Unsigned Only Music Competition Announces 2022 World Music Winners

The winners of the US-based Unsigned Only Music Competition were announced this week. A total of 10 world music artists garnered wins in the 2022 competition.

Ras Canly

Taking home First Place in the world music category is Ras Canly for his song “You’re A Winner.” Born in the village of Tshilamba, Limpopo, South Africa, Ras Canly started his musical journey by singing in church and learning to play piano and guitar. During this time, he began to listen to reggae music and eventually discovered his true passion of dancehall music. He is a multi-award-winning artist. His first album won Song of the Year at the Tshivenda Music Awards, which was the first time for a reggae track to hold this title. His third album was also nominated at the South African Music Awards, as was his most recent album, Hard To Believe.

Chris St. Hilaire

Second Place is awarded to Chris St. Hilaire (Brooklyn, New Yotk, USA) for the song “Black Christ.” An accomplished multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, recording artist, session musician, and activist, St. Hilaire was born of Trinidadian parents, and music was a rich part of his foundation and cultural upbringing.

He started playing drums at age 13 and listening and playing to records by Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Led Zeppelin, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, and The Beatles. St. Hilaire’s father is also a musician, a guitarist who toured with Chubby Checker, and he became a huge influence on his playing and writing. In 2008, St. Hilaire co-founded the internationally acclaimed rock duo The London Souls, and he went on to tour with the band for ten years, playing theaters such as Carnegie Hall and the Beacon Theatre, and festivals such as Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, and more. Since releasing his debut album, Knowledge of Self, in 2019, St.

Hilaire has toured worldwide with Sinkane and Doyle Bramhall II, and he was featured onstage at Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival alongside Doyle Bramhall II and the Tedeschi Trucks Band. St. Hilaire is also a founding member of the Sound Mind Collective, a musician-led community activist organization based in Brooklyn, NY.

“World music speaks to how we encounter and respond to cultural differences, and Unsigned Only is committed to bringing exposure to the broad spectrum of world music traditions,” said Candace Avery and Jim Morgan, founders of Unsigned Only. “These world music winners represent the unique types of music from around the world, and we are so pleased to honor them and their remarkable artistry.”

The complete list of world music winners is as follows:

First Place

Ras Canly (Tshilamba, South Africa) – “You’re A Winner”

Second Place

Chris St. Hilaire (Brooklyn, NY, USA) – “Black Christ”

Honorable Mention

Amir Hossein Nouri (Tehran, Iran) – “Nirvana”
Anatoliy Drindrozhik (Grodno, Belarus) – “Caravan of Desires”
Claudia Acuna (Brooklyn, NY, USA) – “HEY”
Don Couto (Mexico City, Mexico) – “Negro Santo”
Eendo (Albany, CA, USA) – “Paayaane To, Paayaane Man”
Ehzay (Lagos, Nigeria) – “Hold Me Down”
FimFim (Accra, Ghana) – “Push It to The Limit”
Mt Boi (Lagos, Nigeria) – “4 You”

The overall 2022 Grand Prize is awarded to rapper Tia P. Hailing from Inglewood, California.

Established in 2012, Unsigned Only has become an important source for discovering new talent and acts as a benchmark for excellence in the arena of contemporary music.

Winners were selected from almost 7,000 entries from all over the world by a judging panel of high-profile music artists and industry experts. More than $150,000 in cash and prizes is awarded to a total of 38 winners, including $20K (US) in cash to the Grand Prize winner. The winning songs can be heard at www.unsignedonly.com/winners.

Unsigned Only is sponsored by: Celebrity Access; Dark Horse Institute; Disc Makers; Ernie Ball; Eventric; Lurssen Mastering; My Sheet Music Transcription; Make Music, Inc; Mojave Audio; Radio Airplay; The Music Business Registry; Merch Cat; and View Maniac.

Unsigned Only is now accepting entries for the 2023 competition. More information can be found at: unsignedonly.com.