Aurra Soul has emerged the winner of the Popeyes ‘Music to Your Mouth’ song competition which was launched in February 2022 to celebrate the original flavour of Jamaican music through the spirit of Popeyes and was open to young and upcoming artistes between 16 and 30 years old.

Aurra Soul, whose real name is Marianna McPherson, was among the top 5 winners presented during an awards ceremony in Kingston on April 13, at which the Top 3 were awarded prizes.

She took first place and a prize including a song produced by Zimi Records, music video produced by RD Studios and $100,000 in cash courtesy of Popeyes.

Coming in second was Nia Neil, who received $75,000 cash, while Zapdos tood thrid with a $50,000 cash prize.

The final 5 also included Realstarr King and Tajay Henry.

Applauding all the contestants, Sabrena McDonald Radcliffe, head of marketing at Restaurant Associates Limited (RAL), franchise holders in Jamaica for Burger King, Popeyes and Little Caesars Restaurants, noted that “it’s not easy to put yourself out there to be judged”.

McDonald Radcliffe said RAL was aware of what these types of platforms mean to budding artistes and wanted to make its contribution to marketing Jamaica’s natural talent.

“This competition is a process – we wanted the best entrants and ensured we had the best quality producers and songwriters as our judges,” she said.

Oshane Thoms, brand manager, Popeyes and Little Caesars, told competitors and guests at the awards ceremony that “our presence here strongly indicates our support for our young and talented musicians and artistes who undoubtedly add great value to Jamaica’s music industry”.

He thanked judges Ruption, Qyor and Zimi Nick for partnering with Popeyes “to ensure that our young and gifted artistes get a platform to showcase their talent”.

Said Thoms: “Popeyes is serious about our commitment in investing in arts, entertainment, and culture. We are about boldness and being spirited in all that we do. Importantly, all our contestants are bold and spirited and have an indomitable desire to succeed. And Popeyes is right here to support them.”

In February, Popeyes invited young artistes to upload an original song of their making to Instagram, tagging their Instagram page @PopeyesJM and using the hashtag #MusicToYourMouthJA.

From these uploads, the top 10 persons were selected by the RAL marketing team, based on a RAL Scorecard.

Based on scores for creativity [lyrical and vocal versatility]; content originality, audience/entertainment appeal and song structure and communication of theme/idea, the top 10 were chosen from 60 entrants and announced on March 12 via Popeyes’ social media platforms.

These entrants had until March 31 to gain as many votes as possible on the competition’s landing page at URL www.musictoyourmouthja.com.

People were allowed to vote once per day for their favourite contestant until the deadline.

The Final 5 were determined by voters on the landing page from the 10 finalists while the final 3 were selected by the judges – Rogen ‘Ruption’ Walker, CEO of RD Studios; Nicholas ‘Zimi Nick’ Mahfood of Zimi Records; popular artiste Chevaughn, along with the RAL marketing team.