The revolution will be televised!

Sean “Diddy” Combs has the Midas touch when it comes to longevity in an industry that most predicted wouldn’t be around forever.

In 2020, reports revealed that Hip-Hop is America’s favorite and most influential genre thus far and the numbers don’t lie.

Just like Diddy has an eye for musical talents, he has an eye for an executive team that will take his leading Black-owned media company, REVOLT, to revolutionary heights.

Detavio Samuels and Colin McIntosh understand that they have a role to fulfill as the new leaders of REVOLT and they’re prepared to do it by any means necessary.

“The mission is to create the largest Black global media empire that ever existed,” said Samuels, who has been appointed to CEO of the company, “and in that world, we can take care of our people.”

McIntosh adds the title of Chief Operating Officer to his current position as REVOLT’s Chief Financial Officer.

“We want to build a platform for creators,” said McIntosh in an interview with AfroTech. “REVOLT will become the home for creators as we position ourselves as collaborators. It will be a safe space for creative expression.”

A safe space that Samuels says can’t be found anywhere else.

He shares that one thing that makes REVOLT unique is the fact that the company has managed to bring people from all walks of life together who not only reflect the culture but are a representation of the culture too.

“We’re an interesting hybrid of the streets meets culture,” beamed Samuels. “We have enough people who can translate between the streets and corporate to make it work…I actually don’t think it’s repeatable by other people.”

REVOLT reiterates that Black people are not a monolithic group and that if our stories are going to be told in an authentic way, the people sharing them have to look like us.

“We want to be sure that we’re telling stories from our lens and that can only be done with Black ownership,” continued McIntosh.

With Black ownership comes anointing from your own that Samuels says they must succeed at achieving.

“I think too often we put too much value on white-centered institutions validating us,” Samuels continued. “The idea that you’re anointed by your own people — we need to create value in that.”

A value that both he and McIntosh see when onboarding Black creatives with a goal to create wealth, not just within the company, but the community that it is designed for.

“When you have a Black-owned company by definition it means that the people who own it are Black and are building wealth but what’s also true about REVOLT and what Colin and I are building together is the opportunity to build wealth that is a return to the culture,” shared Samuels.

He shares that since he and McIntosh have joined forces, they have not created a show where the creator did not have some sort of ownership in the IP (intellectual property) such as profit sharing, equity, and so forth.

REVOLT is making sure that the money flows directly from the company into the community, something that simply isn’t a core principle to the business model of non-Black-owned companies.

“At the end of the day one of the main things on my plate is helping this company grow,” said McIntosh as he reflects on his vision for the company in the next year.

It’s all about thinking big.

“We’ve got Puff, a global icon, we’ve got hip-hop, and we’ve got big dreams,” said Samuels. “We also just so happen to exist in one of the biggest civil rights moments of most of our time, and so it’s like the market might be ready and we’re prepared to bring everything to the table to try to bust down those doors that might be slightly open at this moment.”

The can’t stop, won’t stop mentality has become a way of life for everything attached to Diddy’s name. Both leaders say that we can expect to see revolution, not evolution, as REVOLT sets out to become the world’s largest Black media company.

Colin McIntosh

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