A signature SMR initiative
Beyond the Look
African-diaspora creatives deserve coverage that goes beyond clothing, celebrity, trauma and trend. Their work should be examined through artistry, ideas, enterprise, cultural lineage and global impact.
The argument
Sub-Saharan African recorded-music revenues grew 15.2% in 2025, and African exports and international streaming keep rising. Yet international coverage of the continent remains concentrated around a narrow set of narratives.
Beyond the Look gives SMR something larger to represent than a client list. It makes the firm an advocate for higher-quality cultural journalism — and holds us to the same standard we ask of others.
The programme
Seven parts
A founder's essay
Darrell Shines on thirty years of watching stories get told badly.
A short video manifesto
Two minutes on what coverage owes the work.
A five-person industry roundtable
Editors, curators, artists and publicists in one room.
Interviews with journalists
The people commissioning the stories, on why depth is hard.
Ten model profiles
Demonstrating what deeper storytelling looks like in practice.
A media pledge and editorial guide
A practical standard newsrooms can adopt.
A launch salon
Paris, London or Palermo — invitation only.
The media pledge
Six commitments for editors who want to cover this culture properly.
- 01Report the work before the wardrobe.
- 02Name the lineage the work comes from.
- 03Ask about the business, not only the feeling.
- 04Treat the creative as an author, not a subject.
- 05Cite African and diaspora experts by name.
- 06Retire trauma and 'emerging' as default frames.