CURLFEST 2017

 

What can I call a festival full of gorgeous black people, culture and hair? Perhaps lifestyle goals? What words are fit to describe black folks flourishing in our truth? CURLFEST was everything from black girl magic to black boy joy. CURLFEST was black expression and community. CURLFEST, ultimately was a vibe. There were vendors, creatives, celebrity guests and a plethora of curly, coiled and kinky  hair. 

 

@kikikikheanu @steph_def

@tarapook

 

Upon arriving at CURLFEST I was struck with the many vendors promoting original content that was unapologetically black. With black themed t-shirts from Blacktag Apparel and jewelry and clothing from TheOFactory, people in attendance definitely had options in merchandise. We can only support black business If we know who they are. Check out some of these great companies and get blackity black. 

After passing the vendors I passed by the games. The Black Card Revoked table was a lot of fun. We were in the music category and had fun signing some throwback tracks. I won't tell you how many times my card was revoked, but just know I'm pretty damn black. 

 

 

Now I have to mention DJ C.Devone! She brought the party during her jam session! I love seeing not only women DJs, but one of color, controlling the music at a function. There was a big dance circle created. Black girls had dance offs, babies cheered and boys put in that footwork. The hosts at the Curlfest stage shouted out various nations in Africa and the West Indies (needless to say Haitians got the most hype, no bias intended). 

 

@djcdevone

 

 

It was my first year going to CURLFEST and I was not disappointed! The energy was great; plenty of smiles, compliments, and basking in the magic. So many ladies styled their afros especially nice for this event. I saw crowns of flowers, gold cuffs and wire, blue and green fros and just many styles curated with black in mind. There were also many gorgeous outfits and great t-shirts on the fellas; they didn't come to play. Although many crept on the ladies, many others came for the celebration of our hair.

 

 

 

I got had the pleasure to interview a few creative about CURLFEST. I asked them why they loved CURLFEST and what their hair means to them. The responses made me smile. Also a huge shout out to Evelynfromtheinternets! 

 

@steph_def

@jessicahughee

@afrovocative

@evelynfromtheinternets

 

 

 

 

What did I miss? The fact that Shea Moisture's representative got on stage and said a weird haphazard statement in regards to their latest controversy and CURLFEST messed on the bag distributing. Spike Lee was also there showing love to Brooklyn and leading a discussion. The Black Girl Podcast crew also came out and said hey to their supporters and !'m so bummed I missed them! It was a fun day and like Youtuber Jessie Hughee said "I feel like this is a big picnic"! Thank you, CURLFEST for a great first time and I look forward to plugging in in the near future.

 

 

Black Business And Beyond: The Joseph Brothers

This is my second segment of  "Black Business and Beyond" and I'm honored it's on my friend Evan and his older bro Brian. We're all Brooklyn natives that forcibly moved to the twilight zone that is Central Florida, which connected us all by a church our parents found fit to attend every Sunday.

Since then I've known these young men were talented individuals that would do big things, like you know start a sound company. Trytone Sound was incorporated July 2014, with the purpose of providing the best sound and post production for video media. They are freelancers working year round to take their business to the next level everyday. I had a cool interview with them about their company; so here it is:

Q: What is your position in this business?
B: I'm in charge of on set recording
E: I do editing effects and music mixing

Q: What are your aspirations for this company?
B: For me, I want us to have a central office space and expand. I want us to have more equipment so we could have more BOOM ops. I'd also like us to unionize, specifically with Local 52. Union equals working on TV shows and films that'll be seen on major networks and in theaters. I'd also like us to have a team to work the lower level work, right now Evan and I are doing it; and interns. I want interns.
E: Consistent work/clients. I would want more music projects than sound and a team I could oversee for projects.

Q: In every business they'll be ups and downs; what are yours?
B: Ups are you're the boss and it pays well. I get to put my name out there. Like recently I worked a job for "The Letterman Show" and a sound mixer liked me and the work I did, so he connected me to a job on a documentary film. That's why it's so important to do a good job at every job, because it leads to more work and clients. It's all such a great feeling. Downs are the dry spells; it happens mostly in the winter. If you didn't save while you had work it becomes tough. It's a lot busier in the summer and fall.
E: Being in charge and working for your self is definitely an up. I get to put my education into use. So many of my friends are working jobs that are irrelevant to their degree and I'm glad I don't have to go through that. We get to make the decisions and I love my work. The down is finding work; I get most of my jobs through Joshua [another founder of the company] and Brian. So I'm looking to make more connections and build a solid base.


Q: How does it feel being a successful black businessman?
B: Kinda unbelievable; I allowed myself to be trained and put myself out there. It is definitely scary at times, but always exciting. It's really an indescribable feeling.
E: Exciting; cool. There's more room for everybody in art; as long as you do the work and do it well you're good. It's not like the corporate world. It feels good.

Q: Are you on the market?
B: Haha yes; but I'm not actively looking. As long as she could handle my schedule, which is very unpredictable, we're good.
E: Sure, I'm dating and just going with the flow.

Q: What's your favorite Pokémon? [1st gen of course!]
B: Articuno, the legendary ice Pokémon!
E: Hmm I really gotta think about that. I'd say Alakazam!

Q: Any plans of philanthropy?
B: I want to donate the Made in New York Program. I went through it and those before me would come to some classes and give us advice. It really helped me and I learned to do the same for cycles after me. I even receive emails from some students thanking me for the advice I gave them. That program taught me a lot and I want it to exist for as long as possible. That program was actually designed for minorities to break into the production field! I know I'll be giving back to them.
E: I'd like to give back to the College of Music and Arts at USF, my school. There's also the Broadway Program that I work with now. We take underprivileged community kids to see plays. Like we went to see "On The Town" which we actually shouldn't have taken kids to see, but they had a great time and got to experience seeing a Broadway play. Those are great programs I would donate to.

These are great brothers who are making their dreams a reality. Many people feel you shouldn't mix family with business but Evan and Brian prove that it can work out wonderfully. They continue to promote their brand and make a name for themselves as young black men. They show kids who want to enter the art world that's it can happen. If you or anyone you know needs sound production services get in touch with Trytone Sounds!

Checkout their website: http://www.trytonesound.com/

Have questions I didn't ask? Wanna take one of them off the market? Connect with Evan and Brian!

Evan: Evan@trytonesound.com http://www.evanjosephmusic.com https://www.facebook.com/eojoseph?fref=ts

Brian: Brian@trytonesound.com  https://www.facebook.com/brian.joseph.750?fref=ts