Makaya mccraven

Brand strategy + web development for an artist building global community through jazz.

About

Makaya McCraven is a beat scientist. The bleeding edge drummer, producer, and sonic collagist is one of Chicago’s savviest cultural players and a multi-talented force whose inventive process & intuitive, cinematic style defy categorization.

French-born but raised in the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts by expatriate musician parents, McCraven studied Jazz at the University of Massachusetts Amherst under the mentorship of jazz luminaries Archie Shepp, Marion Brown, and Yusef Lateef, and eventually went on to develop his chops in Chicago’s burgeoning scene. His breakthrough album In the Moment was released with International Anthem Recording Co. (IARC) in 2015 and received widespread acclaim, proving to be a dramatic statement by McCraven that quickly launched him into the vanguard of not only internationally-known jazz artists, but also a niche genre of next-wave composer-producers blurring the boundaries of jazz & electronic music.

His recent releases, the DJ-style mixtape Highly Rare (IARC, 2017) as well as an internationally recorded Where We Come From (CHICAGOxLONDON Mixtape) (IARC, 2018) have been well received globally, leading to increased bookings in some of the world’s best clubs, theaters, and festivals alongside the likes of Corey Wilkes, Bobby (Baabe) Irving (MilesDavis), Ari Brown, and Bernie Worrell.

McCraven recently released Universal Beings, a highly acclaimed 2xLP album featuring an A-list of “new” jazz players from New York, Chicago, London & Los Angeles.

The Request

In advance of the release for his 5th official album, Universal Beings, Makaya and colleagues from his associated label, International Anthem, came to us to help them prepare to take advantage of what they were anticipating as a highly influential and successful release. To really seize the coming moment, they wanted to have extra support in tackling & shoring up some opportunity areas around Makaya’s brand, website & social strategy.⁣

What We Did

Over the course of a few months we engaged in a partnership focusing on Makaya’s brand platforms, media, and social strategy to help him build a cohesive brand and business orientation that adequately reflects his art as well as a communications strategy that helps increase his engagement and followers online.

While he didn’t need a new logo per se, as musician branding often reflects whatever’s coming out of the album-release cycle, we shored up his baseline visual identity & social media accounts, took his press photos, edited his short, medium, long, and extended bios, and provided him with a Brand & Language Guide document to help keep the brand on track despite project release cycles.

We also developed a new website that properly showcased his story, influence, and music releases as well as provided a streamlined way for press to download his media assets.

In our final phase with Makaya we managed his social media accounts & ads in the lead up and throughout the release of Universal Beings and his subsequent US & European tours. During this time period the release became the most successful release of the label all time, Makaya’s fan counts grew by the thousands, and he was able to focus on the increased shows and travel while we supported his overall operations behind the scenes.