“There’s a wave of talent now at the top of
their game that we spotted at a very early stage”
KINGSLEY OKYERE, MIXTAPE MADNESS
matters, even when you outsource, please ensure you comprehend what is going on. It’s a people’s economy, your network is still your net worth. It’s a cliché, but it’s true.”
EA: “The biggest lesson I have learned so far is not to have an ego; I think when you’re working in the music industry, there’s a lot of egos around. Just being humble and grateful for the position that you have in this big ecosystem is a big lesson.”
KO: “I think that you also have to be intentional about what you want. Being intentional and goal-orientated has been a major driving force, because I think it’s very easy to say you want to do this and that, but to put the plan together, stick to it and do it is another thing.”
What do you think is the industry perception of Mixtape Madness from the outside? KOA: “I feel many have tried to put Mixtape Madness in a box as only specialising in producing visuals for one sub-genre of rap. I don’t take it personally, but we are definitely a lot more than that. From our editorial website, social media channels, visual productions, on and offline marketing, business consultation and administration, record label, publishing, live events, brand partnerships and charitable endeavours, the key driving force is empowering emerging talent.”
KO: “We’ve become a modern-age, 360-degree music platform: we have followers, we have a brand, we have a name. We are part-media platform, because that’s what we do, and then we’ve got a record label. So, I think the industry is a bit confused about what Mixtape Madness is. I think sometimes people think this is just a YouTube channel, Instagram page, or a TikTok channel.”
54 | Music Week
It’s a Madness world: (Top, L-R) Members of the Mixtape Madness team Joel Duncan, Kingsley Okyere, Jesse Williams, Kwabz Oduro Ayim, Antonia Francis, Rehana Perkins, Eddie Agyeman and Remo Scott-Jones; (bottom) Teezandos and Cristale recording a Plugged In session in 2023
How, then, do you reflect on your deals with industry partners over the past 15 years? KO: “The first people that believed in us as a record label and helped us distribute records were Caroline, now Virgin Music. That was a massive breakthrough. That really changed the pace of the company and gave us hope. That’s where some of our biggest records today have come out of, because of the advance and the belief that they had to partner with us. The time we signed with them, the team that was there was absolutely amazing. I know a lot of them
have gone on to do amazing things in the industry. We also had a partnership with Believe, they helped us build on YouTube through funding and also leveraging higher advertising rates. So that was a very good commercial partnership.”
You’re now working with Fuga – what are the details of that deal? EA: “We finished our distribution deal with Virgin, and then we started with Fuga. We were very impressed with their technology. I think the aim, from our side, is to develop new talent and Fuga will leave us to focus on the A&R side of things. Then we’ll use their data to analyse the global consumers of the artists we’re developing, so it’s easier for us to promote their music. So rather than it taking maybe three, four years to build artists globally, it may take us between one year and 18 months.”
This year was bookended by No.1 albums from Central Cee and Dave. How do you think the year has been in general for UK rap? EA: “It’s been an interesting year for UK rap. I think we’re going through a transitional period. The likes of Central Cee and Dave are now seen as more the OGs and we’re seeing a lot of newcomers coming through, so I think there’s been a change to the sound. A lot of music now is more content-led in regard to Gen A and how they consume music. Their consumption is through apps and mobile
musicweek.com
PHOTOS: Mixtape Madness, Oliver Buckle
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