Part 3 - Community

The community is the backbone for the jazz and hip hop scene. I have learnt how crucial a community is and it can make an enormous difference and impact on the music scene. With Hiding minds, I hope I can reach out to people and inform them about this community. The people within this community all pay a vital part to helping the growth and awareness of the scene. Whether it be musicians, artists, fashion designers, dancers, producers, directors or promoters. The list goes on and this creates different platforms for sharing or promoting music. It brings people together because they are helping each other. A great example of a producer who is a huge contributor to the community is Mac Wetha. A producer known for producing tracks for artists such as puma blue, Nine8, Bone Slim, Lava La Rue and Biig Piig.

When Mac Wetha worked with Jess (Biig Piig) he gained himself recognition. She was new to London and he started working with her helping to create songs, mixing her jazz influences with his love for hip hop. He has done this with various artists who are now successfully releasing their music with the help of a producer. Biig Piig speaking on nine8 and mac wetha stated “It’s just cool finding people your age who are able to come to a space and be vulnerable around each other without anything being weird.” (Biddles, 2018) Showing how someone like Mac Wetha has been an essential element in helping artists get off their feet and start contributing music into this scene. “This collaborative way of working comes naturally to Smyth, and it’s why the Nine8 Collective has become such an important context for her work.” (Biddles, 2018) This supports the importance of collaboration, a community allows for constant collaboration. Hopefully with Hiding Minds I can help connect people which could lead to more collaboration.

Here’s a photo of one of Mac Wetha’s ep and Biig Piig’s Ep which was produced by Mac Wetha:

Lava la rue and The Nine8 Collective, who I have mentioned in previous articles, pushes this

community with festivals they would arrange and the support they would do to help people

struggling. “Creating moments that bring me and my collective and my community together is so

rewarding” (Dazed 100, 2020) These festivals and gigs have helped massively in sharing their

music and increased their fan base into a community rather than individual fan bases. With the

fans coming together, it provides support towards this uprising community.

Here’s a photo from one of the gigs arranged by Lava La Rue, Low Heat 05. Bringing people

into a space where they can watch live music talk, meet new people and have a great

experience.

Social media is definitely the best device to use for creating a closer relationship for the artists with the fans. Which is important in a community because people need to be connected. Instagram and Facebook have been one of the biggest elements achieving that. People can see eye catching photos of the artists they listen to which have been uploaded onto their instagram or facebook page. This again helps add another range to the community, where they can involve photographers and people they know to help out with supporting the scene.