Interview with The Cultural Reset on Uplifting Marginalized Voices

This pandemic has reshaped the music industry as we know it. What was considered the norm, is out of season and there’s no going back. But what does the future look like for an industry that is so resistant to change? The Cultural Reset just might have the answer to that.

The Cultural Reset, or TCR, is an organization that is on a mission to uplift marginalized creatives in the music industry. HangTime Magazine spoke with Nick Lee, TCR’s founder and editor-in-chief, and Shannon “Shay” Ervin, who is the director of TCR and events coordinator, about their organization’s vision and how that could help creatives of marginalized communities get their foot in the door. And by creatives, they mean all types of creative individuals. 

Shay tells us, “we use the term creative very loosely. Y’know we’re talking about singer-songwriters, musicians, producers, engineers… just really trying to get the voices of all creatives seen by the music industry.” In the one year they’ve been in existence, TCR has featured a plethora of artists with many talents including UWADE, The Black Creature, Maya J, Mel Semé, NotLö, and many more. In addition to the various artists they’ve interviewed on their platform, TCR has also garnered a large audience across their different media channels.

“It’s been a lot of natural growth,” says Shay. “We started off as mostly written interviews and from there we went to video interviews, doing playlists and album reviews came with that. And then from there be extended to doing panels and now we’re expanding to do an award show.” 

When it comes to the award show, TCR’s plans are simple and clear: inclusivity. To be inclusive is only a reflection of the content they put out and ultimately the reason they were founded. We asked Nick what his background was professionally and personally and how that has helped him with TCR and here’s what he had to say:

I am Blickity-Black, but you cannot see it. I am a very Black man. That comes with its own challenges in America…it’s one of the biggest reasons why I continue to do this. It’s just hard being a part of a marginalized community in a lot of ways. We can kinda get all of the communities that are marginalized and form one unified community that is the major goal—the best way to succeed, I think…If you really want to get into it, white colonialism is the majority of the reasons why groups don’t get along. You hear a lot of conflict between the Black community and the Asian community; the Black community and the LGBTQ+ community, there’s a ton of conflict there. All the product of white colonialism, I wished people knew that but it’s fine. If we could all just band together…we got this!

The Cultural Reset is here to stay and we should all be tapped into what they have in store. You can sign up for the newsletter to stay up to date for upcoming events by visiting their website or following them on social media.

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