Big Dada has relaunched its label.
UK imprint Big Dada has relaunched as a “label run by Black, POC & Minority Ethnic Ninja Tune staff members for Black, POC & Minority Ethnic artists”. The influential indie label, which is distributed by Ninja Tune, also unveiled a new website, refreshed logo and shared a mission statement from the Big Dada team. New music is also on the way.
The statement from the Big Dada team reads: “Working to amplify Black and racialised artists voices, Big Dada looks to shift the narrative around this music, bypassing stereotypes to allow and encourage freedom to express oneself for who they are and want to be. Big Dada has a long history and heritage which will be built upon whilst deepening its cultural identity by supporting and offering resources to a new generation of artists.” [sic]
The new Big Dada website will include a resource section where users can find industry tips, legal advice, mental health resources for Black and POC artists and more. There’ll also be think pieces and long read features “exploring various music scenes and movements, rewiring the label as a platform for minority communities”. Furthermore, there’s new sustainable label merch.
“We’re excited to reveal this project to the world after working on it in the background for the past few months. We’re grateful to have been given this opportunity in response to the largest global Civil Rights movement that is BLM, and in the middle of a pandemic,” Big Dada label managers Alex Ives and Victoria Cappelletti told Crack.
“We feel that creating opportunities for Black & POC members of the wider Ninja Tune staff to learn & grow, whilst simultaneously being placed in key decision-making positions, creates genuine upward mobility within the label. It serves to address the need to ensure there are new generations of experienced industry executives being trained across all ethnic minority backgrounds, which studies show are greatly under represented at the upper echelons of the UK music industry.”
“On the other side, we are also looking forward to actively step into our mission and champion underground and independent Black, POC and Minority Ethnic artists, to create a home for them where there is no danger of feeling like a token or part of a quota being filled. They are the majority, the whole!”
Big Dada was founded in 1997 by Will Ashon, who left the label in 2014. Over the course of 24 years, it’s released projects from the likes of Run the Jewels, Roots Manuva, Young Fathers and more.
Take a look at the new website here.