“The first album I remember saving was Skepta’s Konnichiwa. That was my first introduction to this underground scene, which opened me up to loads of other artists,” Manny-born fashion photography student and diehard music fan Mossy McDermott, tells us.
We linked up with Mossy to explore how fandom and fan memorabilia shape our identity, and how the world’s biggest music platform enables fans to immerse themselves in the culture, both online and IRL. “We want fans to see their communities reflected and feel that connection with the artists they love,” says Spotify’s Marc Hazan.
We wanted to see how the Culted community, especially music fans in creative roles, curate their fan memorabilia, so we headed over to Mossy’s house in Limehouse, London, which is replete with photos, tickets, posters, and even Mossy’s self-published book, 35MM, an on-the-ground, grassroots ode to the UK’s rap scene.
“That's where I found a love of capturing the moment. If my house was on fire, the one thing I'd definitely save would be my first ever photo book, 35mm, which is a documentation of the UK underground rap scene. Quite a lot of the artists, whose names are Fimi, Len, Whitey, were all a lot smaller then. So it's cool to have this as a staple or a piece of history before they were all these big names,” he tells us.
But Mossy’s all-time favourite artist is the GOAT Playboi Carti: “My most played artist on Spotify would definitely be Playboi Carti, who was doing his first show in Manchester. I Bought a ticket on the day, I was like, I've got to get the bus into town,” he recounts.
“Just being on my own, I felt so surrounded by my people there,” he says of the sense of community IRL fandom can provide.
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