People like us, do things like this
The idea of developing Elzada was to bring together all my random interests - all those random videos I watch about urban anthropology, speeches by Malcolm X, mixes from my favourite Rinse FM DJs, listening to Chris Crooke talking about the music industry, reading about world history - and to connecting these dots to form a tribe. This photo here was a quick brainstorm of the ideas I had for Elzada. Before starting it, I knew more or less that it was going to be around exploring the ideas of music and identity.
“People like us, do stuff like this” is quote by Seth Godin. I’ve been watching so many of his talks and been reading his books/blog and he has been a inspiration for me to start this. Alot of what he says resonates deeply with me. Things like, finding your tribe, showing up, shipping, leadership, a failing school system, entering the connection economy and building value through stories.
I love music, but I love how it affects the wider society. I want to understand why people draw to certain types of music. I want to understanding why the whitewashing of Rock & Roll music”. I want to understand why House music is still going strong after all these years. I want to understand why some people don’t believe you that Techno music was created by Black Americans from Detroit in the 80s.
I want to understand why some cities have a stronger identity for music than others. I want to understand the deeper structural inequalities we have in society - and I want to understand how music and arts can play its part in racial harmony and integration.