Kwame Safo AKA @funkbutcher returns as guest editor for our latest series of Blackout Mixmag features, working alongside co-guest editor @kevinsaunderson .
In his introductory editor’s letter, he reflects on five years of Blackout Mixmag and his aims for enacting positive change in the music industry.
Blackout Mixmag is an award-winning editorial series dedicated to Black artists, issues and stories, first launched in 2020.
Read the features on mixmag.net 🔗⤴️
📸: @fooals
Logo and design identity: @studiopixie
A great panel yesterday at @greatescapefest hosted by @_ukmusic and expanding on the importance and recommendations of the groundbreaking report “Black Music Means Business”. Big thank you as always to the superstar @eunice_o and everyone who has worked so hard to bring this important piece of research to where it is today. We’ve addressed the challenges….but more importantly the opportunities are even more clearer now regarding next steps for all musicians working within and supporting Black music genres… @uk.blacmex@britisharts@britishcouncil ❤️💪🏾 #TheGreatEscape
🚨 @uk.blacmex will be part of a special talk at @greatescapefest in Brighton this Friday, discussing the latest report from @_ukmusic . Details below.
Friday 15th May - Conference 1, Leonardo Royal Hotel Brighton Waterfront
12.15 - 13.00: Black Music Means Business: Driving Economic Growth in the UK
Presented by UK Music. Following the launch of its new report ‘Black Music Means Business: Driving Economic Growth in the UK’, UK Music will lead a conversation exploring the impact of Black British music over the last 30 years and its contribution to the success of the UK music industry.
Speakers:
Kwame Safo - BLACMEX / British Council
Natasha Hendry - PHD Academic specialising in education / Black Culture
Trenton Harrison-Lewis - Artist Manager / Label Executive
Charisse Beaumont - Black Lives in Music
Eunice Obianagha - Head of Diversity, UK Music (Moderator)
@_ukmusic@blacklivesinmusic@dr_c_oye@eunice_o@the_music_psychologist@trenton_hl@britishcouncil@britisharts@funkbutcher
Part of the work of @uk.blacmex isn’t just simply building an export office which is siloed from the music sector but one which is responsive and accessible to the audience that we want to utilise it.
When @focuswales approached us with the opportunity to host a panel in the devolved nation not only did it give us an opportunity to introduce the facility to talented musicians and organizations working with Black music genres. It also allows me and @audreydgray the ability to discern that what we are building is not only purpose built for ONE UK nation!
Great honest conversations this weekend told me a few things. The challenges are similar. However, nuances are present and the omission of nuance and context means that Welsh talent isn’t viewed fairly through the industry lens.
The panel was moderated by the brilliant @bablushikdar_ . On the panel was @uzo_iwobi (one of the organisers and co-founder of the @bwmawales with her daughter @ifyiwobi ), @oskar.world and @afrocluster .
BLACMEX is chiefly designed to ask the more pertinent questions about the collection of data for Black music genres and how that data in turn can be used by independent artists and teams especially to have more agency in their own careers.
diolch yn fawr Wrecsam ❤️ 🏴💪🏾
#BlackMusicExport #UKMusic
This week at the British Council we hosted the Creative Estuary organisation at our Redman Place office in Stratford. Around 60 artists, creatives and entrepreneurs were in attendance with the ambition to share knowledge and congratulate them on their achievements to date.
I had the honour of being the first speaker where I was able to share my journey as a musician, embedded in the East London area and how my own “creative trajectory” has shaped who I am and the role I now represent to the sector.
It’s been a real pleasure being able to share the creative parts of me and my work which inform my knowledge and expertise at the British Council.
Think Visually put together a brilliant illustrated mural based on our reflections throughout the day. I’m personally really liking the cartoon version of me…even got the same beard and hat!! 😅❤️
📣 BLACMEX will be at @focuswales this year hosting a panel. This panel will explore the work of BLACMEX, the UK’s first Black music export office and the talent pipeline which defines export readiness for Black music genres in Wales. What are the current opportunities for artists and teams working with Black music genres in Wales and are there fundamental gaps in sector support and knowledge around export terminology. @uzo_iwobi@skunkadelic #oskarstrajn @bablushikdar_@funkbutcher@audreydgray@bwmawales@focuswales 🏴❤️ #BlackMusicExport #UKMusic #BlackWelshMusic
Black Music Export In Wales
TŶ PAWB - PERFORMANCE SPACE
13:00 - 13:50
Saturday 9th May 2026
One thing I look for now more than ever when out in workshops and conferences is a degree of sincerity and transparency. I believe honest conversations can get us to the crux of the issues within the creative industries but also that same degree of clarity can reveal to others what is actually working.
This week I had the pleasure of being invited by the wonderful Siân Prime FRSA to attend the ScaleUp Creative Leaders event in Birmingham organised by @form_leadership and convened by @goldsmithsuol , (full circle moment for me as I studied Politics there, was the ACS president for a short stint and also DJ’d quite a bit in the student union!). I had the opportunity to talk about my own personal experiences and how they have attributed to the careful and intentional design around @uk.blacmex , the UKs first Black music export office.
Such a well thought out programme of topics ranging from the interrogation of complex working systems and the toll they take on us psychologically to what are the actual figures around scaleups vs startups in the UK and how can that transitional gap be improved.
Lovely to meet and hear from incredible women founders in the creative industries also and bring back important anecdotal evidence to other women in business that are within my own circles internationally at BLACMEX but also British Council.
Thank you Siân Prime FRSA, John Newbigin OBE, Matt Johnson, Erica Love, Ruth Allan MCMI CMgr, Charlie Kemp, Georgia Hetherington, Darren Balcombe
📷 - Matt Bell
Last week we were at the speakers house at the House of Commons 🇬🇧 for the Black Music Means Business report launch.
Powerful moment. Real conversations. Real numbers.
Black music has driven £24.5bn of the UK music economy — and Nigeria is right at the centre of that story.
Proud to stand with our industry leaders representing the culture, the sound, and the future. Thanks to @funkbutcher@uk.blacmex for collaboration and congrats to you and to @eunice_o as we are proud to have been present and support @_ukmusic for this landmark report and also thanks to local industry leaders present @audumaikori@paulokeugo@babaagba_@ayo.ade.dayo@isioma_idigbe_
From Afrobeats to the global stage…
we’re not just influencing — we’re building the business.
The mission is clear:
👉 Turn culture into industry
👉 Turn attention into value
👉 Take Nigeria to the world — properly
#NigeriaEverywhere #Afrobeats #BlackMusic #CreativeEconomy #UKNigeria NCAC
