By Zanub Saeed
Grammy winning rapper T-Pain, who took part in Guitar Center's Your Next Record music discovery program for several months, chose the contest winner for the unsigned artist competition after weeks of going through hundreds of finalists.
The winner of the contest, Manny X, won the grand prize package worth $27,000, including new products from Guitar Center, Akai, iZotope, Shure, and AVID, said a press release issued by Guitar Center on Tuesday, and the chance to fly to Los Angeles to work with T-Pain on his debut album. All the songs on the album - which will contain three songs as per the contest winning package - will be produced by T-Pain and Young Fyre.
"I know how tough it can be for up and coming artists out there struggling to be discovered so I am all about finding that next, fresh, new, exciting sound which is what drew me to Manny X," T-Pain stated for the press release. "I can't wait to get into the studio, lay down some tracks with him and get the EP out to the fans."
Manny X, born Emmanuel Ruiz from Puerto Rico and moved to Providence, R.I., began performing at the age of six, and having loved the R&B and hip-hop world and genre in his teens, took on the nickname Manny X. from there, he released albums, mixtapes, and EPs, including one called "Planet X" in 2009, "Before H.E.R." in 2011, and recently "Songs about H.E.R.," listed the press release.
Manny X will have a worldwide music distribution deal through TuneCore as part of his prize package, noted the press release, as well as an AKAI MPC 5000 music production studio, and T-Pain's written and producing contribution on his single.
"Guitar Center Presents Your Next Record was created to give undiscovered musicians a platform to get their sound heard and their record made," Dustin Hinz, Director of Music Marketing and Artist Relations for Guitar Center was quoted for the press release. "By partnering with an experienced, successful artist like T-Pain, Manny X will be able to take his career to the next level. That's what Guitar Center is all about - helping musicians achieve success."
