London based DJ, producer, poet and cultural force Charlie Dark has spent decades shaping the sound and spirit of UK underground culture. A founding member of Attica Blues, his journey began in the early 1990s at the intersection of hip hop, jazz, soul and spoken word, driven by a deep belief in music as a tool for connection, expression and community building.

On the dancefloor, Charlie Dark is known for sets that are joyful, spiritual and deeply rooted in black music history. Drawing from house, disco, funk, soul, Afrobeat, jazz and beyond, his DJ sets prioritise feeling, flow and togetherness over rigid genre boundaries. His selections are guided by intuition and intention, creating spaces where dancers feel seen, uplifted and connected.

Beyond clubs and festivals, Charlie’s impact extends far into the cultural landscape. He is the founder of Run Dem Crew, a globally recognised running collective that merges fitness, music and community, and the creator of the Love Is The Message dance events, which celebrate inclusive dancefloor culture through carefully curated line ups and shared energy. These projects reflect his wider mission to use music and movement as vehicles for positive change.

A respected mentor, curator and cultural historian, Charlie Dark continues to inspire across generations. Whether behind the decks, on the airwaves or leading communities through music and movement, his work remains rooted in joy, intention and the belief that dancefloors can still be sacred spaces.

In this episode I sat down with the London based poet, author, editor, educator & activist to discuss her journey as an artist. Born in Pakistan, she earned a BA in Liberal Arts from Bennington College, where she studied writing, photography, filmmaking and multi-media installation art. In 2003 she was awarded a fellowship to attend the MFA Creative Writing Programme at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst.

"My own life has been dictated by this desire for freedom. I left Pakistan when I was 18 in a quest for this elusive freedom."

In my latest episode I sat down with Jonzi D, he is the foremost advocate for hip hop who has changed the profile and influenced the development of the UK British hip hop dance and theatre scene over the last two decades.

Since founding Breakin’ Convention in 2004 Jonzi has triumphed in raising the profile and giving a platform to hip hop disciplines, which has gained worldwide recognition as being at the vanguard of the development of the art form. Through professional development projects Open Art Surgery and Back to the Lab, Jonzi has supported hundreds of hip hop dance and rap/poetry artists on their journey to creating theatre.

His critically acclaimed works include 1995‘s Lyrikal Fearta, 1999’s Aeroplane Man, 2006’s TAG… Just Writing My Name, 2009’s Markus the Sadist and 2013’s The Letter: To Be Or To MBE? about his choice to decline an MBE from the Queen. Jonzi’s has been featured in HBO’s Def Poetry Jam, had his short films Silence da Bitchin’ & Aeroplane Man screened on Channel 4, toured his work extensively all over the world and delivered his own TED Talk about the influence and evolution of hip hop culture.

In 2020 Jonzi directed Our Bodies Back which won ‘Best Artistic Film’ as part of the Detroit Black film festival, followed up by the sequel, AUTOCORRECT in 2022. He also wrote Here/Not Here, a short film directed by Bim Ajadi which won the ‘Best Film’ category in Deaffest 2022.

In 2023, Jonzi D was awarded a citation from Al Taylor of the 71st District - New York State Assembly in recognition of his efforts for advancing and advocating hip hop culture in the UK and abroad, and the De Valois Award for Lifetime Achievement by the Dancing Times Critic’s Circle. In 2024, Jonzi D was nominated for his artistic direction of Breakin’ Convention, cementing the festival’s two decades as a mainstay in the world of theatre and beyond.