YES Home Grown, a name that has come to be defined amongst the island’s musicians – aspiring and accomplished alike, as THE drive to be reckoned with; A burgeoning movement as strong as the island’s limitless musical potential. The Yes Home Grown Top 15 hosted by music journalist / producer Yazmin Yousuf on the airwaves of YES101, is currently Sri Lanka’s biggest Home Music Countdown which enjoys significant listenership worldwide. And this by no means, is an overnight success story.

A beginning all too humble yet confident, it seems like only yesterday – 15th November 2012, when The YES Home Grown Top 15 first aired on Yes101. Within a span of five years, YES Home Grown gradually rooted itself as the island’s most celebrated on-air forum for the Home Music Scene. From premiering new releases, covering current events to featuring updates on future events, the local indie movie scene and not to mention, the scope of artists that have graced the show which includes the likes of Stigmata, Brown Boogie Nation, Natasha Rathnayake to the greatly admired late Prazanna Abeysekara (Cancer/Sakwala Chakraya); The Yes Home Grown Top 15 proves itself as more than a mere countdown.

As the much beloved host of The Yes Home Grown Top 15 puts it, “There is no international scene without a local one.” And it was only a matter of time before YES101 launched an esteemed platform, the first of its kind, to appreciate, acknowledge and celebrate Home’s budding and noted musicians – The YES Home Grown Awards.

The first YES Home Grown Awards went LIVE from the prestigious Stein Studios, Ratmalana in 2013.The judging panel consisted of noted professionals and heavy weights from the home music scene, for a total of 9 categories: Best Male, Best Female, Best Band/Duo or Group, Best Hip Hop/Reggae or Rap Track, Best Electronica Track, Best Acoustic Track, YES Home Grown Honour Award and YES Home Grown Listener Choice Award.

Warmly received by both critics and audiences alike, YES101 went on to host a successful second awards night in 2015, and is currently set to host its third this October. With 5 stellar performances, 12 categories (including 3 new categories: Best Collaboration, Best DJ & Producer & Best Duo) and a fresh panel of esteemed judges this year (Hussein Jiffery, Clarence Jey, BnS, Umara, Umaria, Ranga Dassanayaka, Tareeq Musafer and more), the YES Home Grown Awards 2017 proudly hopes to continue carrying a brand that has forever stood by the power of Original Home Grown Music.