Leke Apena

Flavours of Black: Longlisted for Mo Siewcharran Prize 2021 Leke Apena

Believe in your sauce Fed up with being broke and overlooked for promotion at work, ambitious 24-year old web developer Yemi Abimbola, with help from his two best friends, music lover Kwesi and sex addict Gavin - who both grew up with him in Hackney - decides to launch a Hip Hop, R'N'B, Bashment and Afrobeats club night called Flavours of Black. It becomes an overnight success, and suddenly the boys are putting on the hottest raves in East London. But it soon comes with challenges. Not only is their friendship tested when they start to attract fame and female attention, but problems in their personal lives begin to spiral out of control. Soon, the three friends find themselves at odds with each other. As the hunger for money, women and clout threatens to destroy their bond forever, will Yemi, Kwesi and Gavin be able to transition from young black boys to responsible black men? Capturing the sound of London's urban black culture, Flavours of Black is an entertaining and heartfelt coming-of-age story. It explores themes of brotherhood, toxic masculinity, relationships, ambition and being black in Britain, all against the backdrop of East London's raving culture.