Setting Da Standards closes the year with their first, virtual live festival entitled ‘The Bop’. The 4 staged mini-festival hosts 4 main headliners and 15 supporting acts; showcasing some of the best grassroots talent deriving from London. The free festival which took place on Saturday, 28th November 2020 was a spectacle.
The Bop live was curated to utilise the very few spaces available in the centre of Croydon where musicians could express themselves in the form of live performances. Over the years an array of venues have been closed leaving these artists with limited access to creative spaces. The Bop Live has filled that quota in the form of this festival, the first of its kind in the borough of Croydon.
“Croydon is often looked down on and you rarely hear positive things associated with it. Being from Croydon I know different and that’s what we at SDS are doing, changing that narrative. We’ve seen first hand a plethora of talented creatives from this borough who deserve local grassroots spaces to showcase their talents. The Bop Live was created to not only shine a light on some of these creatives and the borough but also to invite other creatives from other areas to see what we the Croydoners are offering” – Founder Makeda Bennett-Amparbeng speaks on the festival.
Each stage was filmed at one of Croydon’s iconic venues portraying the ever-vibrant live performance scene – Reggaemasters, The Front Room, Project B and Limitless VR. The 4 stages were also curated by The Floor Magazine, Yes Gurl and of course SDS each conveying a particular theme; an all-female line-up, Croydoners only stage, rappers only stage and an alternative RnB stage.
The Bop lineup featured below:-
Resident DJ Sáshi
Croydon Stage
Headliner
Still Shadey
Supporting Acts
Flintz
Deanna Chase
Shivon Kane
Yes Gurl Stage
Headliner
Asha Elia
Supporting Acts
Coco Mageeda
Sharia
Shanelle-Jae
Isha Davis
The Floor Mag Stage
Headliner
Mychelle
Supporting Acts
Solaariss
Emily Mutaako
Setting Da Bars Stage
Headliner
DXVL
Supporting Acts
Boy Nash
Le3 BLACK
SDS is a community arts company predominantly led by two young, black women determined to highlight the immense talent their hometown has to offer. Makeda and Jade have worked tirelessly to put on events throughout Croydon over the years which has seen some of the artists who have graced their stage, go on to booking major festivals and signing record deals. From monthly ‘hub nights’ to a fully-fledged festival supported by The Arts Council England this is clearly an event with lots of promise and not one to be missed!
Watch here.