For this week’s episode, we take a trip to Berlin for a really lovely chat with Oscar Atanga, a crucial member of the Black Artist Database team. They've been working hard to showcase a wealth of talented musicians across the diaspora with their growing community platform. Founded by east London DJ and Percolate resident Niks in 2020, Black Artist Database, or B.A.D for short, is a crowd-sourced database platform created as a direct response to the global pandemic and as a way to challenge the inequality that Black artists often face in the music industry.
You can hop on the B.A.D website right now and search through thousands of Black-owned labels, artists, and producers and support them directly. The site also provides users with a chance to connect with bustling creative communities of Black artists around the globe. B.A.D’s community ethos extends to their monthly workshops and forums dedicated to cultivating and fostering Black talent, from production-focused workshops to skill share sessions.
Now, the team has come up with exciting developments happening in the world of web3 and they're looking to help Black artists use the emerging technology as a way to build equity, ownership, and community.
Oscar chats about his creative background as a producer, his love for some of the bustling black art communities in London and NYC, and how the Black Artist Database is leveling the playing field for Black creatives.