Pepsi Continues "Full of Detroit Soul" Platform, Celebrating Detroit's Own Musical Talent with Search For The City's Next New Voice

The Brand Launches its Local Music Mentorship Program Supporting Up and Coming Local Musicians with Content Featuring Aretha Franklin's Grandson Jonah and Opportunity to Lift One Winning Artist to the National Stage to Perform Alongside Queen Naija

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PepsiCo Beverages North America

Sep 27, 2021, 09:00 ET

DETROIT, Sept. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Pepsi is once again showing up in the Motor City, this time, for the city's vibrant local music scene with the help of artists Jonah and Queen Naija. All a part of its Full of Detroit Soul initiative - a multi-year platform and creative campaign that builds upon years of ongoing support of the local community – the brand is releasing new content to announce its music enrichment program aimed at investing in and empowering local creators.

Pepsi today launched its Detroit music mentorship program, in support of local musicians, with content featuring Aretha Franklin's grandson Jonah and the opportunity to lift one winning artist to the national stage to perform alongside Queen Naija, all as part of its Full of Detroit Soul campaign.

"From Aretha Franklin's hit 1990 commercial to years at the helm of the Super Bowl halftime show, Pepsi's history in music runs deep," said Jazmine Robinson, PepsiCo North Division Brand Marketing. "With the Full of Detroit Soul initiative, we saw the perfect opportunity to uplift local talent using our brand's footprint in music. Each of these artists brings an energy and drive to their work that speaks to the unique voice of the city."

Content featuring Jonah, grandson of Detroit legend Aretha Franklin, launched today paying homage to his late-grandmother and her reign over music with archived footage and his own rendition of her hit "Day Dreaming." Tapping into the city's everlasting connection to the Queen of Soul herself – who famously recorded one of Pepsi's iconic 90's jingles – the brand shares Jonah's journey to inspire and pave the way for future musicians just as Aretha did.

"Pepsi is so closely tied to music, and I'm honored to help them launch this program in the city that is so special to my family," said Jonah. "It's amazing to be able to honor my grandmother and use her strong presence to uplift future generations of local artists."

In continuation of its support of local talent, the brand launched the "Full Detroit Soul" music mentorship program. Passing the torch to Detroit's next generation of musical excellence, nine local artists are guided through a three-part crash course in music which includes:

Executive mentorship lessons from industry veterans including Brandra Ringo (Quality Control Music), Shawn Barron (Motown Records), and Carl Chery (Spotify/ Rap Caviar).
Studio time at The Village Detroit working with Grammy and Billboard award-winning and nominated producers and songwriters including Timothy Bullock, Ashley Rose, Quentin Dennard, Elon "Jupyter" Brown, Earlly Mac and Anesha and Antea Birchett, to create new hit tracks.
The launch of their single online at iam.fullofdetroitsoul.com where fans will vote for their favorite, with the winning artist opening for Queen Naija during a special Pepsi live stream music event on October 26. See special video content of Queen Naija speaking about the program here. In addition, JBL—the audio brand that powers countless pro studios and stages—is providing a home studio package to all participants, so they can continue creating music beyond the program

"As a Michigan-native, I appreciate how Pepsi is showing up for aspiring musicians here in Detroit and was so excited to partner with them given my own journey in the industry." said Queen Naija. "As a once up and coming artist myself, I understand the hustle it takes and am proud to be sharing the stage with one of these talented performers thanks to Pepsi."

From now until October 12, consumers can listen and vote on iam.fullofdetroitsoul.com for the favorite local artist they want to see on the livestream stage with Queen Naija on October 26. Fans can vote for the winning performance from artists including Lvrboy, Syeed Ali, Tiny Jag, Nappi Devi, Supercoolwicked, Kulture, Jahz Watts, Shayne Shalome and Johdi. To view video content with these artists, see here.

This program ladders up to PepsiCo's Racial Equality Journey, which in 2020 saw the company announce commitments of more than $570 million over the next five years to elevate diverse voices within our company, our supply chain partners, and communities, while helping to address issues of inequality and create opportunity. This includes increasing Black and Hispanic representation at PepsiCo, supporting Black-owned and Hispanic-owned businesses, and uplifting communities through a range of initiatives.

For more information on the campaign and Pepsi's past initiatives in Detroit, visit FullofDetroitSoul.com.

About PepsiCo:
PepsiCo products are enjoyed by consumers more than one billion times a day in more than 200 countries and territories around the world. PepsiCo generated more than $70 billion in net revenue in 2020, driven by a complementary food and beverage portfolio that includes Frito-Lay, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Quaker, Tropicana and SodaStream. PepsiCo's product portfolio includes a wide range of enjoyable foods and beverages, including 23 brands that generate more than $1 billion each in estimated annual retail sales.

Guiding PepsiCo is our vision to Be the Global Leader in Convenient Foods and Beverages by Winning with Purpose. "Winning with Purpose" reflects our ambition to win sustainably in the marketplace and embed purpose into all aspects of our business strategy and brands. For more information, visit www.pepsico.com.

SOURCE PepsiCo Beverages North America