Kwame Safo: “I want to present solutions for Black musicians and industry professionals”

Blackout Mixmag is an editorial series dedicated to Black artists, issues and stories, first launched in 2020. Our next round of features are co-guest edited by Kevin Saunderson and Kwame Safo (AKA Funk Butcher). Read all of the previously published pieces here.

It’s been five years since we birthed this space within Mixmag, a development exacerbated by the murder of George Floyd but it would be wholly unfair and disrespectful to apportion all responsibility and blame on one man’s shoulders. To a greater degree he should be remembered, but also be left to rest in peace.

2020 marked a significant cultural and societal tipping point that I doubt we will ever see again in our lifetimes. George Floyd’s killing was the seismic shift, during unprecedented times, which swung the pendulum the other way. The appetite for unity and commitment to whatever was left of the social contract was more palpable. Many would argue that it was a long time coming. The frustrations that would even lead to something like this editorial even being created are a very unique set of cultural, social and economic circumstances felt primarily (but not exclusively) by the Black community.

When I started the series of tweets during that period which lead to the creation of this space, I did not envisage at the time what it would grow and develop into. Blackout Mixmag was an opportune moment for me to develop issues outside of the realm of just marketing and promo of Black music genres, and instead a chance to expand on the various factors contributing to the glass ceilings for Black musicians and industry professionals. To recap, the original offer from Mixmag was for me to write a single supporting feature based on a thread I had composed on Twitter around Black female vocalists in house music who were often heard but never visually represented in the artwork or anywhere in the campaign. The magazine, like most companies in 2020, was faced with significant challenges due to COVID. Tough financial decisions saw the print side of the magazine become furloughed and the digital team reduced. I was unaware of these challenges when I pushed for a full guest editorial rather than just a special feature.

Luckily for me, (and I do stress luck as a contributing factor), the zeitgeist favoured my outlandish request for autonomy and Seb Wheeler and Patrick Hinton, who both were working for Mixmag, were gratuitous in entertaining and fulfilling my proposal.

It's not anything new to me to develop new pathways to create social mobility when it wasn't presented or designed for someone who looks like me or from my background. I could see something like Blackout Mixmag as an obvious next step to expand horizons for parts of the music community who are stifled. But, showing any ingenuity has to occur in tandem with a group or organisation who is also willing to take risks. I carefully created a deck of features, representative at the time, of the selection of the most prominent issues relative to Black music and Black musicians. We did something special clearly, and won a Drum Award for editorial of the year and the Blackout Mixmag features are now collectively housed within their own section on the main Mixmag website for ease of access.

So five years on what has changed you may ask? The irony is that I started the first editor's note in Blackout Mixmag Week mentioning the then President Donald Trump. Stockholm syndrome of the US electorate brings us back here to a more intentionally petty and punitive version of the then president back in office for a second term. However, this time around, the global impact felt by this presidency has been felt immediately, and it’s been less than two months since the inauguration. Despite the disappointing election result, it was always known by the progressive and community focused among us that this was going to be a long-game. Change would be (painfully) slow and incremental. From a music sense, there needed to exist a platform committed to the applied pressure needed to make those better circumstances a possibility. Leaning into data, as provided by practitioners, first-hand, the creators themselves, was exactly the sort of candid story-telling and qualitative information helping to amplify realities about the world of Black music creators and industry professionals.

Blackout Mixmag has a collection of articles, designed to be solution focused in its approach, steering clear of the trauma dumping commonly found in Black music discourse. I wanted to present solutions alongside the problems disclosed to us.

It is an honour to share this year's guest editorial space with techno legend Kevin Saunderson and bridge the gap, generationally but also geographically on issues we both consider of importance for future contributors and the overall health of the genres we love dearly.

Big thanks to all the contributing writers and talent that have made Blackout Mixmag such an impactful piece of music journalism content for a global generation. But more importantly I hope it serves as a reminder as to what is possible when you engage with a like-minded community and take a leap of faith.

Who dares wins!

Kwame Safo AKA Funk Butcher is a DJ, Broadcaster, Label Head, Producer and Music Consultant. Follow him on Twitter