Framework: Mixtape Madness

As part of Black History Month, Mixtape Madness are profiling influential figures who have pushed forward UK rap and Black British music to greater heights in a series called ‘Framework’. These people are key cultural touchstones who continue to strive for greatness in their field. We at Mixtape Madness felt that this could be the right moment to spotlight the work that we do in the music community at the heart of Black British music and culture.

As the company celebrates 15 years of sustained success that has pushed UK rap forward, founders Kwabz, Kingsley, and Eddie can take pride in providing a platform and audience for those who wouldn’t necessarily have the resources to do so. In an exclusive interview we sat down with all three founders to discuss what that might look like and the lessons they’ve learned along the way.

I’ve been looking forward to this. Fifteen years in, three of you in the room. There’s a lot of memory and momentum here. Let’s start where it really began. What did you feel the UK scene was missing in 2010 that made you step in and build a home for it?

The problem we faced then was we didn’t have our own culture, we were always following what the USA was doing, so for us it was to shine light on the talent we have in the UK and champion our own. There was not a place where you could go to for all the UK mixtapes in all one place, there was another company at the time but they focused on south London artists. When we came in it was a UK push to support and create a community for all UK artists to showcase their talent.

We never had a place where you can go to for all your UK mixtapes, we saw ourselves as audio experts and we needed a place to champion our home grown talents. Honestly, in 2010 it felt like the scene had heat but no infrastructure. The pain in my chest was watching talented kids make culture with nowhere reliable to drop, be discovered, or get data. We built Mixtape Madness as a bridge – a place that lowers the barrier to release, documents the culture daily, gives artists real-time feedback and data, and converts attention into opportunity. I didn’t want to beg the industry to notice us; I wanted to prove there was an audience and force the industry to meet the standard the scene set.

Makes sense there was talent, there just wasn’t a proper home or structure for it. So when that platform you built started actually shifting power… when did it click that you weren’t just showcasing artists, you were changing their leverage?

For me it clicked the first time our upload didn’t just “go viral” – it changed an artist’s leverage. Within 48 hours we could show real audience data, convert that into YouTube/streaming revenue, and have labels and brands calling because of our numbers, not their assumptions. When we sent an artist their first cheque and used our stats to negotiate better terms, I realised Mixtape Madness wasn’t just documenting culture; we were pricing it.

That shift from visibility to leverage is huge. And over all these years, sound has evolved so much. How do you decide when to move with the culture, and when to stay rooted in what you know?

For me the music industry works in cycles, and once you know this you are able to adapt with change, i think for us we have been able to adapt at the right times. When the sound has changed we have been in the right place to help push the momentum. Also, now there is a lot more data which also shows when change is happening. Before it was more of an instinct, whereas now you can use data to see the shifts and change in the industry.

That instinct-meets-data balance is real. And as the platform grew, you became more than a drop-off point people came to you first. What does it feel like to be someone’s first door into the industry?

The responsibility to treat people fairly and also to educate them about the music industry, I feel we grew together as we were new to the game and we learned everything on the job without working for any majors and building this up brick by brick. We are more than just a community website. We are helping with management, marketing, admin, legal, mental health issues, everything underneath one umbrella.

There’s weight in that – being a first step for others while still learning yourself. Along the way, what was the risk that felt the heaviest at the time?

The biggest one for us was being the first platform to showcase the drill genre, at the time there was a lot of backlash from the media on what was being said in their lyrics, all the other platforms were not on taking the risk with the younger generation and this new sound which was taking over the underground scene, it helped change how we are as leaders – to be open to change and to understand what the younger generation was facing at the time and what things they were going through in their lives. 

And that choice ended up shaping an era. Kingsley, you’ve seen artists go from invisible to everywhere. What can’t be faked in that rise?

For me, the one thing that always stands out and can never be faked is genuine passion and belief in the music. You can’t manufacture that. I look for artists who truly love what they create, who understand how to put a record together, know their audience, and have those intangible star qualities. The presence, the story, the identity. Especially in rap, the narrative matters. People buy into who you are just as much as what you sound like.

There’s also a certain delusional faith that great artists carry – that unshakeable belief in their vision before the world believes. I love when that energy meets real musical ability.

I’m not an A&R, and I always give credit to the people who really have that eye for talent. But I’ve been blessed to be in the rooms – the studios, the video shoots – with artists before they broke. And every time, the ones who last are the ones with passion, self-belief, and the skills to match. Hype fades. The real ones don’t.

Eddie, you mentioned longevity of building something that lasts beyond moments. What would you say the long term mission is?

For me the mission is to maintain the industry for another 15/20 years and help grow more artists to stardom and also be able to give more people jobs and experiences in the music industry. 

Kwabz, where do you see the most opportunity and pressure for Black British music in the next decade?

Olivia Dean and Dave this month highlighted that despite the current economic landscape which has impacted music, Black British Music continues to be impactful. In a climate where virality equates to long term success, despite reports showing only 15% of viral tracks cross over to DSPs for viral streaming consumption. Both artists have illustrated the importance of building effective teams around great talent and tapping into audiences beyond technological changes and trends. Music and technology have a long lasting relationship that is consistently changing. 

It’s imperative British Black music acknowledges these changes and uses it to their advantage whilst still understanding the importance of fundamentals that have been around for over a century – building a live audience. This is what also excites me because I feel the next decade Black British Music is going to produce more entrepreneurial and creative independent leaders that will represent the next generation of music.

The music will reflect their narratives but thanks to technology their audiences will not be confined to geographical borders so creative collaborations across borders will be more fluid and normalised. Mixtape Madness will play an important part in empowering these creative entrepreneurs in building effective teams and scaling to global heights.

Your relationship with drill feels like a perfect case study. When the pressure came to mute the sound, you didn’t fold. How did you talk yourselves through that decision?

To be honest when the sound of drill came out first I didn’t think it would have had the impact that it did, however one of the A&R’s at the time, Bills, was an advocate for the drill genre and would go above and beyond to push this sound. We had all the faith in him and he convinced us that this will be the future and the rest was history, we took the risk to push the new sound and the culture forward.  

And now you’re balancing both pace and depth. In a world obsessed with fast moments, how do you make space for things that take time to build?

We protect depth by being authentic, honest, and consistent – programming for the long game rather than chasing short term spikes. That means only platforming stories that reflect who the artist really is, showing the craft with proper credits and process so fans value more than a 10-second clip, and publishing repeatable formats that return each week. We think in seasons, not cycles: first look, follow-up, evolution.

Our metrics reflect that ethos; we optimize for completion, saves, return viewers, and quality comments, not just raw views. Because the numbers you chase shape the work you make.

In practice, we pair a “fast-lane” of shorts, and freestyles, and newsy moments that catch attention with a “deep-lane” of sessions and interviews that earn meaning, and we link the two lanes so that audiences can move from spark to story. You can see why this matters in artists like Dave and Central Cee, whose patience and intentional storytelling prove that depth can thrive even in an era obsessed with speed, and that’s the standard we hold ourselves to at Mixtape Madness.

That long-term view really shows. How do you tell who’s genuinely here to build culture, not just benefit from it?

It is someone who looks at the long end game and also does not focus on numbers first, they want to see the culture grow and be sustainable. They believe in pushing the culture forward by providing finance and support to help grow the industry.

If you could go back to the beginning, what would you tell yourselves about staying independent in every sense?

For us staying independent is staying true to what we stand for which is helping build and maintain our culture and our heritage in the music industry. It’s also about having a good network of people who also share the same common values that we care about.

As Black History Month circles back each year, what part of this company’s story do you feel is still misunderstood or under appreciated in the wider narrative of Black British music?

I feel that because we are the foundation to helping turn the culture into a lucrative business for Black music, we paved the way for the industry to take our culture in. We want to tell our story and not have to water it down to please people in power. Even from changing the way deals were done for independent artists – we were the first platform to introduce this to independent artists before anyone else wanted to work with them, we also put in place a development strategy to grow artist’s careers. If you look at major labels they don’t invest in developing black music, they just sign them when they have traction.

Legacy also needs record-keeping. The UK is quick to move on and slow to archive. How are you thinking about preserving your chapters so the next ones know where they come from?

Why it matters: the next generation can’t build a legacy they can’t see. By pairing proper credits, preserved masters, and first-person stories and celebrating them on live stages as well as online we make lineage visible, teachable, and financially meaningful.

And if we treat this month as a prompt for action, not symbolism what’s one structural change this industry needs to commit to now?

Investing in live performances for up and coming artists and investing in the infrastructure for the future artists. At the moment there is no investment in grassroots projects or communities, this needs to change to continue to foster the new emerging talent coming through. There needs to be more resources to help the new gen of artists and have spaces to grow and build.

Five years from now, beyond scale or numbers what does meaningful growth look like for you?

Growth to me would be to expand the team globally, be able to employ and empower more young people and also mentor the new wave of young music executives to take the industry to the next level and also change the way business is done in the music industry. We would also like to see growth in diversifying our catalog and being able to replicate our business model on a global scale.

And ten years out what’s the thing you’d regret not attempting?

A serious push into the live sector, our own showcases, city pop-ups, tour partnerships, and festival stages. Live is where artists level up their craft and income, and where fans get the real-life experience that turns listeners into communities. We should be building that bridge, not waiting for others to book our talent.

You mentioned building outside London already, which is important. How do you make sure that expansion builds real infrastructure, not just footprint?

We have been building the infrastructure for outside London for years by putting on events and workshops,  we also work with companies based outside London to help them the same way we help artist in London.

Last one. When you eventually step away from the day-to-day what feeling do you hope people have when they say “Mixtape Madness”?

We want people to remember the amount of lives we helped change and the infrastructure we have built for young and ambitious men and women have something to inspire to do themselves as an entrepreneur or it gives them access to an infrastructure to help grow their career in the music industry in a fair and honest way.