“I can’t wait to actually be at the Brits,” says 18-year-old Emeka Onyema-Mathews, who will be in the audience of the 2024 awards, thanks to being one of the winners of a creative challenge tied to the ceremony.
“I’ve never been before,” he says. “I came close a couple of years ago when I was in year 11. My eldest brother had a ticket and me and my other brother just came along, but we didn’t go in. I remember just looking from the outside and thinking: ‘I want to be here.’”
They say setting your intention is the way to succeed, and a lot has changed for Onyema-Mathews since that realisation in the car park of the O2. He succeeded in getting a place to study a diploma in music performance and production at the Brit School, one of just 52 pupils out of 300 applicants.
And now he has beaten dozens of other entrants in the creative challenge, which will showcase the work of 14 talented emerging artists from the Brit School. The creative challenge was set by Mastercard and required students to reimagine the brand’s sonic logo in any art form of their choice – Onyema-Mathews’ winning entry was a musical response to the logo.
“I submitted some of my music on a whim, but then the more I read about the exposure that comes with being picked, the more I wanted to be picked! It’s a fantastic challenge to be involved in as I’ll get to showcase my work to a really large audience.” Along with 13 other winners, Onyema-Mathews will appear in the Mastercard ad-break idents on ITV and on London Underground posters, as well as getting to attend the awards in person.
Onyema-Mathews grew up in south-east London, which is within the Brit School’s catchment area. His journey time to the school is about 90 minutes on two buses, but some classmates commute from as far afield as Brighton or Hertfordshire.
The Brit School is state-funded, free to attend and further supported by the Brit Trust. Since its inception, the Brit Awards have donated £30m to the Brit Trust, which means the awards directly support the next generation of artists, ensuring that young people from all backgrounds get to shape the future of the creative industries in the UK.
Onyema-Mathews’ mother spotted his musical talent from a young age, entering him into competitions in his local area. “I sang in church choirs and then I competed here and there, and I would win,” says Onyema-Mathews. “For one competition, I played the ukulele and sang.”
Onyema-Mathews is largely a self-taught musician, having done just a smattering of music lessons in school. “I was introduced to all the instruments and did a few piano lessons in year 3 and sat a grade one exam, but that was it,” says Onyema-Mathews. “I stopped the lessons and taught myself ukulele, drums and piano.” It was his piano playing that won him his Brit School place.
“My parents don’t work in the arts, they are in computing,” says Onyema-Mathews. “But my brothers do a lot of music. One of my brothers sings and plays guitar and the other one sings and produces … so I’m born into a musical family.” And it was his mother who encouraged him to apply to study at the Brit School. “She showed me the school and I thought: ‘That sounds like me,’ and then I did my research and it seemed like a really good fit,” says Onyema-Mathews.
The Brit School is unique in preparing young people for entry into the creative industries, with 98% of pupils either in work or full-time education within three months of leaving the school. In 2023, more than 50 graduates were working in London’s West End, both on and off stage, in shows including the Book of Mormon, Frozen, Hamilton, Moulin Rouge, and Wicked.
Mastercard has been a headline sponsor for the Brit Awards for 26 years, celebrating the best of the British music industry and, through their sponsorship, supporting the Brit School and the creative talent of tomorrow. Brit School alumni who have gone on to win Brit Awards include Adele, Amy Winehouse, Jessie J, and Kate Nash.
“A couple of years ago I was standing in the O2 car park dreaming of being at the Brit Awards,” says Onyema-Mathews. “And this year I’ll be there to see my work broadcast to thousands of people. It feels like the start of my career.”
The BRIT Awards 2024 with Mastercard will take place on Saturday 2 March – watch live from the O2 arena on ITV1 or catch up on ITVX. Mastercard is proud to sponsor the BRIT Awards and support the BRIT School. Discover more at mastercard.co.uk/BRITS
