When: Thursday 26th August 2021
Where: Rum Kitchen, Brixton
Last week, Puma hosted their #SheMovesUs women’s campaign event at Rum Kitchen in Brixton to kick off the bank holiday weekend. The drinks were flowing, the food was going and it was a night of straight inspiration.
Puma’s #SheMovesUs campaign centres on empowering women by connecting them through culture, lifestyle, sport and values. The night was all about bringing together and inspiring women to strive for success and move with confidence and style. The occasion coincided with their newly released kicks, the Suede Mayu now available to purchase.
‘‘This year Puma are celebrating women who move together to achieve and connect – through sport, culture and values.’’
– Puma
The overarching message was to encourage, empower and inspire, and the occasion certainly delivered. And what better way to flaunt female excellence than by bringing in the legendary all-female sound system, Seduction City Sound. The group, consisting of Lady Banton, Spice2Life and Andrea C. were the first all-female sound system to grace the stages of Notting Hill Carnival. Not to mention, they have been in the game for over 25 years. Seduction City blessed the evening with their decks, bumping old school dancehall, disco, reggae and garage. They also provided some well-received words of wisdom.
Reflecting with Seduction City and those who have paved the way
The night was hosted by the revered presenter, Monikah Lee. Monikah preached widespread sentiment about self-belief, and consistency to ensure that women can begin, and continue to follow their dreams. We learned from Seduction City about how they came up in the music industry when they took to the stage.
Founder, Lady Banton reflected on her beginnings. She pointed out that the encouragement of her peers and her local youth club was vital to her pursuit as a DJ: ‘‘It started in my youth club days. […] Big up to the youth club who introduced me to this, this thing here [pointing to the turntable set].”
When recalling their early experiences, Spice2Life explained: ‘‘In the early days it was quite a bit of a challenge in the sense of, men sometimes felt a bit intimidated by a woman coming up and DJing. […] Some women as well, I felt that we were sceptical thinking that it was a male-dominated field. […] For me, it’s like it’s there for everybody […]
if you’ve got that passion, you can do it. Like anything in life, whatever you put your mind to you can do it.’’
When asked about how they hope to inspire the next generation of aspiring female DJs by teaming up with Puma’s #SheMovesUs campaign, Andrea C. responded: ‘‘I believe it’s just doing what you love, being confident in what you love doing and just know you can do it. […] They used to look at me like ‘who are you?’ [Coming up as a] little girl I goes ‘gimme the mic, I’m ready’ […] So always be confident in what you can do and who you are, you understand, because you have the power.’’
Some popular media figures also in attendance on the night included fashion and beauty blogger, Uche Natori, beauty guru Linnygd, and YouTubers Denz and Renz. The turnout was hugely encouraging and echoes the support that Puma’s #SheMovesUs campaign has drummed up.
Monikah Lee on the importance of Puma’s #SheMovesUs campaign
To top the night off, we chatted with Monikah Lee about the necessity of these events for the modern woman.
What does having this event meant to you tonight and why is it important for women everywhere?
Monikah Lee: ‘‘Alright, so, celebrating women is everything for me, especially being a black woman in an industry where it can be so hard to be able to conquer. This was everything because it’s all about empowering, inspiring, it’s about setting up the next generation to know that we can be anything, we can take control and we can do it. We just need to believe in ourselves, we need to remain authentic, remain organic and remain true to ourselves. Don’t make anyone put us in a box, it’s not deserved, we don’t need to be there.’’
What does it mean to have Seduction City here tonight and to acknowledge how we’ve reached where we are today?
Monikah Lee: ‘‘So Seduction City have been dominating the game for over 25 years, are you hearing this 25 years. One of the first female sounds systems to be able to be running Notting Hill Carnival – it’s everything for me. To be able to see these women, they’re absolute aspirations and it shows that as women we can dominate and we can be able to create longevity. They say that sometimes we expire at a certain age [but] we’ll never expire, because once you have good vibes, once you have talent that is all you need.’’
Indeed, to echo Monikah’s words, our takeaway from this event is to keep moving with confidence, to stay fearless and to believe in what you do. Ultimately, every experience is a learning curve but to pick up and keep going means that we as women can keep moving together.
A special thank you to Puma for a truly moving event.
