One Music Fest Celebrates 15 Years of Black Cultural Excellence

One Music Fest celebrates 15 years of bringing urban culture and joy to Atlanta. The festival will happen Saturday, October 26-27.

The festival has evolved from humble beginnings within the King’s Plow car parking zone to now hosting over 100,000 participants Piedmont Park in Atlanta. BLACK ENTREPRENEURSHIP I spoke with One Music Fest founder J. Carter about 15 years of excellence in black culture.

Carter’s passion for One Music Fest is palpable. His vision led him to lose money for years, but it surely didn’t discourage him. The visionary founder credits his wife with encouraging him to take a “glass half full” approach and treat the enterprise as a long-term investment.

He recalls: “It was my wife who said, “There are two ways to take a look at it: “lose money or invest money.”

This advice and belief within the appeal of black culture bore fruit – Harlem resident he invested in his dreamAtlanta and Hip-Hop Culture. See what Carter needed to say about his 15-year journey and OMF 2024.

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Congratulations on the fifteenth anniversary of One Music Fest. How does it make you’re feeling?

Excited. It doesn’t feel like 15 years have passed. I’m super, super excited to release the lineup. Last 12 months, One Music Fest brought a record-breaking 100,000+ attendees to Piedmont Park.

Do you’re feeling like you’ve got hit your plateau or do you continue to have an extended solution to go in terms of numbers?

I definitely imagine that we’d like to realize even higher goals. But we do not base achievements solely on attendance. From day one, it’s about how we influence the culture. How can we reframe Black culture to create a protected space where we will rejoice one another, our music, our food, and our differences? Our motto and battle cry was and is unity through music.

Are you fearful that more participants will compromise the authenticity of the space? Or will more participants help OMF evolve?

That is why we will never stagnate. I imagine that we must at all times evolve. The most significant thing is to try to maintain young energy around you. We want the best way Generation Z and Generation Alpha move to influence our growth and evolution. We wish to grow, right? Everyone deserves joy, right? So what does your joy appear like? I feel we’re superb at constructing relationships.

There is a younger generation that’s progressive enough and understands this. My job is to give you the chance to succeed in them. Ten years ago after we celebrated Nas’ twentieth birthday, Kendrick Lamar was a bit more of a celebration animal back then, and yet he still said Nas should headline the night. So I imagine there’s a younger generation that has a certain level of respect and understanding, and nostalgic things are cool for them. Young cats are actually buying vinyl records.

You said your first five years were unsuccessful. How did you manage to get sponsors and investors to support your “failing venture”?

From the surface looking in, we didn’t disappoint. We grew financially because of books.and we saw growth of 80% to 100%. Attendance and sponsorship also increased.

The budgets that we have been given, but… there comes a degree where you’ve to stop and say, you already know what, I do know my value. We stopped undercutting one another and said, “No, brands, this is how you have to present yourselves if you want to talk to the culture.”

What can we expect from OMF’s fifteenth anniversary?

Women are simply carrying the torch in politics, within the Olympics, especially black women, when have a look at what’s on the charts, women, even in hardcore hip-hop. So,after we booked this lineup, there are loads of amazing women in it.

Year 15 is sort of an ode to the incredible women who’ve been doing incredible work and music over time. It’s a variety of talents when you can imagine, from Cardi B to Jill Scott, from Glorilla to Fantasia.

The city of Atlanta profits from this event. If you needed to estimate how much money they get out of your event through tourism and trade, what number would you imagine?

It might be around $50 million. We are bringing in 5,000 people to work on the event. When If we keep in mind retailers, food vendors, and tourism, 50% of our audience isn’t from the greater Atlanta area.

You said OMF would never leave Atlanta. Do you stand by that statement?

1000%.

I do not think One Music Fest could have happened in every other city. This is Atlanta. We stand on the shoulders of the giants, the bridge builders and the masons who did this work. I do not know of many places like Atlanta that offer you the chance to be, to exist, to grow. Where you may dream and safely pursue that dream. Everything you would like is about 2-3 stops away in Atlanta.

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Tickets for One Music Fest are in high demand, with Carter reporting that VIP tickets sell out inside the first two weeks of the event. So when you are someone who likes comfortable seats and white-glove service, buy your tickets as soon as possible.

Tickets are already on sale official website.