SDS ENTERTAINMENT PRESENTS… “THE BOP”

A VIRTUAL MINI FESTIVAL SHOWCASING LONDON’S FINEST GRASSROOT TALENT

Setting Da Standards closes the year with their first, virtual live festival entitled ‘The Bop’. The 4 staged mini festival hosts 4 main headliners and 15 supporting acts; showcasing some of the best grassroot talent deriving from London. The free festival will take place on Friday 27th November 2020 and can be streamed live at 5pm on YouTube HERE

The Bop live was curated to utilise the very few spaces available in the centre of Croydon where musicians could express themselves in the form of live performances. Over the years an array of venues have been closed leaving these artists with limited access to creative spaces. The Bop Live has filled that quota in the form of this festival - the first of its kind in the borough of Croydon.

"Croydon is often looked down on and you rarely hear positive things associated with it. Being from Croydon I know different and that's what we at SDS are doing, changing that narrative. We've seen first hand a plethora of talented creatives from this borough who deserve local grassroot spaces to showcase their talents. The Bop Live was created to not only shine a light on some of these creatives and the borough but also to invite other creatives from other areas to see what we the Croydoners are offering" - Founder Makeda Bennett-Amparbeng speaks on the festival.

Each stage has been filmed at one of Croydon’s iconic venues portraying the ever vibrant live performance scene - Reggaemasters, The Front Room, Project B and Limitless VR. The 4 stages have also been curated by The Floor Magazine, Yes Gurl and of course SDS each conveying a particular theme; an all female line-up, Croydoners only stage, rappers only stage and an alternative RnB stage.

The Bop lineup featured below:-

Resident DJ Sáshi

Croydon Stage

Headliner

Still Shadey

Supporting Acts

Flintz

Deanna Chase

Shivon Kane

Yes Gurl Stage

Headliner

Asha Elia

Supporting Acts

Coco Mageeda

Sharia

Shanelle-Jae

Isha Davis

The Floor Mag Stage

Headliner

Mychelle

Supporting Acts

Solaariss

Emily Mutaako

Setting Da Bars Stage

Headliner

DXVL

Supporting Acts

Boy Nash

Le3 BLACK

SDS is a community arts company predominantly led by two young, black women determined to highlight the immense talent their hometown has to offer. Makeda and Jade have worked tirelessly to put on events throughout Croydon over the years which has seen some of the artists who have graced their stage, go on to booking major festivals and signing record deals. From monthly ‘hub nights’ to a fully fledged festival supported by The Arts Council England this is clearly an event with lots of promise and not one to be missed!

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ABOUT SDS

SDS Entertainment (Setting Da Standards) is a community arts company led solely by 2 young black females with links to the creative industry. Founded in 2018 by Makeda Bennett-Amparbeng who works at British Underground, responsible for taking the likes of Shakka, Knucks and many more to Atlanta to perform at the A3C Festival. Makeda is also a co-founder of BAFA UK (Black Association for the Arts), A network for black professionals in the creative & cultural industries to connect and form an unprecedented all-Black UK network. Other co-founders include: Cleveland Watkiss MBE, Jazzy B, Mykaell Riley and Shahlaa Tahira. SDS was also co-founded by Jade Reid who manages singer/songwriter Deanna Chase who has notably graced line ups alongside artists such as Yxng Bane, Ms Banks and K- Trap.

In just over a year SDS has been on BBC Radio 5, contributed to The Ends Festival, been awarded The National Lottery Project Grant funded by The Arts Council England and Cultural Partnership Fund by Croydon Council.

SDS began due to the integral role Makeda played in the abolishment of the ‘Form 696’ , a risk assessment document issued by the Metropolitan Police that discriminated against music associated with ethnic minorities, which in particular left Croydon’s art scene scarce. Through this process Makeda vowed to support young creatives in Croydon - especially the BME community (most affected by the form) to rehabilitate the art scene through live performances, workshops and exhibitions. Her perseverance formed ‘SDS Hub Nights’ at The Front Room in central Croydon, a monthly event at one of the only live music venues left in the borough. The aim of the hub night is to encourage grass-root talent within the borough to network and have a safe space to express themselves, whether it be through rapping, singing, poetry and comedy. Since the monthly hub night they have launched a new event entitled ‘Frith Road Sessions’ with an intimate/unplugged atmosphere. This takes place at the legendary Reggaemasters record shop, notorious for blazing reggae music in the heart of Croydon.

The core members consist of 5 females; Isha Davis – Creative Strategist/Host, Mica Reid – Social Media Assistant, Nicole Oteng-Agyei - Head of Communications and Relations and of course Founders Makeda and Jade. The sub members are: Tybert Mhlanga and Shaiheim Allen. Together, they have been able to facilitate successful monthly hub nights which have had performers such as OSH, Inkra Debelle, WKBreed and Ebi Pamere.

It doesn’t stop here for SDS as they have also launched an artist development programme, to guide and assist budding artists with the start to their creative journey.