Kenya Grace named finalist of Vans Musicians Wanted contest

The concert follows a recent open call for submissions by the US fashion brand. Other finalists in the region include Lemonade Shoelace (Ireland), Altered Myths (Wales), p-i (France) and KY'ORiON (England).

Kenya Grace, who is a singer, songwriter and producer, will stand a chance to gain international exposure and share the stage with genre-bending British rock musician Yungblud.

The alternative electronic artist relocated to Southampton before moving to North London where she is now based. Her eclectic sound fuses electro with R&B. She is inspired by musicians like Banks, Flume and Nao.

The concert will also feature finalists from the Americas including PYT (US), TheBe$tJR (US), Joy Sales (Brazil), Mare Advertencia (Mexico) and Diamond Café (Canada), while participants from the Asia-Pacific region include Q the Trumpet (Korea), Nathanie (Malaysia), Yishun Panik (Singapore), Squid The Kid (Australia) and Kinder Bloomen (Indonesia).

Launched in 2020, the Vans Musicians Wanted contest seeks to unearth emerging artists and help them gain exposure globally. Prizes include Vans products, Kramer gear, a premium TuneCore prize pack, global music distribution, playlisting on Spotify and Apple Music, and more.

The selection process comprises a panel of judges including rapper, writer and comic book artist Denzel Curry, Grammy-nominated pop singer and songwriter Julia Michaels, creative visionary and founder of 88rising Sean Miyashiro, and Yungblud. They will select the grand prize winners after the 22 September concert.

Last year, the Vans Musicians Wanted platform saw more than 22 000 submissions across nearly every music genre from musicians around the world. The winners included JoeJas (UK), Lucia Tacchetti (Argentina) and Numnum (South Korea).