Spent my Saturday night collecting for Biko’s #AfroSexyCool party. While swiping cards, making change and wrapping wristbands for two deboarded party buses of tipsy folks in about a 2 foot space, I heard the MC say it was one of the cohosting DJ’s debut.
I’ve been working doors for Biko for at least 6 years. I know how much he does to maintain his brand but the joint chaos and beauty of that moment reminded me how business-minded you have to be to be a creative.
Biko had a brand new DJ alongside a world-touring DJ. He makes all his graphics, tshirts and visuals. He builds relationships with venues/bars to better ensure profitability. He partners with deeply impactful institutions in the region. And he keeps the people he works with paid. Creatives do it all - the artisty and theatrics, the logistics, the bookkeeping and projections, the people-advocacy.
I talked to a few artists after the event and they expressed their love of the beauty and chaos of entertainment and the arts. Many of them have 9to5s but feel stuck and small there - it’s just something they have to do. I get called a creative often and I always reject the label. My line is: I am creative (adj) but not ‘a creative’ (noun). I realize my hesitation in being called a creative has less to do with learning new tools or assuming a title I deeply respect in others. It’s more about my fear of being stifled.
Creatives use both sides of the brain to not just make things cool/pretty but to give cool, pretty things measurable reach and impact. To put creatives into one or the other small box is a detriment to the progress of cities, companies, and most importantly to the creative. If you give creatives the mic, not just on the stage but also in the boardroom, they may surprise you by being exactly who they are.
