It all started with a pop-up show at the Rocky steps. Philly Creators is a collective of individuals, artists, and creatives that are talented in multiple mediums and genres. Now the group has grown to performing all over the city including at our CollegeFest Block Party!
We had the chance to sit down with the Ricky Martin AKA Martin and Camille Velasquez and talk about their story, Philly Creators, and why they’re excited to be at Campus Philly’s CollegeFest this year!
Tell us a little about yourself and your business. What’s the Philly Creator “story”?
Martin: I’m the CEO & President of Philly Creators. A recent graduate of Drexel University, Artist, DJ, & Event Curator. Bringing artists together to perform was something I did my entire college career and trying to foster a community for artists to thrive was something I was really looking to do here in philly. With the help of some friends, we all started popping up around the city and performing our music. Because we loved it. We continued to do it every week and with that, more people would come to our pop ups and shows! We are now playing in front of thousands of people. We are opening for platinum selling artists and playing in venues. The Philly Creators “Story” is one of perseverance and consistency. Through playing outside every week (whether the weather was perfect or miserably hot in the middle of the summer), we went out and strived to be better.
Camille: I am the VP & Creative Director of Philly Creators. I am currently a student at Drexel University majoring in Graphic Design! I use my knowledge from the major and advice from others to help me in this position. I am passionate about music and artists and want to support in any way I can. Philly Creators does just that, we started doing live performance pop-ups in the city around March of 2021 and I wanted to really help more to create a brand and a visual story to our audience. I wanted to create a platform where we can collaborate with artists and other businesses in the Philadelphia area that help do the same! Ever since then, people loved what we were doing and here we are about a year and a half later!
How has your education at Drexel, along with your courses, activities/clubs, and network prepared you for your entrepreneurial journey?
Camille: My education has been great so far! I am learning so much after switching from fashion design to graphic design. I’m learning a lot about branding, typography, and more. I am also apart of LUC (Latinos for a United Campus) at Drexel and will be apart of their marketing team this coming school year. I am also minoring in Dance and will be the VP of a dance club at Drexel this coming school year. As you can see, I really like to be involved and apply my graphic skills and more where ever I can. Drexel taught me to be more ambitious than I already am and to think outside the box! My first co-op was also great, I worked as the Art Director for Pennoni Honors College, and my boss was always very supportive of my work and allowed me to take charge in new ideas for the college. I learned a lot about handling different projects and being able to build my portfolio.
You often work with singers, producers, DJs, etc. How did you build this community? How can current college students and recent grads work with Philly Creators?
Martin: We look left and right for new artists, but the best way to join the community is simply to ask! We welcome anyone with open arms and want to help connect these younger creatives with more people within the city.
Camille: I believe, especially in a college setting, that once you meet one person in the music industry you meet more. I met Martin (CEO) and JJH (Executive Director) during my freshman year and didn’t begin working with them until my sophomore year! While I don’t make music, I offered musicians my visual talent. This started to create a collaborative space which allowed us to able to network and connect with other artists. Whether you’re a current college students or a recent grad, you can DM us on Instagram, go on our website to send an email, or join our Discord! Through this we meet new artists and find ways that we can work with them in a near future or for anything else!
We are so excited to be joined by Philly Creators at the Campus Philly Block Party during this year’s CollegeFest. Tell us more about the lineup, who’s performing, and when.
Camille: Here at Philly Creators we have a variety of artists with different genre specialities. Our performers music for the event will range from hip-hop/rap to pop, alternative R&B, and more. We have 11 artists split between the two days to bring the energy and to connect with more college students who may also be in the music industry! We are really welcoming and want to build a community. We have a mix of artists who go to Drexel and Temple. We will have our very talented CEO & DJ, Martin, fill the vibes with great music and in between sets have the performers from 11am-4pm!
Fill in the blank: You should come to CollegeFest because…
It is the best way to get to know the city of Philadelphia and meet other college students!
Block Party Lineup:
Saturday:
Marquel (Noon) | @itsdaniel_marquel
Nicky Ra (12:45) | @nickjusits
Martin (1:15pm) | @officialmartinmusic
Amara J (2pm) | @amara._j
Hue Hinton (3pm) | @huehinton_
Sunday:
NSHGxhst(Noon) | @nshghxst
JJH (12:45) | @therealjjh
Cade Ace (1:15) | @cade.ace
Goldmine (2:15) | @goldmine
Kyd Ace (3:00) | @kyd_ace
Neel2k (3:00) | @neel2k
*subject to change*
