colture

Creative/business partnership company COLTURE (Brent Faiyaz, Soulection’s Joe Kay, Emotional Oranges) is expanding its stake in the wellness arena. The firm has launched the Mirrors Wellness Club Studio, a new division under its Mirrors Wellness Club banner. Marking the launch is the studio’s first music release, Sound Bath in Watts. A second project will arrive in October.
Credited to Frankie Rivers — the moniker adopted by COLTURE’s team of producers and creative executives — Sound Bath in Watts features soothing wellness music described as embodying both “soul and character.” Its 10-track set list includes intriguing titles such as “Playas Cry in the Rain,” “$700 Pants Don’t Make You Happy,” “Soft Life Baddie” and “Well Ness Monster.”

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“Mirrors Wellness Club Studio is about telling Black and brown stories via wellness music, visuals and activations,” explains COLTURE co-founder Ty Baisden. “Our next artist launching in October is SafeHouse. Each wellness project focuses on specific sounds. Frankie Rivers is all about the sound bath experience, whereas SafeHouse is about ambiance sounds for sleep and studying.”

Available now, Sound Bath in Watts served as the musical backdrop at the welcome dinner for COLTURE’s annual women’s wellness retreat. Now in its third year and always held during Labor Day weekend, Mirrors Getaway — another Mirrors Wellness Club component —  took place at Ambergris Cay in Turks & Caicos.

Inaugurated in 2022 in Saint Maartin with 19 invitees, Mirrors Getaway welcomed 30 invitees in Barbados last year. This year, Baisden and COLTURE’s content team, including productions and events manager Venessa Gonzalez, were among the 39 attendees stepping out of their roles as executives, entrepreneurs, wives, mothers and caregivers to recalibrate and focus on themselves. Each day (Aug. 29-Sept. 2) featured a list of various activities, from yoga, massages and tubing to breathwork/meditation, e-biking, conch/lobster diving and game night/karaoke.

According to Gonzalez, Mirrors Getaway invitees are selected by Baisden, who “brings together women of similar industries and spaces.” Among this year’s invitees, in addition to Billboard: Epic Records vp of A&R Vivian Yohannes, Moet Hennessy vp/head of inclusion, diversity & equity Tiara Chesmer-Williams, confidence coach Karen A. Clark, Cruz Control Digital founder Kisha Maldonado, and COLTURE’s co-founder/head of creative services Jayne Andrew, head of operations Phylicia Goings and head of finance Jennair Rennie.

The 3rd Annual Mirrors Getaway of 2024’s group of extraordinary women on their final night of their trip on a private island resort in Turks & Caicos.

Courtesy of Mirrors Wellness Club

“This year we wanted to be truly intentional about rest and overall wellness,” says Gonzalez. “Oftentimes, women don’t truly get a chance to stop being ‘on’ even when they’re supposed to be ‘off.’ This is our way of saying ‘We see you’ and giving them the space to truly prioritize themselves. For just a few days, they get to disconnect and someone else will take care of it.”

Sharing her own takeaways from the retreat, Irina Melkumyan, vp/ERG program manager at City National Bank, tells Billboard, “This retreat didn’t just give me the opportunity to disconnect to reconnect. It also reminded me of how powerful we are as women, as humans … I walked away empowered.”

Baisden, named Billboard’s Indie Power Players 2024 executive of the year, notes the long-term goal for Mirrors Getaway is “for this experience to be the golf course for women. It’s about community building in an extremely healthy way.” And now with the addition of Mirrors Wellness Club Studio, “there is no Black wellness company that is using storytelling, music and IRL experiences to elevate the wellness lifestyle while simultaneously investing directly into women.”

In partnership with Faiyaz, COLTURE recently wrapped its fourth annual Show You Off grant program, awarding 12 women $10,000 grants each to run their own business or launch a new idea. Thus far, about half a million dollars have been donated to Black women-helmed businesses. COLTURE also houses a full-fledged media department, including TV, film, podcasting and digital content, plus real estate and start-up investments; a sports division is also in development.