← The Breakfast Club
The Breakfast Club
INTERVIEW: Abdul Karim Abdullah On The Evolution Of 'AfroFuture' Festival, Black Innovation, Community + More
00:27:00
Loading summary
Transcript132 lines
- [00:00]
Charlamagne Tha God
This is an iHeart podcast.
- [00:04]
DJ Envy
Okay? Have you heard about this? Last year, the Greene changed the formula for their Cool Rush deodorant. Their fans rebelled and wanted the old scent back. And degree Listen. That doesn't happen often. They admitted they effed up and are bringing the original Cool Rush scent back now. It's exactly how you remember it. Cool, crisp and fresh. It's the reason it's the number one men's antiperspirant. And it's back in Walmart, Target and other stores now for under $4. So try it and see what the fuss is about. Head to your local Walmart or Target to try the OG degree Cool Rush for yourself.
- [00:36]
Carlos Miller
Taking control of your career is empowering. Just don't tell my boss I said that. Just kidding. I am the boss. This is Carlos Miller from the 85 South Show. And building a career isn't just about a job. It's about creating a path that impacts our community and future generations. Whether you're starting out or even making big moves, Stop. State Farm is here to support you with resources to help protect what you're working hard to achieve. They've got your back every step of the way. Because like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. Find out more@statefarm.com Wake that ass up.
- [01:10]
Just Hilarious
Early in the morning.
- [01:11]
Carlos Miller
The Breakfast Club.
- [01:12]
DJ Envy
Morning, everybody. It's DJ Envy. Just hilarious. Charlemagne the guy. We are the Breakfast Club. Lon Laros is here as well. We got a special guest in the building.
- [01:20]
Just Hilarious
Yes, sir.
- [01:21]
DJ Envy
The founder and CEO of Afro Future, Abdul Abdullah. Welcome, brother.
- [01:25]
Abdul Abdullah
Pleasure to be here with y'. All.
- [01:26]
DJ Envy
How you feeling?
- [01:27]
Abdul Abdullah
I feel real good and thankful to God, man.
- [01:29]
Just Hilarious
Tell people what that. What Afro Future is for us.
- [01:31]
Abdul Abdullah
Yeah. Afro Future is a cultural immersion platform that we created in Ghana to celebrate African culture and also to just break it down to people in a way that's direct. We celebrate food, fashion, art, and obviously music as well. In my opinion and our team opinion, we feel like equal parts of all of this gives you a clear understanding of what it's like to visit the continent. And that's what we've been doing for the past eight years, inviting people back to Ghana. And for the first time ever, we're showing up in Detroit, so. Oh, wow.
- [02:01]
Just Hilarious
I was at the last afrocello.
- [02:04]
Abdul Abdullah
Yes, you was. Yeah. You was at the last one.
- [02:06]
Just Hilarious
Yep. And, y', all, that's when y' all announced it was gonna be Afro Future the next year.
- [02:09]
Abdul Abdullah
That's correct. It was an opportunity for us to really kind of grow beyond what we've been. I mean, right now we know that 1 in 10 people by 2050 is gonna be African. Africa is the youngest continent. There's just a lot of opportunity. And there's been so much misinformation about Africa for so long. I grew up here. I'm like, at my house, I'm the American kid, but when I went out to school, I was the African kid. So the best way I could do is just kind of bring the world together. And that's what we've been trying to do with this festival.
- [02:35]
Just Hilarious
Why did y' all change the name from Afrocelli to Afrofuture?
- [02:38]
Abdul Abdullah
I mean, I think that obviously there was a lot of issues that we had.
- [02:43]
Just Hilarious
They sued you? Like, they sued everybody.
- [02:45]
Abdul Abdullah
But I mean. I mean, beyond that, it was just an opportunity for us to, like, kind of grow beyond where we were. This gives us an opportunity to let people know that there's a lot happening on the continent, and you should be a part of that, right? As far as creativity, entertainment, as far as business, you know, there's so much happening on the continent that everyone should be a part of. And Afrofuture kind of speaks to that journey.
- [03:06]
DJ Envy
Well, people don't come for the name, they come for the event.
- [03:07]
Abdul Abdullah
That's exactly what it is. And the experience that we've been creating, you know, we've done that without any corporate partners. So that's just like a team of people who was really invested in seeing the entertainment business of the continent grow. For us to create opportunities for people on the ground to change the economy in our own country, but also just to kind of showcase some of these talents, Right? When we started in 2017, they weren't playing any Afrobeats music on the radio. Ten years later, you can't go to a party, you can't go to a spot in New York without it. And, you know, for us, one of the best accomplishments is, like, a lot of people were able to visit the continent because of our experience. They started in Ghana, but they've grown since to South Africa, to Nigeria. And Ghana was just at that entryway.
- [03:49]
Just Hilarious
That's crazy.
- [03:50]
Lon Laros
I'm sorry, why Detroit for the first stop in the US Why not New York?
- [03:54]
Abdul Abdullah
I mean, New York. I feel like I'm from New York. Everyone that needs to know about what we're doing on the continent is aware. This is like a cultural melting pot. We have a restaurant here. People know what's going on in this side of the city. But one of the things that we've learned is that there's an opportunity. Detroit being one of the most creative places, also one of the blackest cities in America. And we could build that bridge between Detroit and the continent. Like, there's no saying where things can go, and that's the opportunity there. And then also we have an amazing partner in Bedrock that's. That's promoting opportunities and business in the city. So we're looking at it as an opportunity to kind of grow our audience and not just kind of speak to the same people.
- [04:31]
Just Hilarious
That's crazy to think that y' all don't have no sponsorships.
- [04:34]
Abdul Abdullah
No, we have sponsorships. When you were there a few years, we had some sponsorships. What we don't have is a corporate sponsor, so we never had like a Live Nation or any of those brands behind us. We literally built this from the mud. And as far as sponsorships, we've had some of the first ever. So when, when Meta wanted to first come to the continent, they showed up to our. To our festival. We're able to work with them. When you two wanted to announce shorts, we were able to like build a playground in our field, audiomac. We brought the CEO of Audio Mac to Ghana. We ran this program called the Rising Star Program. And now audiomac is now the number one downloader app in West Africa, you know, so we were able to be that conduit for a lot of brands that want to come to Continent, and we've been doing business like that since.
- [05:18]
Charlamagne Tha God
But those aren't considered corporate sponsors, even though they're.
- [05:21]
Abdul Abdullah
They are corporate sponsors, but they don't. You can't build an event with corporate sponsors because you're probably not going to get the money till after the event is over. But like, if you have like a festival partner, we're still an independent festival in that we. We eat what we kill, basically.
- [05:35]
DJ Envy
So you started off with. With 4,000 attendees. Did you expect it to be this big as a concert series? Or was it one of those things where it was more like a. A smaller, well, one.
- [05:45]
Abdul Abdullah
I just wanted a place for us to connect. There were so many people in the diaspora that were doing amazing things, whether it was in London or is in America, but we just could never connect. We just came to Deddy December and we just partied and went away. So with the festival, it gives us an opportunity to really kind of showcase what the amazing people on the continent are doing, but also like how we can help and how we can add the sauce to it as well. But I did think we were going to be big. I didn't Think we were going to be big as fast. So we started in 2017. Year one, we did 4,000 people. Year two, we did 12,000. And then year three was a year of return. So it kind of forced us to scale faster than we were ready to.
- [06:23]
Just Hilarious
And then I think the rise of Afrobeats, because the year I was there, y' all had Burna Boy headlines.
- [06:27]
Abdul Abdullah
Yeah, that was. That was two years in the making. Yeah, we've had almost. We've had all of them perform for us. So we've had Wizkid, we've had Davido, we've had Ashake, We've even had Rema for, like, one of our side events that we did. You know, we did a fashion out experience with IG Instagram, and we had Rema there performing. So we've pretty much been the launching path for a lot of people. Uncle Waffles, probably one of the biggest DJs right now. We were one of the first people to fly out of the southern Africa to Ghana, put on the billboard, she performed at our show. We've done that for a lot of artists. I mean, a lot of my piano artists. Through the pandemic we broke in Ghana.
- [07:03]
Lon Laros
4000 is still a lot for the first festival ever. So that's amazing. To go from 4000 to 41,000 is. I mean. 4000. Yeah. 4000 to 41,000 is amazing. But for the first time, 4000 is still a lot.
- [07:16]
Abdul Abdullah
Yeah, we actually shut it down.
- [07:19]
Just Hilarious
Yeah, the first.
- [07:19]
Lon Laros
The first year.
- [07:20]
Abdul Abdullah
Yeah. We were afraid that it was like, people were not going to be able to have as much fun or we weren't going to be able to control it. So we wanted to be able to still make sure people had a good time. So we actually shut it down when it got to a certain limit. We wanted to make sure we had that good premium experience.
- [07:33]
Lon Laros
Did you have any problems that.
- [07:35]
Abdul Abdullah
No, no. That first year was just. It was. It was a learning experience. It was accomplishment. I remember, like, you know, being very happy that we was able to kind of see our vision through, but we didn't really have that many experience issues that first year at all.
- [07:49]
DJ Envy
I was gonna ask, what's the hardest thing you face doing these shows? Was it sponsorships? Is it people? Is it.
- [07:53]
Abdul Abdullah
I think there's a combination of all of that. You know, our first time was just really just kind of understanding the business. We had no idea how to throw a festival. We knew how to do parties, but we didn't know how to do festivals. The second year was just More about scale. Right. Just understanding like logistics and how to deal with people moving from like what was a polo, a polo field to a stadium. The third year was just kind of scaling where our company wasn't just ready to kind of get all of those people coming in for the year return. But also Ghana's tourism wasn't quite ready for the amount of people that came into that year of return. So yeah, there's a combination of money, there's a combination of just kind of learning opportunity, capacity building in the space. Equipment is one of the things that we don't necessarily have much of in the continent. So the expense is high and now we're dealing with cost of talent. Right. So like all of those things are different at different points. There was a, there was this different heart thing.
- [08:49]
Just Hilarious
I don't even like going outside but I remember when I first went to Ghana, everybody was like, yo, Ghana's nightlife is incredible. And I remember thinking Ghana's nightlife. And me and my wife and our team was outside every night.
- [09:01]
Abdul Abdullah
Yeah, very important. Like we, they do like people on the continent know how to have a good time. And in December everybody's off. Right. It's like a vacation for everybody. So the reality is you can go out every night.
- [09:13]
Just Hilarious
The restaurants, the clubs. He was in Silver Fox.
- [09:15]
Abdul Abdullah
Yeah, you can have a vibe from morning to morning, like, you know what I mean? And, and people do it and I love that for people. And depending on the type of experience you want to have, you can have that party track, you can have the tourist track, you can have the rest of track. It's really your choice.
- [09:29]
Just Hilarious
Now I will say the only thing I will say about Ghana is the service.
- [09:32]
Abdul Abdullah
Yeah, yeah.
- [09:32]
Just Hilarious
Restaurants you will wait for a long time.
- [09:34]
Abdul Abdullah
But that's an opportunity. I mean we see it as an opportunity because you got to think about a capacity building. Right. Ghana is very young to tourism. Whereas like a lot of Caribbean countries have been getting tourists for hundreds of years. Ghana's only been free since 1957. So. And then the tourism sector really just started, I would say a boom after the year of return. So we're still learning how to do that. So there's an opportunity. So people want to start a service based business. I mean I'm inviting you to Donna to do you that.
- [10:03]
Just Hilarious
I, I was saying to myself, I want to go to Ghana outside of December, which I'm, which I'm going to do.
- [10:10]
Abdul Abdullah
But absolutely.
- [10:10]
Just Hilarious
Because I wanted like how was it throughout the rest of the year?
- [10:13]
Abdul Abdullah
No, you could have what you see In December is not foreign to people. People do this weekly in Ghana if they want to. Like, you know, what we see in December, I know a lot of people is a surprise to them, but this is. Some people do this weekly if they want to, but, like, you can have a great time in, you know, during Easter, you can have a great time in the summertime is just not as packed with foreigners. Right. But the experience is still the same. You can still have fun at the restaurants, the clubs are still packed. People are still having a good time. And, you know, we just had a change in government this year in Ghana as well. So, like, you know, the economy is coming back to where it's supposed to be. And I think people are getting more. There's more consumer confidence, how people reach out to you.
- [10:52]
DJ Envy
Because we had the CEO and chairman of Ritual Festival.
- [10:57]
Abdul Abdullah
Yeah.
- [10:57]
DJ Envy
And I was like, that would be dope to do like a Friday night Afro Future at essence.
- [11:02]
Just Hilarious
You really want to piss people off now?
- [11:04]
Abdul Abdullah
No, I mean, I'm already upset.
- [11:05]
Just Hilarious
I don't understand the conversation. But people are mad about the whole Africans. You know, it's a whole Africans versus Black American argument. And, you know, Black Americans have been complaining that African culture is different than black culture, and they felt like ESSENCE was trying to force it on people.
- [11:19]
Abdul Abdullah
Yeah. I mean, I think at the core of it is all about misunderstanding. And we just really are not speaking to each other. We're speaking past each other. And the reason why our festival exists is really to just kind of demystify it, really make you understand if you're African American and you've been to the continent, you know that people love you. Right. Because this all. They consume your content, the music, the art, everything. And then I'm also a child that's like, was born here in America. So part of my life is an African American lifestyle. I went to high school here, I went to college here. So I think really, it's just kind of making sure we understand and respect each other at its core. On the continent, if you grow up there, all you see is black people versus where you grew up. Here in America, you go to college, you go to. You go to work. There's these microaggressions and things that you don't. That you have to face is a very different understanding for everyone. Right. So on, you know, think about hierarchy of needs. On the continent, the need is just, we need. We need to eat. So it doesn't matter if I'm dealing with a little bit of racism, because at the end of the Day, I gotta eat. Whereas here, I need to survive. I need to live. So that racism, that. That's oppressive. That. That. That. That, you know, that takes away from my joy. You know what I mean? And I think that just really respecting everyone's perspective on their need at that point is really what I think needs to happen. But I also think that we just need to learn about each other a little bit more, and we can find those synergies.
- [12:41]
Lon Laros
Well, speaking of. Speaking of eating jollof rice or jambalaya, so we.
- [12:47]
Abdul Abdullah
So we actually did that event. My boys and I did that event. Right. I don't think that they should be mad at us. I think that it's really just understanding why we did it. Right. So jambalaya is a version of what jollof would be or, like, a rendition of it. So I don't know if anybody here has seen High on the Hog, but talking about food origins, really, we were just trying to connect people. Our goal is not to make it a competition, and we didn't compete against the rice. It really just kind of like, let you know, if you're African, this is an opportunity for you to learn about jambalaya. If. If you're American, this is your opportunity to taste some jollof rice. And. And that was just a way of us trying to connect the culture and connect people through basketball, sport that people love, and then also through food and just kind of build that connection. I think we could probably could have did a better storytelling opportunity of just kind of the connectivity between jambalaya and jollof. And I think that's great feedback. But I don't think of it as a way for us to erase anybody's culture or, like, you know, Africanize anybody's culture. Our goal is to be respectful. We should be respectful. And I think that that's the. That's the goal that I'm learning.
- [13:53]
Lon Laros
Absolutely. If you show up and you hungry, I want both. I don't give a damn where to come from. I want both.
- [13:58]
Just Hilarious
Yeah, my guy, Chef BJ Benjamin Dennis, He. He was on High on the Hog. And, you know, he's from Charleston, South Carolina.
- [14:04]
Abdul Abdullah
Exactly.
- [14:05]
Just Hilarious
So if you're from Charleston, South Carolina, where I'm from, I'm 97 West African. So it's like, a lot of the things that we eat and stuff are. Are rooted in West African culture.
- [14:13]
Abdul Abdullah
Yeah, that's some of the things that we want to do. We want to tell more stories about food and the origins. Because if you look at a lot of food that people are eating here in America, across the Caribbean and across the continent. There's so many similarities, but there's barely any places that you can go and find that if you were born here in America. Like, for instance, we know about. I know about Jay Z's history from the beginning to the end. And like, I follow all of his albums, and I know the next story is going to come on the next one. We don't necessarily have that about our Afrobeats artists. I think there's an opportunity for us to tell those stories, and that happens for all categories. The same thing in art, same thing in fashion, same thing in food. We need to tell those stories. And that's why I applied platform exists to be able to tell those stories and, and. And buy into that. Like, we all loved Black Panther when it came out, although it's not real. We all loved Woman King when it came out. But we need more shows, more movies like that, because if somebody's sitting here in America and all they've been taught is that Africa is full of poverty. And as an African, I know a lot of young Africans that didn't want to associate with that either, so it kind of makes sense. But now if we can tell you, with the Internet penetrating at 40 to 50 in Africa right now, Africans are able to tell you in real life who they are and what they do and the type of lifestyles that they live, and vice versa.
- [15:25]
Just Hilarious
Man, I. I've made it my business to take my family to somewhere on the continent at least once a year. Yeah, so I've been to Johannesburg. I've been to Zanzibar in Tanzania. I've been to Ghana. I'm going to Cape Town this year.
- [15:38]
Abdul Abdullah
Amazing.
- [15:39]
Just Hilarious
When you see these places you like. Wow. Yeah, I say it all the time. They lied. Peace to the planet. Charlamagne Tha God here. Look, we all make mistakes, but owning up to them is the right thing to do. You know Degree Cool Rush deodorant. Well, last year they changed the formula, and it did not go over well with their fans. Degree's whole thing is it turns up the sweat and odor protection when you turn up the effort. And good thing it does, because Cool Rush fans really turned up the effort to bring back the original formula. One guy even started an online petition. And Degree, listen, they admitted they effed up and are bringing the original Cool Rush scent back. And it's exactly how you remember it. Cool Rush, crisp and fresh. It's back in Walmart, Target, and other stores now for under $4. There's a reason why it's been the number one men's anti pushment for the last decade. It's the same reason why people were not happy when it changed. So if you never tried it, it might be a good time to see what the fuss is about. Head to your local Walmart or Target to try the OG degree. Cool rush for yourself.
- [16:32]
Carlos Miller
Hey fam. This is Carlos Miller from the 85 South Show. If you're like me, you're always thinking about how to level up your career. Maybe you're fresh out of college, just starting in your field, or even looking to switch things up and find your true calling. Whatever stage you're in, remember that this is your time to grow, to learn, and to build something that lasts. State Farm understands that early career development is key to long term success. They've been a steady presence in our community and they know having the right support early can make all the difference. State Farm is there to help you make smart moves and to help you get the coverage you need. We all know that the journey to success is a marathon, not a sprint. It's all about staying focused, staying grounded, and making sure you're protected every step of the way. Let's build our careers with confidence, knowing that State Farm is there to support us, just like they've always been. Because like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. Find out more@state farm.com us about the opportunity.
- [17:27]
Abdul Abdullah
Yeah, and just beyond that, like I was on Kamala's, the group that went to the continent when she went to Africa. And for me, it's very important for everybody to. If the whole world is fighting for a piece of Africa, why aren't you looking at that as an opportunity for yourself? And our festival is a way to introduce it, right? You know, something that you're familiar with. Come to the continent, experience the food, experience art, experience fashion, experience the music in real time with the people on the ground, smell and feel the place. And then, you know, use that as an opportunity the next time you come to see how you can help, how you can work with somebody that to make something really dope happen. That's our goal.
- [18:04]
Charlamagne Tha God
You said that tourism is new for you guys. So when people experience all of that, what is the one thing at the end of the day that you feel like people still miss? That you're like, man, I'm. I wish I would have gotten this though.
- [18:14]
Abdul Abdullah
I mean, one of the things that I mentioned earlier is that, you know, we're a small business still, although we've gotten all of this press and These bylines. And a lot of people from America have come to our festival. 40%. There are still growing pains that we're going through to build infrastructure. We need to build infrastructure around touring. You see, most, most African artists, they're not touring around the continent. The cost is too high. We need to build infrastructure just around education. You know, year of return taught me that. We booked Ari Lennox and she came to Ghana and she was so happy about her experience, but she, she received comments that didn't really make her happy. And, and that's because there's so much learning that we have to do and unlearning that we have to do as well. So it's just kind of those kind of things that we need to be better. We have to be better at service. Like, like you mentioned, I think that all of those things have changed. So if you've been to Ghana in 2019, if you go today, those things have drastically improved. You probably won't recognize it from the last time you went. And those are the learnings that are happening on the continent. And I think in the next couple of years you're going to see a lot more happening. The continent is just getting younger and people are getting wiser and the Internet is penetrating at a very high cliff.
- [19:23]
Just Hilarious
You know, Bill Gates said that he wanted to give 99% of his $200 billion fortune to health care and education in Africa. Where would you tell him specifically you need to put them?
- [19:34]
Abdul Abdullah
I mean, I would say, like, you know, healthcare is a great opportunity. You know, research is one of the major platforms that we're. That we, that we do right here in America. I think there's an opportunity on the continent for us to kind of invest in research. I would say agriculture is a very big component. A lot of people outside of South Africa are really importing their. So it makes the cost of food higher. If we can invest in that infrastructure of agriculture and agritech, I think there's an opportunity. Entertainment has been one consistent way that people are making money on the continent right now. A lot of the skit makers, a lot of the artists, a lot of the content creators, you know, we all saw the rise of Elsa Majimbo, we all see the rise of Kaby Lame. I think there's opportunity there. You know, this year, for the past two years, our Business Culture Management Group has been running entertainment for the basketball Africa League. And we do halftime shows, we do all of their influencer management and booking their DJs and things of that nature. There's an opportunity for entertainment on a grand scale. In 2028, we hear F1 is coming to the continent. Like, there's so much happening that I just think people need to tap in. So, you know, I encourage people to get in groups. You know, let's buy property, let's build infrastructure, let's start a cotton farm. Let's start, you know, you know, a manufacturing company. There's so many things you can do on the continent to create jobs, but also to. To give back and to. To be self sustaining.
- [21:01]
Just Hilarious
I definitely invested in some property out there. I want. I want to invest in some more. I feel like the basketball African league is dropping the ball with the merchandise, though.
- [21:08]
Abdul Abdullah
I mean, I feel like you would.
- [21:09]
Just Hilarious
I would want to wear a Ghana jersey, South Africa jersey, You know, I.
- [21:13]
Abdul Abdullah
Mean, they're getting there. I mean, I would say that this is a. It's a growing league. There's just opportunity for them to. To be able to do more. They've only been around. This is the fifth season that we just came out of. So I think that they're gonna do a lot more. You're gonna see a lot more dope merch, you know, dope games. If you come to the games, like, you know, it's, it's. You won't miss anything from the NBA because we have all of the entertainment pieces in that experience. So the, the continent is growing and, and people can be a part of this growth. So think about, you know, if you had an opportunity to be a part of the Harlem renaissance, like, what, like what would that mean for you today? And that renaissance is happening right now. You know, our art is selling at a high clip. The artists are selling out stadiums. You know, the fashion. You know, everyone on the Met gala was playing an African, for the most part, oswald blocking and all of these people. I think it's time for. For more black people to get involved and be a part of this growth.
- [22:09]
Charlamagne Tha God
How do you think what Donald Trump is doing with, like, the visas, like, how that will affect tourism and people just being able to come in and out and. Yeah, even you for what you do with your festival.
- [22:18]
Abdul Abdullah
Yeah, I mean, we don't. We tend not to do well when he's in office. But I would say that, you know, one of the things that I would say is that he's been helpful in people just kind of discovering themselves and who they are and what they can do. And I would say for the continent, I do see that as a value for that pride to be reinstilled in it. You see government speaking Back. You see people pushing back and really wanting to build their own. And I just love. I don't love the divisiveness that comes with it, but I do love the opportunity that people are seeing and just kind of looking into themselves and the opportunity there. It is definitely affecting us as far as tourism. People are not able to fly as easily. People are afraid and things of that nature. But, you know, the goal is for us to continue to send those positive messages that continue to build our community. And the hope is that people find that comfort within the community that we're building.
- [23:14]
Charlamagne Tha God
That's why what happened with Ari Lennox was so sad because I felt like it was like a moment of self discovery for her and people thought she was like. I don't know if they thought she was trolling or what, but it was like they. They bashed. Like they bashed her for feeling like I belong.
- [23:25]
Abdul Abdullah
Yeah, but that's. You know, that's Internet, right? People say that's Internet culture. I don't necessarily know that that's the experience that everyone that was in there in real time felt, but I do see that there's an opportunity for us to do a lot of learning and unlearning. And what I mean by. What I meant by saying that everyone on the continent grows up seeing all black people. They don't see themselves as a other. Whereas here we. You know, I grew up here, I went to school here, I worked here. I can understand what you mean when you feel like an other. Right. And so to somebody who is, like, starving or they're getting maybe less than $1,000 a month for their salary for them to take care of their families, they see you as a wealthy person. They don't see that you have a lot of troubles. And that's still a level of ignorance that we need to overcome. Right. So that's all about learning, all about having empathy, all about just really just kind of unlearning a lot of things that have been taught to us that keeps us divided.
- [24:21]
Just Hilarious
If you black and you've been to any place in Africa, for the most part, especially Ghana, you know exactly what Ari Lennox meant.
- [24:28]
Abdul Abdullah
Yeah.
- [24:28]
Just Hilarious
Like my. My. My daughters were probably 3 and 5. They were young, 7 and 5, and we went to 7 and 4, something like that. They. They noticed.
- [24:38]
Abdul Abdullah
Yeah.
- [24:39]
Charlamagne Tha God
What were they saying?
- [24:40]
Just Hilarious
They were like, where are white people at? Literally, like, it was like, damn, there's so many black. Like, they. They. It's on the billboard, it's on the tv.
- [24:46]
Abdul Abdullah
You see everywhere.
- [24:47]
Just Hilarious
You see?
- [24:47]
Abdul Abdullah
Well, yeah, and I Think that's the beauty. For me, for the first four years, I didn't really get a chance to see the festival. So the only way I could live it is through how people told me it made them feel and how I saw their life had changed when they came back to the US So it was beautiful to see people who had no ties to the continent, had no family there, come back and feel home, feel welcomed, feel comfortable. I saw people walking the street. I see people in restaurants, just literally having a whole good time, safe and sound and. And wanted to go back. You know, we started with 4,000, but, like, we've had that people have always come back with. With two or three more people. So that's how we were able to grow from 4. 4,000 to 41,000 over those years.
- [25:32]
Just Hilarious
I think what y' all doing is amazing, man. I really do.
- [25:35]
DJ Envy
And when is the show in Detroit?
- [25:36]
Abdul Abdullah
Detroit is August 16th and 17th. We have a lot of cool things planned in Detroit. So you put hip hop on there a little bit. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We gotta have. We gotta have all. Yeah, we gotta have a little bit of culture all over there, right? So there's a little hip hop, there's a little dance music, There's a little on my piano, and then Afrobeats. Our goal is to. To really introduce Afrobeats to people who have not really had an immersive experience, and also just to kind of give people some things that they're familiar with. But for us, our approach is really community. So we're partnering with groups like Black Tech Saturdays. We're Venture 313. We're doing a pitch competition to give back to the community. We're talking to some of the business leaders, you know, and bringing them into our community. We're running like a bar business crawl just to kind of make sure when people come to Detroit, they know what businesses to support and how to support them. So we're doing a lot of things. We partner with Pennsylvania Lewis College, one of the ones I'm very excited about. Pennsylvis College is a historical black college in Detroit that is focused on design. So they do design and footwear and apparel and. And also furniture. And we. We collab with them to design merch for the festival and giving students an opportunity to make some money. So really excited about that.
- [26:46]
DJ Envy
That's dope.
- [26:46]
Just Hilarious
And y' all got. Yeah, you got.
- [26:48]
Abdul Abdullah
I got some merchants on the jersey.
- [26:52]
Just Hilarious
And you got Davido and Asake.
- [26:55]
Abdul Abdullah
I got Davido Ashakay headlining. We have Kitchen.
- [27:06]
Lon Laros
Oh, Litmilla.
- [27:06]
Just Hilarious
Okay.
- [27:07]
Abdul Abdullah
From Brazil. So there's a little bit of, you know, there's a little bit of, you know, vibes for everyone.
- [27:12]
Just Hilarious
You designed these for the Bronx?
- [27:14]
Abdul Abdullah
Yes. Yeah. So the Bronx. We call the Bronx Little Accra. Yeah, we have. We call the Bronx Little Accra. And, you know, you can see a large Ghanaian population in the Bronx. My family is from there. We own a restaurant there called Accra Restaurant. Been here for 38 years. Okay. And, you know, the shoe is really just kind of an ode to that culture. Talking about the color patterns, the, you know, the embroidery. We wanted to have something where you can dress up and dress down at the same time. There's some Adinkra symbols on there that just kind of speaks to community. And, you know, one of the things that we like to say about the shoe is just kind of we're separated by thousands of miles. We're united by culture. And although, you know, there's all this divisiveness, we know that when you see somebody doing something, you know, that's culture, you could give it the head nod. And pretty much that's what we're trying to do with the shoe.
- [28:05]
Just Hilarious
What size is this? That's a 12.
- [28:06]
Abdul Abdullah
That's a 12.
- [28:07]
Just Hilarious
UK.
- [28:09]
Abdul Abdullah
It's a regular 12.
- [28:10]
Just Hilarious
Is it 12?
- [28:10]
Abdul Abdullah
It says 10.
- [28:11]
Charlamagne Tha God
What size is yours?
- [28:12]
Just Hilarious
No.
- [28:13]
Abdul Abdullah
Ah, okay.
- [28:14]
Just Hilarious
That's why I ask questions.
- [28:15]
Abdul Abdullah
Absolutely.
- [28:16]
Charlamagne Tha God
Yeah. I need a knock.
- [28:17]
Lon Laros
That's because he always wearing slides water shoes.
- [28:20]
Abdul Abdullah
Yes, please go to Detroit, afrofuture.com. you'll find all the information you need. We got hotels up there. We got a discount with Delta up there for you. And, you know, we got the hotels. People can come out and have a great time and definitely look, look to your flights for Ghana in December. We're gonna have a very dirty one.
- [28:38]
Just Hilarious
So is Detroit gonna be the city.
- [28:39]
Abdul Abdullah
Whole city, every year right now? Yes. Yes, we are. We're doing Detroit. We have a great partnership there. We love the community there. They're very, you know, their creativity and their welcoming attitude reminds me of what we. What we were building when we started in Ghana. So we're very excited about that. But we do have smaller other activations around the US that we're looking to bring up. Houston be another big one.
- [28:59]
Just Hilarious
I want to do it in Charleston, South Carolina.
- [29:00]
Abdul Abdullah
Yeah. Invite us. We'll definitely love to do a dinner out there. Love to do some experiences out there. We're working with arts artists, people who, you know, painters. We're working with fashion designers. We have some cool one. This is a young designer called Ijabing. We just brought him to synagogue, so we want to. We want to continue to, you know, celebrate, you know, the culture and bring people together.
- [29:20]
Just Hilarious
That's why all my. My ancestry is Senegal, Sierra Leone and Guinea Basa, that whole Mali region.
- [29:25]
Abdul Abdullah
Yeah, that's a beautiful. Senegal is very beautiful. Like, the beach is a beach town. I encourage everyone to just visit, like, just go and experience it. And I'm sure that you. You will love it and you'll see the vibe that we're talking about.
- [29:36]
DJ Envy
All right, well, there you have it. The founder and CEO of Afro Future, Abdul Abdullah. It's the Breakfast Club. Good morning.
- [29:42]
Carlos Miller
Wake that ass up early in the morning. The Breakfast Club.
- [29:50]
DJ Envy
Okay. Have you heard about this? Last year, the Green changed the formula for their Cool Rush deodorant. Their fans rebelled and wanted the old scent back. And ° listen, that doesn't happen often. They admitted they effed up and are bringing the original Cool Rush scent back now. It's exactly how you remember it. Cool, crisp, and fresh. It's the reason it's the one men's antiperspirant. And it's back in Walmart, Target, and other stores now for under $4. So try it and see what the fuss is about. Head to your local Walmart or Target to try the OG degree Cool Rush for yourself.
- [30:21]
Carlos Miller
Taking control of your career is empowering. Just don't tell my boss I said that. Just kidding. I am the boss. This is Carlos Miller from the 85 South Show. And building a career isn't just about a job. It's about creating a path that impacts our community and future generations. Whether you're starting out or even making big moves, State Farm is here to support you with resources to help protect what you're working hard to achieve. They've got your back every step of the way. Because like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. Find out more@state farm.com this is an iHeart podcast.