We have been seeking that Summer ‘16 feeling where the music was hitting right and the vibes were amazing since… well, since Summer ‘16. And it’s honestly starting to feel like in 2024, we’re finally finding our way back to that. With the rise of amapiano since 2019, the recognition that UK R&B artists are finally receiving, and the nation-wide acceptance of alternative genres such as Pink Pantheress’ alt-pop tracks - partying in London has never felt like more of a movie. But do you ever wonder how it came to be the case that there are events almost every week with multiple options for even the fussiest of appetites? And if you’re born in the year 2000 or prior, you might even remember the times when good nights out were rare to come by and consisted of whatever mainstream music was popular amongst the majority.
Well, it started with four young men at the start of their careers who just really liked to party. So much so that they threw a big party for their friends, and the next thing they knew, they were taking half of London to Malta hosting their own large-scale music festival that saw breathtaking performances from the likes of Asake and Kaytranada. We sat down with Bosun Apata, Ife Awosika, Michael ‘MK’ Amusan and Anthony Iban - who, collectively, you might know as Days Like This (DLT Brunch). It was a blazing hot day in the studio when we had the pleasure of meeting the boys; our makeup artists and stylists already inspired by these fresh new faces. In a remarkable turn of events, the story of DLT begins in the beloved concrete jungle where dreams are made of. Three of the four ventured into vibrant New York, with no initial interest in cultural innovation. Their experiences during this period not only laid the foundation for their influential company but also transformed the nightlife scene for the Black community, infusing it with a new level of energy and inclusivity. Their story is a testament to the power of spontaneity and determination in achieving groundbreaking success.
We wanted to find out exactly what it’s like to be the pioneers of a new kind of Black British experience - the spearhead of Black Joy. “It’s challenging,” MK tells us. “But there’s a beauty of it that something that you've kind of fought for or come up with comes to life. I guess an example of that would be ‘The Recipe’. In terms of it not being done before; it was a new concept. There was a lot of skepticism around it with the price point and things like that. But then when people got there they were like, “Oh, I get this now” and then it's like “rah, you guys really really really really liked this idea we had” so I think that’s the nice side of seeing it. Seeing people take to the ideas that you come up with.”
All four of the boys are of Nigerian descent so I was interested in finding out how their Nigerian parents reacted when their sons deviated from the Big Three: engineering, medicine, and law. “They didn’t understand it. But now they do. Now they’re a bit more open.”
“I feel like… I wouldn’t say the world is more accepting, but I think it’s a situation where people are creating their own opportunities. Creating careers through the things they like, and everyone just has to accept it. People are forcing new careers into the world. Who would have ever thought that we’d be working full-time planning a party? 5-6 years ago, that wasn’t a thing.”
The boys of DLT recognise the blessings upon their lives since the blow up of the business but are not strangers to the challenges that come with being in the limelight. When asked about the most challenging aspect, the answer was “all of it.”
“There isn't any… every day is a challenge, I think. Yeah, every day is a challenge; you commit a lot of time and a lot of effort to it. You know, it’s…” MK took a moment to gather his thoughts. “It can take over your life a bit,” He admits. “It can feel like it’s all you do. And I mean, specifically for us, our audiences are very tough.”
This was no surprise to us at PWR Magazine, often catering to similar audiences. Still, we wanted to know more in their own words. “Our communities… we're not easily pleased. And we're a little bit skeptical, you know. Everyone questions: “Oh, is that really legit?” So we have to go over and above with explaining things. And sometimes we don't do it perfectly. We're still learning.” And with this, they admitted that they don’t always know how the content they produce is going to be received, concerns that our aunties and uncles never had when running their businesses. “They [the expectations] are super high. I'm a little bit older, but I'm probably of that generation that went to the African restaurants, and it took two hours to get my food, but I knew what I was doing. I knew what I was getting myself in for. I think the newer gen, probably have more of a demanding view of things, which is fair to them. And all that does is push us to do better.”
As interesting as this topic was, we decided to return to it at a later stage, and the conversation led us to the mistakes entrepreneurs make in the early stages of their business. “One of the early ones was, I think 2018/2019 where we used to always let people buy tickets on our doors because that's what life was like back then. You could just walk up to an event and pay 25 pounds and walk in. Not so much anymore. But yeah, we had this New Year's Eve event. I think we had sold like 800 tickets presale, and we still had people rocking up on the door, paying for entry. And I think at a certain point, it was full in the club, and we still had hundreds of people outside with tickets. And we were like “Oh s—, we didn’t expect this.” And also, in all fairness, the venue did tell us the capacity was bigger than what it was. Again, that's a lesson we took to always err on the side of caution with these things. Even if the venue is telling you that the capacity is 2000, you should just take away 20% to have a safety net.”
“Is that quite common?” We asked, in curiosity. “Mmmm… it happens. It happens.”
“Wow, that's surprising.”
“You'd be surprised how many kinds of things like that happen.”
“Listen, everyone wants to make money. They’ll say what they have to.”
But the true reason behind this took us aback: “Sometimes an event doesn't think you can do the numbers!”
“We were still at a point where we were growing - we were an infant compared to now. We were still trying to prove to, you know, event spaces and just the wider community that we can bring our community to these places, and it will be good. They’ll be safe, and we'll all have a good time. So, we were still facing that challenge at that time.”
A challenge that did not prevent Team DLT from spreading their wings and soaring to Malta, South Africa, Ghana and Nigeria. “So, let's say Africa, for example, when we go in December, we work with our local partners who are already throwing events, and we just collaborate with them. And, you know, we try to merge their crowd and the crowd that's coming from the UK, the other diaspora; and we just try to connect and create that one big synergy of a party or an event. And that's the same when we go to Amsterdam and we work with local DJs, and some of the local brands and just tap into their knowledge because we don't have all the expertise at these places. And we don't necessarily always want to bring people from the UK. Sometimes it's about giving something to the people who are already there to experience.”
It matters a lot to Team DLT, to bring a little bit of that Black British magic to the rest of the world. “I think whenever we go abroad, for them, it's refreshing, because, you know… I saw a Tiktok the other day of a woman who went to The Recipe. She was like: she's never seen so many black people in one place, and she's from Switzerland. For them it's just like “Wow, this exists.”
I mean, there's certain parts of the world where that doesn't exist. We're fortunate to have that in abundance in London. When black people come together like that it's a nice thing. It doesn't happen that often. And you know, when we're talking about places like Dublin and Switzerland, wherever it might be. It's a big moment.”
Our final question for Team DLT was to get a sense of what it was like to be the Movers & Shakers of the events industry. “It’s changed a lot, you know; a lot of limelight both positively and negatively. When you're the face of a brand, it comes with certain pressures.” According to DLT, there have been more positives - “because you meet so many great people doing great things. There are some genuinely good people in the industry that are, you know, they just want to see things come together. Some of us have navigated different careers via our brand. For example, Anthony now works as an A&R, I’m [MK] in live music, Ife’s in events and ticketing; so, there've been lots of good opportunities off the back of this day party thing. But yeah, I guess everyone will say it can be very challenging and it takes a lot of your time. Probably. That's probably the biggest part; a lot of time, a lot of effort, a lot of investment, a lot of hard work, and it can feel like the only thing you do or talk about, so you must find that balance in terms of tapping out of it.”
DLT has no intention to stop innovating, growing, and paving the way for Black British culture to shine. With a new partnership with Live Nation UK, and plans to take their music festival to Dubai, Days Like This will continue to bring the vibes for years to come (and restore us to that Summer ‘16 glory).
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