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There’s nothing Jordan Sowunmi can’t do - he’s the Music Editorial and Content Strategy Lead at TIkTok in Canada, and co-founder of Boosie Fade, the online community that talks all things hip-hop and R&B.
Jordan Sowunmi doesn’t like to be bored. He's done radio, party promotion, advertising, digital strategy, stand-up comedy, hosted red carpet events, and moderated panels. Today, Jordan works full-time at TikTok Canada as Music Editorial and Content Strategy Lead. But before this role, it was his side project that kept him super busy. Boosie Fade is a hip hop party turned series of online communities with over 6,000 followers, as well as the hit podcast Catch Up, covering the worlds of music, film, literature and more.
Community and collaboration are essential to growth, in my mind. With Boosie Fade, community was the basis of our business. Creating a space for like-minded and sometimes not-like minded people to get together to discuss music, film and television, literature, and a whole host of other things was how we established ourselves.
Collaboration will get you where you want to go quicker. With Boosie Fade, it took a long time for me and my co-founder James Rathbone to really let go and bring more people on-board. I think we were concerned about diluting our vision too much. It ended up putting a lot of undue pressure on us, and a lot of that was alleviated when we started adding people to the team.
I started out my career in stand-up comedy, so I’m used to failure. The last big thing that I could classify as a “failure,” was centred around the podcast I hosted with James, Catch Up. Basically, someone at a TV network reached out to us and asked us to put together a pitch for a television/webseries version of our podcast.
We wrote out a treatment, had a beautiful deck made, and had a meeting set and everything. And for a variety of reasons, it didn’t end up working out. The whole situation felt like an ideal scenario for Boosie Fade's end—we use the platform to springboard into a bigger, grand opportunity. The whole thing coming to fruition felt like a long shot to begin with, but it still felt like a failure in many ways.
For us, I think it was the confirmation we needed that “when one door closes, a window opens,” and that we needed to put our focus elsewhere.
I was working at VICE just as they signed a massive TV contract with Rogers. I’d been hosting and producing online videos for them, which was a big goal of mine at the time, and it seemed like there was an opportunity to do the same thing on television. But I was at a point in my career where I wasn’t as enamoured with the lifestyle of the media world and wanted to pivot to something new. And I did that, leaving VICE to work in advertising at Anomaly.
At the time, it felt like a real risk. Peacing out on a seemingly dream opportunity to start fresh in a new career...but it did pay off. After a year at Anomaly, I got an offer to join Wieden+Kennedy in Amsterdam, which kicked off a whole new exciting lane for my career.
I have various ambient playlists I like to listen to, plus one that is just “songs to play on repeat.” These are mostly atmospheric songs that I play on repeat that really help me zone in.
I also find that reading intensely, even if it’s only for 10-15 minutes, can get my mind focused on work. I’m also one of those big proponents of “getting outside to walk aimlessly.”
I love interview podcasts. I always find it fascinating and sometimes instructive to hear how artists, writers and various entrepreneurs I admire approach their work and personal lives. Some of my favourites are: Fresh Air with Terry Gross, Office Hours with Ernest Wilkins, Hey! Cool Job with Mary HK Choi and Airplane Mode from GQ.
At least three nights a week, I like to put my phone in my bedroom, then sit in my living room and read or watch a documentary or other type of movie.
I was just going for it for a long time. Trying to do it all. Then I hit a point in my professional career where I started to get senior enough in roles that I realized if I wanted to continue to excel and ascend, I couldn’t do both things full bore. So my business partner James and I consciously decided to start slowing down Boosie Fade stuff.
Before the pandemic, we were planning to do one final party and then essentially shut the whole outfit down. Now we’ll definitely do at least a few more parties. And we’re going to return to doing our screening series at the TIFF Bell Lightbox.
I think now it’s just about making my commitment to Boosie Fade manageable. That was something I was missing in much of our pre-pandemic Boosie Fade era.
My creative partner in Boosie Fade and Catch Up. He’s a director and film producer. He’s brilliant, perpetually even-keeled, and has the best taste of anyone I’ve ever met.
My creative partner in Boosie Fade and Catch Up. He’s a director and film producer. He’s brilliant, perpetually even-keeled, and has the best taste of anyone I’ve ever met.
A photographer, model and creative director with a gifted eye for aesthetics, and excellent style.
A photographer, model and creative director with a gifted eye for aesthetics, and excellent style.
A musician, producer, songwriter and coffee/golf/cycling enthusiast. Multi-talented, versatile, full of wisdom.
A musician, producer, songwriter and coffee/golf/cycling enthusiast. Multi-talented, versatile, full of wisdom.
Label and Music Industry Partnerships Lead at TikTok. She’s smart, hilarious and a great critical thinker—an inspiring person to work with on a day-to-day basis.
Label and Music Industry Partnerships Lead at TikTok. She’s smart, hilarious and a great critical thinker—an inspiring person to work with on a day-to-day basis.