally, Dotti will get an opportunity to record a song at the prestigious Power Studio, also in New York, where he will be working with six-time Grammy winner Malik Yusef, who was also a judge for the show alongside Nigerian singers Omawumi and Banky W.

First runner-up Storm walked home with ₦3m whilst second runner-up Gideon won ₦1.5m. Aside Dotti, the other top six finalists got free scholarships to study at the Berklee College of Music next year. 

During their time in the competition, all 14 contestants also studied programmes with the Henly Business School (UK) and the Berkley School of Music in New York and were presented with their certificates at the grand finale.

The judges said that they were highly impressed by how the talents met and, in some cases, surpassed their expectations. 

“The Y’ello Star project is unique. It is different from what the audience is used to from previous music talent programmes,” MTN Nigeria’s general manager in charge of brands and communications Richard Iweanoge said. “It is a project initiated by MTN to empower the youth and launch their talents to the world. The show is designed to groom musical talents by providing a lifetime opportunity to turn their dreams and aspirations into reality. The partnership with Henley Business School, UK, will ensure adequate music training, creative entrepreneurship and incubation of all the contestants.”

Born Okewola Dotun, Dotti is behind a number of singles including ‘Fix’ and ‘Bilisi’, off his Songs in Isolation EP – a compilation of stories based on the musician's experiences during the local COVID-19 period.