In Their Own Words: Fresh Creatives For Music Vol.2
3 Dec 2020
In Their Own Words: Fresh Creatives For Music is not a mere selection of empty shout-outs or a show ‘n’ tell. There is a vigorous wave of innovative minds that are serving the UK’s music and entertainment industry, fuelled by passion and the forward movement of a shifting scene.
The gift is that you are welcome to get to know them.
In fact, our first show was Bree Runway’s first ever live performance! – SyndicateLDN
9BILLS
“9bills is a digital platform curating the best in Black British music & culture. We often start the trending topics on Twitter, with our viral posts from J Hus’ lyricism and the Smoke Boys’ break-up, to Jorja Smith’s holiday snaps, and Stefflon Don’s Yoruba appreciation. Expanding to Instagram and YouTube, our first season of the ‘Cloud9 Freestyle’ series has over one million views across platforms. We pride ourselves in breaking new artists and concepts to our 20,000 strong niche following. We’ve helped build the brand of some of your favourite artists, having the likes of Trillary Banks & Adejosh perform at our live shows in London. Founded in 2015 by Nelson, the platform has grown steadily over the past five years, working with a number of artists and labels on viral marketing campaigns. Our team consists of an editor, producer, presenter – Thandie Sibanda – who leads PR for us, and freelance A&R/YouTuber, Courtney ‘6pad’ Edwards. Our enthusiastic team of writers contribute to our site with regular music reviews and interviews. Follow 9bills on socials for daily updates on U.K. Hip Hop & Culture!” — Nelson
SYNDICATE LDN
“SyndicateLDN started in December 2015 as a response to the lack of profile & spotlight on the UK’s bubbling underground scene. With an abundance of young black talent hardly being represented in the mainstream charts, we started a show on a pirate & online radio station where we exclusively played underground black music from the UK. We threw ‘networking showcases’ (really just parties with sick lineups and a guestlist of upcoming creatives), and staged some of the earliest performances from Yxng Bane, Hardy Caprio, Headie One, Big Tobz and more — in fact, our first show was Bree Runway’s first ever live performance!
After an eighteen month hiatus, we relaunched at the beginning of 2019 with a radio show via Soundcloud, before joining the popular online station ‘No Signal’ in June this year — we air biweekly, 7-9PM! We still exclusively play U.K. black music, and interview the hottest artists in the scene.” — Mosh, Kobby, Tyra & Deeps
GROUNDWORKS
“At Groundworks we take pride in creating and controlling the culture. We do this by providing tailored consultancy for a wide range of creatives across the UK including artists, directors, personalities and content creators. We’re also a management firm & distribution outlet for a number of selective artists — directly managing Digga D, M Huncho, Potter Payper, 98s’ KO & Kilo Jugg. Our network spreads much further than this. We have easy access to and have strong relationships with some of the country’s biggest acts such as M1llionz, Meekz & Pa Salieu! Our notable videos include “Lagga”, “Woi”, “Pay Attention”, and “When I Was Little”. — Gus
ONE TAKE
“I’m Ellz BT, founder of the One Take platform — backed up by a team which includes a videographer (Parice Adams), a sound engineer (Ana Bia) and talent scouts (Afo Moronkeji and Beryl).
‘One Take’ started this year and is an upcoming platform for U.K. music and entertainment, with an aim to kick-start careers within the industry. Our current focus is recording acoustic freestyle sessions with artists from all over the nation and, predominantly artists from the UK’s current leading genre, Drill. My inspiration came through watching American producer, Einer Banks, link up with popular artists and have them rap against his ukulele. I decided to use my talent – playing the keys – and bring the concept of an ‘on-the-go, raw music session’ to life.
Our first season welcomed the likes of U.K. Drill pioneer, Stizzy Stickz, AM – the record holder for the highest amount of views on a Mad About Bars freestyle – U.K. pioneering Afrobeat act, Sona, and OG Nicki! We’ve amassed over 50,000 views on social media since releasing our first video, less than 6 months ago. Our hope is that we grow to become an official platform.” — Ellz BT
Article cover art designed by Forever Prmnt.