ISAIAH Shittu
reveals how the organisation offered him a springboard into the music industry...
Small Green Shoots alumni Isaiah Shittu INTERVIEW: COLLEEN HARRIS What impact did Small Green Shoots have on your life?
“Small Green Shoots gave me vision. Before that I had no idea what the industry roles were. They opened my eyes to it and made me realise I can do more than a job, I can manage or lead a company. The beauty about Small Green Shoots is that everyone’s experience is gonna be different. I came in as an apprentice with mentors from my first day. Let’s say for a project they hire a major videographer that’s worked with Giggs or Skepta, and they assign me to shadow them – gradually, they’ve mentored me for the role. I ended up going to Small Green Shoots because I didn’t want to go university. But Natalie said, ‘I think you should apply anyway because you never know what could happen.’ She helped me do the uni application, she gave me my reference, helped me sort my cover letter, and I got an offer back from every university I applied for. But with the skills I learned at Small Green Shoots I could have stayed working full time at [London-based creative & marketing agency] Blackstar. We create everything you see the artist post about – lyric videos, TikTok and IGTV videos. It’s really broad.”
What’s your vision for yourself now?
“To get [through] university and build my way up through the industry eventually getting to a management role. The main vision is to be the president/owner of a creative agency.”
What’s the biggest thing Small Green Shoots taught you? “To shoot for the stars. As a young black boy you just expect to stay afloat. They taught me that, regardless of my colour and even my age, I can aspire to those things because they put me in rooms with those people. Small Green Shoots do workshops with record labels, creative agencies, publishing and HR – they’ll have a ‘speak to the staff’ day. That will inspire us to go harder. It’s also our foot in, to see that this is where we could be.”
How hard is it for someone starting out to get into music? “I’ve got a lot of friends that want to do it. I always tell them, ‘I’m gonna hit up Small Green Shoots and see if they can take you in.’ For me, that’s the clearest way for someone similar to me to get in. There’s a lot of people with a lot of great skills. All credit to them, their work can speak for themselves, but when you have someone like Natalie that’s speaking of your work it makes everything a hundred times easier.”
Is the industry doing enough to remove the barriers for people from less privileged backgrounds?
“They’ve definitely put a few things in place where people like me can get a foot in. They could support charities like Small Green Shoots more, to bring in more Shoots who are hungry and want to be in these roles. My career is a testament to Small Green Shoots, whereas the person behind me, or the person that comes after that – that might be more of a testament to the industry and how far it’s come.”
How important is it to have that kind of support? “Honestly, it’s priceless. I’ve spoken about the vision you get about wanting to reach these heights, but as a young person that changes every single day because you lose motivation. You see your friends partying and think, ‘That looks pretty cool’ because you’re not decided on anything. Having someone like Natalie there keeps you tunnel-visioned on the task at hand. The whole team at Small Green Shoots looked after me so much – I wouldn’t say I’m a finished product, but they got me close to it, which is testament to them and the whole process.”
A star is born: Isaiah Shittu has just been promoted to content producer at Blackstar
“My career is a testament to Small Green Shoots. The person behind me might be a testament to how far the
industry has come” ISAIAH SHITTU
60 | Music Week
musicweek.com
Music Week speaks to the people that Small Green Shoots has helped along on their journey…
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