Words by Kay Ferdinand
Content warning: racism
Welcome to Voices by Black Artist Database; a mixed media series of interviews with talented Black artists and music industry members, where we champion the voices of Black people within the global electronic music sphere.
For May’s edition, and the first under our new Black Artist Database moniker, we invite the inimitable Eddington Again to discuss their music, their come up, and recent events surrounding their Damani3 EP, with writer, speaker and B.A.D. team member Christine Kakaire.
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This conversation was recorded 2nd April 2021, and published on 19th May 2021.
The discussion with the artist, Eddington Again, touches upon their background in music and their most recent experiences working as an artist with international record labels. The views and opinions expressed by Eddington Again in this episode of Voices are those of the artist and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Black Artist Database.
In publishing this episode of Voices, we have had numerous internal conversations and taken initial consultations regarding our ethical and legal position. We have undertaken our own fact checking process in relation to the allegations made by Eddington Again, as previously reported by the BBC, DJ Mag, Mixmag and Pitchfork amongst others. Most importantly, we draw significant support from the shared experiences of our community, and we remain faithful to our goal of amplifying these voices and experiences.
Black Artist Database would like to issue the following clarification in regard to the interview above:
- Eddington states that there were no other Black artists on the R&S Records roster bar ‘Sporting Life’ at the time of their involvement with the label. Whilst, to our knowledge, R&S Records keeps no fixed roster, another Black artist in addition to ‘Sporting Life’ had released music with R&S Records up to 2019.
R&S Records Limited and Renaat Vandepapeliere were offered the opportunity to provide a statement on this interview by Black Artist Database. No such statement was received as of the publication of this piece, however Black Artist Database has been contacted by a legal team representing R&S Records Limited and Renaat Vandepapeliere.
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Many thanks to Usher Lavelle for his work on editing the podcasts (Twitter/IG: @usherlavelle), and Milo Craig for the jingle (IG: @milocraig).
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CORRECTION: 19/5/21 11:35 GMT – Black Artist Database previously asserted the following:
“We recognise that the new A&R scout hired by R&S Records was hired in late June 2020, where Raj Choudhuri’s employment with R&S Records was terminated on 29th September 2020, so it may not be the case that the new A&R scout was a replacement for Mr Choudhuri.“
Black Artist Database has since been informed that the new A&R scout referred to above was not hired late in June 2020, but was hired after that date, in November 2020.
UPDATE: 19/5/21 17:45 GMT – Renaat Vandepapeliere & R&S Records comment:
“Both R&S Records and Renaat Vandepapeliere vehemently deny the allegations made in
the recording. In particular, the suggestion that R&S Records only represents certain
demographic groups is demonstrably untrue. R&S Records and Renaat Vandepapeliere
have instructed legal representatives to take whatever steps are necessary to vindicate
themselves against the defamatory statements made during the recording”
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