Jacquel Culture House, Hunter’s partnership hits the high notes

Hunter’s x Jacquel Culture House, the collaboration between the iconic cider brand and Tresor Riziki’s legacy empowerment partnership with in_Broadcasting, is hitting the high notes.

The multi-award-winning African pop maverick, known simply as TRESOR, partnered with in_Broadcasting less than a year ago to form Jacquel Culture House, and moved quickly to find a like-minded collaborator to broaden the project’s reach.

“Given TRESOR’s unwavering commitment to projects that uplift Africa – he is a proud UN Refugee Agency Ambassador – and Hunter’s long-standing track record as supporter of the South African music scene – it was clear that a Hunter’s x Jacquel Culture House would be the perfect collaboration,” explained in_Broadcasting founder, Jon Savage.

“And we’ve been proven right with the Hunter’s x Jacquel Culture House collaboration delivering opportunities for young artists within just a few short months of shaking on the deal.”

Already making waves within the industry is the collaboration’s national always-on talent search to match up-and-coming musicians with superstar mentors. Out of thousands of entries in any one region, the project identifies the top 100 wannabees, and gives them personal feedback on their submission.

The Top 10 then perform in front of two superstar performers, who each select one of the Top 10 to mentor and take their careers to the next level. In the always-on format, there’s a regional Top 10 performance every two months, as well as a mentor/up-&-coming star pairing up each month.

The June pair has already been announced (Zakes Bantwini and Jax Colorado) while the July pair will be announced soon. These were selected from the Gauteng Top 10 performance. The Cape Town Top 10 performance will soon take place, while Durban’s hopefuls are busy recording their demos, and the next region to be featured will soon be announced.

In addition to this quick success, the Hunter’s x Jacquel Culture House television show, hosted on MTV Base by Tshego Koke, is creating a national buzz within South Africa’s music-loving communities.

Commenting on the creation of Hunter’s x Jacquel Culture House, Savage said Hunter’s support of both musicians and the music industry goes back many years and includes partnering with the likes of Nadia Nakai, Tshego Worldwide and Prince Kaybee. However, more recently at the beginning of the Covid-19 lockdowns, it really demonstrated its commitment.

“Hunter’s really upped its music game when Covid-19 knocked everyone down,” he said, “with its sponsorship of the Channel O Lockdown House party, which kept South Africans of all ages entertained in 2020.

“Then, in November 2021, it was one of the first brands to host a concert aimed at kick-starting live music events after nearly 19 months of restrictions on public gatherings, and donated 50% of the ticket value to the Music in Africa Foundation (MIAF).

“Now, through its brand-new collaboration with TRESOR, it has taken another step, one that will help equip emerging artists with the fundamental skills, resources, and opportunity to get mentored by SA’s biggest music stars.”

According to Hunter’s brand manager, Meenal Abdulla, TRESOR’s own journey to success inspired the programmes and platforms the collaboration will launch over the next few months.

“Like TRESOR, many young South African creatives trying to enter the music scene face daunting obstacles daily. Through this collaboration, Hunter’s is looking to enable easier access to those who control the industry for aspirational entrants, as well as support young musicians through mentoring or sponsoring equipment, for example.”

in_Broadcasting, a division of the HaveYouHeard group, specialises in innovation in broadcasting, content and technology and has built a solid reputation for creating and implementing strategies to connect brands with artists and platforms within the entertainment industry in inventive and meaningful ways. The success of its unique offering is evidenced in the success of its proprietary digital radio stations for retail outlets such as Sportscene, the AMPD Studios culture hub for Old Mutual including collaboration with MTV through the Base partnership and AMPD STUDIOS LIVE, and the implementation of the Number 1 podcast series in eight African countries: ‘Zuluman with Some Power’.