Kaytranada headlines first Milk and Cookies Festival in South Africa

The new year is off to a great start for music lovers — Grammy award-winning Haitian-Canadian music producer, rapper, singer and DJ Kaytranada headlines the South African leg of the Milk and Cookies Festival. 

On 5 January, festival-goers were sent into a dance frenzy as Kaytranada took to the stage for the Cape Town show. If the first show is anything to go by, people are in for a treat when he hits the decks in Johannesburg this Saturday, 11 January from midday to 10pm. The line-up boasts some of the finest artists and DJs, including Morda, Kitty Ca$h and Muzi.

The Mail & Guardian spoke to the founders of the Milk and Cookies festival: artist and sponsor director Jhordan Gibbs, marketing director Chase Freeman and creative director Gregory K Burton Jr. 

What inspired you to start the Milk and Cookies festival? 

Gibbs: We actually started Milk and Cookies when we were in college in 2015. We started doing it because at the time the artists we liked were confined to the blogs side of the music industry. The artists we were seeing coming through to Atlanta were more so radio artists. So we really started connecting with their management teams through our friends and peers on how to bring these artists down to Atlanta and how we could bridge the gap between what our friends are listening to in their dorms versus what they are actually able to access and that’s kind of been the genesis of our story.

What’s the meaning behind the name of the music festival?

Freeman: We came up with the idea for Milk and Cookies because living in Atlanta, it’s the ‘Deep South’, it’s a black town, plus black people have a diverse palette. We’ve always wanted to put together a concept where we showcase the actual music that black people listen to. So, we put music and people, well, together like milk and cookies. So the diversity of music and people is what Milk and Cookies stands for.

We would build the line-ups based upon what type of people would show up. So for example, Kaytranada is a perfect example because he crosses over Afro-house, house, R&B, funk, soul, hip-hop. So generally in Atlanta we went to Morehouse College but we’d have to go to different cities to get different music. So we were like “Okay, what if we throw something where it’s a cross genre and everybody shows up?” So Kaytranada headlined our first show in 2015. We’ve been working with him for 10 years.

This opportunity was golden because from what we could see, South Africa and Atlanta are very close and kindred spirits. There’s like a renaissance happening between the two places. So we were, like, if we bring Kaytranada, everyone is going to show up and they have probably never partied with each other or met each other. Music can cross those barriers. Music can cross those threats. We build our line-ups and we also only represent positive music. Even when we build the DJ line-ups, we want to make sure we can bring a larger artist to create a platform for the local artists to actually have some kind of notoriety to kind of be seen on a national scale.

What is it about South Africa that made you decide to bring the festival here? 

Gibbs: When we got to SA, we heard the sounds, the R&B, the Amapiano, we saw the vibes of the community, the culture, the restaurants and everything. And it just felt connected to who we were. We felt immediately at home. Every time we come here, it’s been a moment like that. This place is very special to us. It’s very spiritual to us and that’s why we’re going to keep coming back here. Beyond everything else it’s that connectivity that we feel.

Burton: SA was definitely one of our plans. The culture spoke to us and America, and the need for this concert, community and education, and really bridging that gap between American and South African culture through music. We saw a lane here, and, just the culture, musically wise, It’s a match made in heaven.

Can we expect more artists who aren’t necessarily from North America headlining the festival?

Burton: We’ve done shows with Uncle Waffles, Msaki, Davido and more. So we definitely tapped into the culture outside of North American artists. We’re definitely diverse in that field of booking main talent outside of North America because our sound is a world sound, not just North American sound.

Did you expect this level of positive feedback from the South African audience with Kaytranada being the opening act? 

Freeman: The one thing about the company is that we’ve always been on the pulse. We’ve always been early. And I think this is one of the moments that early can sometimes be too early. It seems like it’s right on time to be coming to a market that is excited for these acts. So, for us to be able to provide this experience, every show that we did for some of these rising icons were their first shows in Atlanta.

So it was Kendrick Lamar before Section 80, it was SZA before her first album. It was Summer Walker before her first festival ever, first play ever in Atlanta. So we’ve been able to be kind of early. So even this relationship with Kaytranada, the 10-year relationship by doing the show in Atlanta led to us being able to hit his team up and say “Hey, what about South Africa?” And they were, like, “You know what, yeah you guys can do it, we trust you”. For us it’s just dope to know that South Africa appreciates that. It’s dope.