Context of a Generation Cultivates the Next Generation of South Florida Artists

Symone Major knows what it's like to try to make a living as a working artist in South Florida without any support. She wants to make sure other creatives never have to do the same.

"I never knew what an internship was. I had never heard of the term. I had never heard of what a grant was," Major, who grew up in Goulds, tells New Times. "But once I learned it, I figured it out and was like, 'Okay, this is another way for an artist to make a living.' That's what I wanted to do, and I continue to share the wealth."

Major cofounded Context of a Generation, a Miami-based nonprofit dedicated to supporting artists from underserved communities, with her sister Quiana. Project Realize, one of the organization's many artist resource programs, helps local indie musicians and poets launch their creative projects.

One of its most recent beneficiaries is Lyric Dixon, who goes by the artist name LyricThePoet. COAG helped her release her debut poetry album, A Black Love Story: Journey Back to Self, last year.

"They guided, but they didn't direct. And that was beautiful," Dixon says of the experience. She'd never recorded an EP before, but she says Project Realize made the experience feel intuitive.

"I didn't know how my voice sounded recorded, or in front of music. But they did a good job of creating a sound for me," she says. "They allowed me complete autonomy over the project. So whatever sound I wanted, however the poem felt, they made sure to ask those questions."
Producer Frankie Midnight developed the idea for Project Realize. He hopes it will create a musical talent pipeline in South Florida.

"I was very inspired by Motown; very inspired by the machine that they created, as far as having a system set up to create this sound that they used with a lot of different artists," he says. "That's kind of what helps create a scene. Same thing with Seattle grunge in the '90s — you had a bunch of different music artists with similar sounds."

The goal, he says, is to create a recognizable style that works for the diverse range of artists with whom he collaborates. Though the program has been running for three years, this was Midnight's first time working with a poet. Dixon says COAG not only helped her record the EP; it also taught her how to market her work.

"All you know is your talent," she says. "You don't know any of the business side of it, or how far you can expand that talent."

For her part, Major says she views herself as a cheerleader of sorts, rather than a strict guide. Project Realize artists already know who they are and what they want to produce, she says — they just need the tools to do it.

"We're not trying to mold an artist," says Major. "They might just need that little extra push of confidence to be on stage, market themselves, or even put their music on a streaming platform."

If she speaks like a label A&R, it's because Major has been doing this work on the ground level for a long time. It started as a family affair — both her husband and sister/COAG cofounder are musicians.

"Being artists ourselves, we saw how hard it was to do pretty much anything — get on a bill for show, put on a gallery, get a space to do a dance rehearsal or a dance showing," Quiana tells New Times. "Once we got to the level where we knew how to do all those things and we saw our friends struggling, we just wanted to give back to the people who helped support us, and the younger generations of artists who are also out there."