Meet the company supporting Croydon's rising talent: SDS Entertainment
Croydon has long been a cradle of remarkable talent, with artists like Stormzy, Jords, Nadia Rose, Loyle Carner, Michael Dapaah and Rachael Chinouriri leading the charge. Now, meet SDS Entertainment, a brand dedicated to nurturing creative minds from this vibrant area.
Based in Croydon, SDS Entertainment is a community arts company that supports and uplifts local, emerging artists. Funded by The Arts Council’s National Lottery Project and Croydon's Cultural Partnership Fund, the company was founded in the wake of Makeda Bennett-Amparbeng's involvement in the 2017 campaign to abolish Form 696—a controversial, racially biased risk assessment that had a devastating impact on Croydon’s art scene.
SDS Entertainment's newly launched website (June 1st 2020) is a treasure trove of resources, featuring interviews with rising stars like Jords and Marc Jones, live sessions, and educational content on the business, funding, and financial aspects of the music industry. Check it out here.
Founded by Makeda and Jade Reid in 2018, the crux of SDS Entertainment’s work is focused on creating safe spaces for young local talent to express themselves through the mediums of rapping, singing, poetry and comedy.
Myself and the SICKA VISION team had the pleasure of attending The Ends Festival's first year in 2019 across all 3 days (yes, lucky weren't we). We all thoroughly enjoyed the arrangement of talent on the lineup so it only makes sense to learn that SDS Entertainment played a pivotal role in connecting the organisers with a collective of artists to be considered on The Ends' ‘Future’ stage, specially dedicated to homegrown talent in the Croydon borough. Through SDS Entertainment's work, Marc Jones was added to the festival bill and since his appearance at the festival, Marc Jones has rapidly earned over 3 million streams on Spotify and seen support from some of the UK's leading entertainment platforms such as BBC 1Xtra and more.
We had the privilege of attending the inaugural year of The Ends Festival in 2019, enjoying all three days of incredible performances featuring well-known artists such as Che Lingo, Masego, Wizkid + more. The lineup was impressive, so it’s no surprise that SDS Entertainment played a key role in connecting the festival organisers with a collective of local artists for The Ends' 'Future' stage, which was dedicated to showcasing homegrown talent from the Croydon borough. Thanks to SDS Entertainment, Marc Jones was added to the festival lineup, and since then, he has rapidly gained over 3 million streams on Spotify and received support from major UK entertainment platforms like BBC 1Xtra.
With all the work SDS do, it doesn't end there. SDS Entertainment plan to launch an artist development programme to facilitate the ongoing penetration and mainstream breakthrough of UK acts. This is something we are very much looking forward to seeing unfold.
