As many of you may know, on June 27th we joined forces with ChildLine to launch Final Verse, a competition supported by Devlin, offering aspiring MCs and lyricists the opportunity to record the final verse to Teardrops, an uncompleted track written and recorded by Devlin…

Receiving over 1000 entries we were truly impressed by all the raw talent out there, but  it was Merki’s Final Verese who won over the judges including Devlin, Jamal Edwards and top A&R for Island Records, Ben Scarr.

Check out the final video featuring Merki here:

click to play video

Merki was the clear winner, ticking all the boxes with his meaningful lyrics, smooth flow and a great performance.

Merki’s original entry:

click to play video

Merki, 21, originally from Luton, but now based in Liverpool describes himself as an independent video director/musician and gave us the lowdown on how it felt to be crowned the winner:

How does it feel to have won Final Verse 2011?

It feels great, I was very surprised and shocked when I found out.

What made you want to enter?

Someone sent me the video on Facebook and I just really wanted to get involved.

What inspired your lyrics?

It was actually Devlin’s lyrics that inspired my lyrics. I’ve done a few tracks before around a similar concept. The lyrics are about me wanting to get somewhere with my music and how it can be frustrating trying to get your voice heard, but I also wanted the lyrics to be more general so that other people could relate.

Are you excited to meet Devlin?

Yeah definitely

Has this competition changed your perception of ChildLine?

Yeah, I was surprised to find out that they were behind it.

Do you think with this competition ChildLine has encouraged more young people to open up about how they feel?

Yeah definitely. People find it a lot easier to express themselves through music more than anything else.

What’s been the reaction amongst your friends and family about you winning?

It’s been hectic! A few people know my music already and I’ve been telling people about it. I invited people to an event on Facebook to spread the news and loads of people have been commenting and supporting me.