Henrie Kwushue and Ibrahim Kamara On Supporting Black Creatives, The Community and Instagram’s #BlackPerspectives Programme
Image via instagram - Ibrahim Kamara, Henrie Kwushue, Tanya Compas and Estare will lead the impactful Black Perspectives initiative from March 2022 to June 2022
Black content creators are continuing to make a name for themselves. From old favourites like Nella Rose who we’ve recently seen work with Netflix, BET and more to newer creatives like Victor Kunda, Hemah K and Munya Chawawa who have grown massively over the last two years. Yet making a name and navigating the creative industry whilst receiving credit for your work is not an easy feat. And this is where Instagram’s new initiative Black Perspectives comes in!
Instagram identifies that Black creatives are necessary to ‘push culture forward’ and these same creatives are always at the start of trends; creating, propelling and even adding to trends.Black Perspectives comes in as part of Instagram’s dedication to ‘championing and supporting the careers of Black creatives both on the platform and beyond.’ Instagram will be supporting the projects of 4 of UK’s top Black British creatives to challenge and inform budding Black British creatives.
We sat down to talk with presenter and DJ Henrie Kwushue and co-founder of GUAP magazine Ibrahim Kamara about their individual initiatives, experiences of being a Black creative, and much more!
To start off, what got you into being a creator?
Ibrahim: “The inspiration came from us not seeing a platform like ours (GUAP) available. It’s definitely harder to do the things you don’t want to do than the things you do, so it wasn’t hard to make the decision because once we decided what it is, what we wanted to do, we just did it!”
Henrie: “When I started on radio, I would put clips of my radio show on Instagram. You don’t think of it as content creating but it is! I took it further and would create series around topics like gentrification. I loved the idea of creating something that only exists in your mind and seeing it in real life… it’s stunning. I think everyone has a little bit of a creator in them if they’re on a social media app like Instagram. You need to be a little bit creative!”
Agreed! So how would you say your journey has changed from where you started to where you are now?
Ibrahim: “I don’t think much has changed. I still feel like I am doing the same things I did when I started but the perception of it has changed/shifted. However, the day to day still remains the same. I’m still shooting, still documenting and I’m still working.”
Henrie: “I have a much stronger connection to my faith than I ever had. I know that I’m doing much cooler stuff now than before, but it is all about the journey. I’ve become more confident in myself and who I am. I’m more confident in my skin, what I portray and what I don’t want to.”
Henrie’s #BlackPerspectives
The Black Perspectives initiative is an amazing project that aims to support and nurture black creatives. It is clear the importance of the initiative as often, many black creatives do not receive the recognition deserved. Henrie, you go into this with a bit more detail in Free Game With Henrie; could you talk us through your initiative ?
It's something that every creative has gone through… you kind of want to ask someone who you see doing cool stuff, being in someone’s DMs asking, ‘Is £25 per hour for my gig too small?’ (Henrie says the answer is YES!!). Not everyone has a close friend in the industry they’re able to ask or knows the ins and outs or even has a manager - especially when they’re starting out. So, I think it’s really important for young Black creatives to have the answers to these questions out in the open as a constant place that they can go back to and check. I get how awkward it can be having been there myself, but it doesn’t have to be nerve-wracking if there is a central point for all of that information. That’s what I want Free Game to be.
With that, what topics can people expect to find out more about?
Money! Money is going to be a really big topic. And balancing exposure with fees. Everything is a journey with creators anyway, but people are going to want to know how to gain bigger clients, what more they could be doing and also what they can reduce doing. All these things can be a bit awkward to ask but I’m hoping all the answers that come out from Free Game should be able to help all creatives because it will be transferable.
Is there anything that has been said that has been really different from your own journey?
Not per se but I’ve seen that age and accomplishments really does vary. For me, I started seeing this as what I want to do for the rest of my life at 23. That’s not to say I wasn’t doing media before that, but I would say I took it seriously at 23 turning 24. And I had to not feel like I’m too old or too young to be doing what I’m doing.
Has there been any advice that’s stuck with you?
Definitely age! Age should not be a factor. I’m hoping this is something we really tackle in Free Game; it shouldn’t be a barrier. If someone told me at 23 that ‘Rahh Henrie, you’re getting on’ I probably wouldn’t be here! Also, it’s important to be yourself and be authentic and everyone says this. Doing it in a way that you can monetise and create a job from is completely different and that’s something I go into in Free Game.
How have you manged to keep yourself motivated in your career whilst still being yourself?
By God’s grace alone I try not to stress. (You can’t come and die!) I do jobs that I enjoy. That tweet ‘I don’t want to live a second of my life where I’m not smiling 24/7’ I feel that and I understand it. So however best that can be done, that’s what I do.
Ibrahim’s #BlackPerspectives
So, we know that yourself and 3 other creatives have curated bespoke projects for each of your audiences that will help our community on and off the platform of instagram. Could you talk us through your initiative within the Black Perspectives program?
Sure! My initiative is a 6 week program where I’m going to lead 5 creative from brief to campaign. I feel like there are lots of young creatives working and doing their own individual stuff but a lot of them might not have gotten the experience of actually working on a paid brief from a brand. Taking it from them sending you an email of what they want, and you taking it and making it into a big campaign. I want to take that process and share that with the individuals and I’ll give them all the tips I’ve learnt over my time doing it and give them insight! The work will be exhibited at instagram headquarters and it will be a great opportunity for the creatives I decide to choose.
This is amazing! So, your key chosen themes for your mentees are legacy and community - tell us what these two elements mean to you and how you believe they fit into todays modern Black Britain?
Let’s start with community. I feel like anyone doing something for themselves, compared to doing something it for the wider community… the impact is a lot more when your doing it with and for a community. I feel like everything I have done, community has always been an aspect to it. My dad passed away recently and upon his passing, like, it made me realise how much of a figure head he was in the community and bringing people together. So, that element is quite important to me.
The legacy part of it- when you are doing stuff for a community I feel like when your gone and the stuff you’ve done..people remember you for. And I think it’s important for us to do stuff that will have that impact or legacy after we are gone and after that moment is gone. I think the two go hand in hand.
In regards to how the two connect with Black Britain, I feel like any new business that is usually coming from our spaces (black community) has those elements in it. A lot of us are building things that we didn’t see and for people that we didn’t see in those spaces. Everyone is trying to do stuff that will stand the test of time and I think if everyone continues we will! There are so many people that are doing amazing things and that have created amazing things that even if they stopped today, people would remember the legacy so I think we are doing a good job with that.
We couldn’t agree more! With that being said, what are you looking forward to the most from you mentees?
Probably, their work and their work ethic! I’m most excited to see their work. And also them saying to me or sharing that they have learnt a lot and that they are going to be able to go and do more. So I think, maybe even the stuff they do after will be a good insight into how much they took from the project.
With everything you have achieved, GUAP has been extremely instrumental in the creative sphere as-well as culture! For those who may not know tell us about GUAP…
GUAP is a youth media-led platform that is dedicated to discovering, showcasing but also nurturing emerging creative talent. That naturist part is very important, so in everything we do, we make sure we are giving back to the community in some way or some form, because we feel like we need to pave the way for the next generation.
What was your first key defining moment since the birth of the platform that demonstrated how impactful the platform was becoming?
So, one of the key defining moments that made us realise we really had something was; we used to do an event called the GUAP Party. We would get a bunch of artistss who we feel like are going to blow and put them together one a line-up. So, we’ve had people like House of Pharaohs, we’ve had Sam White, we even gave Knucks his first ever performance! So many people have passed on that line up and the first one we done, was the first event we ever done and there was a big queue of people outside… people were trying their best to get in! Someone took a picture of the queue of outside and that was like oh wow yeah! This is sick! It was definitely like’ oh rahh, there is bare people’ (laughs).
It’s been extremely insightful going through both creative journeys and we are really looking forward to both initiatives unfolding. To end off, what would you say being a Black Brit means to you?
Henrie: “Being Black and British means an amalgamation of so many different Black cultures and Britain at the same time. I love it so much. A bit of Congolese, a bit of Jamaica, Trini, South African because of all the people you’ve grown up around all the while you’re actually Nigerian. That is intrinsically what it means to be Black British: you’re able to take on so many different cultures and create your own narrative”
Ibrahim: “I think being black is lit! As I said in my IG thing, I have never seen being black as a problem so like to me this is just what it is. There so many of us doing amazing things in different spaces. - Whenever I have been asked bout black history I always talk about now. Everyone is doing something where is like, this couldn’t have been here 10/20 years ago and I think a lot of the things people are doing people will talk about in 10,20 years from now - do you get me? - A lot of us will become legacy brands to this country. It’s exciting but the main thing is the work init, we’ve just got to carry on!”
For more information and to learn how to get involved in this leading intitiative, follow #BlackPerspectives on Instagram and the esteemed creators: @ibrahimkamara_, @tanyacompas, @henrieviii & @estaregrams.
