Two Port Elizabeth brothers are one step closer to their dream of a musical career after winning a national competition.
The victory will see Waven, 22, and Ruwayne Sebia, 19, of Bethelsdorp, better known as Jay Em, record a song with popular musical trio Mi Casa.
According to Ruwayne, more than 1 000 entrants displayed their musical talents for the competition, which required a remix of the Mi Casa song Nana.
Contestants were then whittled down to five finalists.
“We heard about the competition on Facebook at the beginning of April and made it into the top 10 and then the top five,” Ruwayne said.
“But it was mind-blowing when Mi Casa phoned to say we had won.
“We really pushed for votes, but we are so happy.”
Mi Casa announced Jay Em as the winners on their Facebook page on May 9 with a video of their call to the duo.
Ruwayne and Waven will fly to Johannesburg, where they will record a new Mi Casa track and feature as producers.
“We will also get to make a music video with them.” Ruwayne described their music as “genre-less”.
“I’d call it down-tempo. It just depends on the mood we’re in.”
He hopes the exposure will be a step in the right direction for their career.
“We don’t have other jobs; this is our job. We started making music when I was 12 and Waven was 14, but we’ve been making music as Jay Em for three years now,” he said.
“We started after our friend, [PE musician] Neelan Munnick died.
“It was our way of taking his legacy forward.”