In the mix: (L-R) Kwabz Oduro
Ayim, Kingsley Okyere and Eddie Agyeman
First off, why do you think Mixtape Madness has been able to last for 15 years and counting? Eddie Agyeman: “We’re very grateful to be part of building the infrastructure, seeing artists starting from the underground to getting Top 20 records. There’s been a lot of changes over the past 15 years, but we have been fortunate enough to be on the ground, to understand what is happening and be able to move accordingly. We’re able to keep a good relationship with all the underground artists that we started with and help them – throughout their career – to chart-topping success. I feel a lot of people overlook the foundation and starting point of grassroots work. There’s a lot of time, energy and finance that goes into artists starting up, and you never know whether they’re going to be successful or not, so there’s a lot of risk in that. It’s also the emotional relationship that is built. A lot of artists that we’ve worked with have come from underprivileged backgrounds and they’re just going through their trials and tribulations as young teens, so it’s also trying to help them navigate through life. We’re able to give them a return for their art, too – a lot of them started [this] as a hobby, but with the infrastructure we created, they were able to finance their career through their art.”
There must be many highlights from 15 years, but do any in particular stand out? Kingsley Okyere: “I think SL’s Gentleman video [from 2017] was a massive milestone. It came out at a time when there was a lot of hysteria around drill music and has 88 million views on YouTube now. It definitely opened the doors in terms of our channel, and put a lot of artists’ attention on the fact that we know what we’re talking about when [it comes to] talent. Then Digga D Next Up was another one that drove the message that Mixtape Madness really is the place to go for the new wave of music and emerging rappers. There’s a wave of talent now at the top of their game that we spotted or had the opportunity to work with at a very early stage. I feel like being on our platform in that generation was a spotlight and anchor that a lot of artists used to get where they are. I’m not saying it’s the only anchor, but we had a generation in a headlock at the time. No one can take that away from us.”
“It’s time to take Mixtape Madness
global, to shine a light on UK music and culture to the rest of the world”
EDDIE AGYEMAN, MIXTAPE MADNESS
musicweek.com
In terms of personalities, what has made you excel as three co-founders? Why do you work well together? EA: “We’re able to understand our strengths and weaknesses. I would say my strength is being the visionary. I’m the person that will motivate everyone. I can get the team around. Kingsley is more on the tech side of things, the attention to detail. And then we have Kwabz on the financial and data side. So, all those skills combined make us the perfect team. I think [the achievement of] maintaining a company for over 15 years is overlooked, especially being three young Black people that haven’t had experience within the industry before [and] how we add to the economy in terms of jobs we’ve created in Mixtape Madness.”
What have been the biggest lessons you have learned along the way? Kwabz Oduro Ayim: “Many creative entrepreneurs, including ourselves, have incurred expensive lessons for not ensuring the business administration is on point. Yes, the boring stuff
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