On Helping African And Caribbean Artists

A collage of Blackman, a rapper from Congo to whom I provided career advice. Photos from his Facebook fan page.

Thanks to my buddy Mark Adato, and his work with the organization Africa New Day, I got to help two African independent artists from Congo with career advice. This year, through my mentorship work at SXSW and through AND, I’ve been honored to give career advice to artists in the Caribbean and Africa.
Independent artists in the United States take for granted our relatively easy and abundant access to information and resources related to the music business. Many of the artists in Africa and Carribean do not even know how to get their music on iTunes. They want desperately to share their music. I’m proud that I’ve been able to help a few get started on the right path.
I’ve even used my in-store music video network, which plays in all Shiekh Shoes stores across the United States, to showcase artists from Africa and the Caribbean to my 3 million viewers.
Connecting the diaspora through music, demonstrating our similarities through musical storytelling, and showing that entertainment defies boarders has been a humbling experience.
If you are reading this and you are an artist from Africa, reach out to Africori, which describes itself as a Pan-African music company for artists and labels. Their website is http://africori.com. They may be able to help with getting music distributed. Also, learn about copyrighting your music and collecting music royalties in your territory. You can find more information by talking to Music In Africa foundation. Their website is http://musicinafrica.net.