Suzi Analogue spoke with Kadallah Burrowes about using her label Never Normal to champion innovative Black creators.
Suzi Analogue is a loudspeaker for innovative Black creators. In this week's RA Exchange, the producer, singer, songwriter and founder of Never Normal Records speaks with trans-disciplinary artist, musician, creative technologist Kadallah Burrowes about championing art from across the African diaspora. This is the first of two Exchanges hosted by Burrowes, who, next week, will be exploring the term "Afrofuturism" in an audio documentary that forms part of our celebration of Black History Month in the US.
Suzi Analogue first experienced club and electronic music in her hometown of Baltimore. Starting out in her teens as a songwriter and producer, her engagement with creative platforms online led to her involvement in events and community radio while studying in Philadelphia.
It was when she moved to The Bronx in New York that Analogue first started to feel there wasn't space for young and innovative Black electronic artists to showcase their work. As she played shows abroad and across Europe, she felt encouraged to start a platform of her own, a space to build her own archive and celebrate fellow artists. In 2014, she launched her label Never Normal, a commitment to bolstering Black femme-identifying people to advocate for music, whether through running labels, parties or just shouting about the new music you love. Since its launch, the label has featured work from artists in Atlanta, Oakland, Chicago, Brooklyn, Miami and more. "They're originators in their cities," she explained. "Never Normal is a journey that's building over time."
In conversation with Burrowes, Analogue discussed the politics of Black futurism, travelling to Uganda as a US state department cultural diplomat and the importance of capturing and echoing ancestral messages through art and sound.
Tracklist:
Suzi Analogue - Slow [Never Normal]
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