Grammy winning music producer Bosko Kante is on a mission to grow profitable companies that guarantee Black ownership of ideas while building generational wealth and timeless art in the Black community. And as that mission was evolving beyond music to other kinds of art and creative talent, his Oakland, California-based organization needed a new brand to rally around.

“Once we landed on HiiiWAV, it just felt like the skies opened up. The name unlocked even more for our organization in thinking about what’s possible.”

“I instantly wanted to get the t-shirt and my email the same day! Having a name that you’re really excited about is super valuable and powerful,” says Bosko.

Previously called the Black Music Entrepreneurship Incubator, the organization tasked BBMG and its team of summer interns with renaming and creating a brand identity system and story to supercharge a new chapter of participation, growth, and impact.

The brand naming process is undoubtedly one of the most critical parts of building a brand. It’s part methodology, part magic, and everyone’s journey is different. It can be daunting because it can feel like there’s a lot at stake and a lot of emphasis placed on finding the right name. We were able to overcome this challenge by focusing on developing trusted, human relationships based on genuinely wanting to understand Bosko, his partner Maya, their team and communities’ lived experiences from the onset. Having this intention in our shared journey allowed us to get to the point where the right name revealed itself through our collective effort.

But first we started in Oakland.

Getting Proximate

HiiiWAV’s 8,000 square foot-building on Oakland’s Seventh Street is a second-home for folks; a space that brings together artists, technologists, and entrepreneurs and encourages everyone to freely experiment, learn, and create. Our team flew to Oakland to officially kick off the branding project and had the benefit of spending a few days immersed in the physical space of the Incubator and in the presence of Bosko, Maya, their team, and community partners.

“You all got to essentially be part of the Incubator for a few days and see what it was like for an artist to be there, what it was like for an investor, and what it was like to be part of the community,” says Bosko. “You all really got to experience that feeling, and I knew that would translate into the best possible work from your side and from our side.”

In BBMG’s methodology for building regenerative brands we emphasize getting close and personal with the issues and injustices that need our attention outside our immediate bubbles. And whether that’s traveling to Oakland or simply creating the virtual space to have one-on-one conversations on a human level, embedding ourselves with the people and places we serve has been key to how we build breakthrough brand ideas.

When it came to branding HiiiWAV, we wanted to understand peoples’ connections to the organization, its legacy, and the impact being made in the community. And that required getting proximate, placing ourselves – even briefly – in their space. This allowed us to ask questions that uncovered cultural dynamics and unlocked possibilities that would inspire how we reimagine the brand. We spoke to artists, entrepreneurs, and community leaders and began to understand how connected, supportive, and resilient the community is and how committed folks are to making good things happen for themselves and others.

Our time in Oakland was an important step in the first phase of the project that bonded us as collaborators and allowed us to align with our client’s needs in a way where they felt heard and understood. And it was the catalyst for developing a trusted, synergistic relationship that honored the authentic character and values of them and their community.

“You guys really took the time to do the things that made us feel like you were deeply listening,” says Maya Kante. “It makes me feel like the more I give you, the better the outcome will be because you’re listening.”

Transcendence

As we developed the new brand over the weeks that followed, landing on the “right name” came about naturally thanks to the authentic collaboration between our team and the Incubator team.

HiiiWAV’s name and the visual world are inspired by ideas brought forward in Kendrick Lamar’s song “HiiiPoWeR” about rising above all the systemic barriers that limit the Black community. The three i’s also represent heart, honor, and respect and speak to how Black people choose to carry themselves in a world filled with barriers. WAV symbolizes momentum, motion, reciprocity, and community. “.wav” is also a nod to high-quality music files– symbolic of the musicians at the heart of the organization.

We created a visual world rooted in the idea of “transcendence” embodied by the people we met and their pride in Black artists as innovators of culture, builders of products, and entrepreneurial in spirit. HiiiWAV is making the deliberate choice to invest in their own people, ideas, and ambition because they operate from the belief that artists can expand their power and potential and harness collective creativity to boldly rise above, energize, and inspire others.

To ensure that Black artistry was represented in the design work, we licensed a typeface from Vocal Type Co, a type foundry for creatives and designers of color. The striking “Martin” typeface is inspired by remnants of the Memphis Sanitation Strike of 1968. We saw a clear connection between Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s message of “the masses of people are rising up” and HiiiWAV’s aspiration to bring Black artists together and transcend systemic barriers.

The Emergence of HiiiWAV

It has been so exciting to see the HiiiWAV brand emerge and come to life in all its glory. The brand made its official debut through a series of workshops called Afrofilterism. Supported by Meta, the Afrofilterism virtual workshop series taught musicians how to use augmented reality software to create tangible assets that could be used to promote their music.

Following the workshops, participants were given an opportunity to showcase their augmented reality creations at HiiiWAV’s Demo Day, a community celebration and competition where the winner was awarded $5,000 and additional support to promote their original art.

When asked what’s next for HiiiWAV, Maya notes the importance of continually staying connected with different generations of artists and technologists. “You know, keeping our finger on the pulse of new developments in music and technology – in art as a whole – and making sure that we continue to create a community environment. As those things change, and grow, so will we,” she says.

We’re proud that we had the opportunity to give HiiiWAV a brand story, identity, and experience that is deeply rooted in its people and designed to evolve and expand as they grow to serve even more of the Black artist and entrepreneur community.

Our team was incredibly fortunate to experience the Incubator’s impact, and we were inspired by their vision of success that is rooted in harnessing the relationships, partnerships, and connections being built everyday in Oakland and beyond.

You can learn more about HiiiWAV by visiting hiiiwav.org.