EX.664 Black Minds Matter UK: Charisse C and Conducta

"If you feel like you're not progressing, the likelihood is that everyone else you're looking at is going through exactly the same thing." Conducta and Charisse C talk about isolation and mental health in this collaboration with Black Minds Matter UK. Resident Advisor is delighted to welcome back our quarterly collaboration with Black Minds Matter UK, a charity connecting Black individuals and families with free mental health services. In line with their mission to make topics around mental health more visible and accessible to the Black community, this recurring series dives deep into some of the issues that plague BIPOC artists specifically, not to mention people working within the creative industries more generally. In this episode, Vanessa Maria hosts engaging conversations with two London-based artists: Charisse C, a DJ and resident on NTS Radio who derives much of her musical inspiration from her Zimbabwean and South African heritage, and Conducta, a UKG tastemaker and the founder and A&R of Kiwi Rekords. The duo share their thoughts on themes around loneliness—the alienation of social media, the risk of burnout on the road and the self-doubt that accompanies any kind of achievement. But they also share inspiring ways to encourage transparency and a real dialogue around hard work and happiness in the dance music scene that isn't mitigated by social media and outward appearances of success. "Everything that people think has happened overnight in the last two or so years, that's all been a process and a journey of hard work," says Conducta. "I think one thing that will benefit young people coming up in the music industry is understanding that if you feel like you're hitting a stalemate, the likelihood is that everyone else you're looking at is going through exactly the same thing, feeling exactly the same thing." Listen to the episode in full.