The Underground Music Academy (UMA) is a Detroit-based community music hub rooted in Detroit’s Black electronic music legacy which builds future leaders of electronic music through its distinct educational curriculum and mentorship model. The work, hybrid in nature, aims to realign the values of originality, quality, and social-justice closer to the genre’s origin through accessible and affordable music education in production and deejaying to Detroiters and beyond. 

While UMA is tasked with redeveloping a building that once served as Detroit’s NAACP headquarters, Ani advises on the design of the physical space, as well as program design to ensure students, speakers, and staff with a range of access needs have what they need. Ani is currently working to help UMA operationalize and inject collective access methodologies that will create a hybrid space that works for everyone’s bodies, minds, and engagement styles. 

Current online curriculum includes a music licensing course in partnership with 2k games.  Additional events include The Bullfrog, Synthesis, and Sound Design Workshop with Erica Synths and Richie Hawtin, King Britt’s Blacktronika: Detroit Dedication, a vinyl workshop with Brooklyn-based Analog Soul and the annual Memorial Weekend Pop-Up Record Shop.

Media: 

• Donate to UMA 

• DER Weekends: UMA works to build Detroit’s next generation of techno legends on WDET

• UMA website

• UMA Opening - 2k Foundations (Vimeo) 

• Music Origins - Submerge Records

• Waajeed on the rich history of Detroit & the UMA - Serato Unscripted (YouTube)

• Underground Music Academy is ushering in a new generation of revolutionary artists by Ash Lauryn in The Face

• Waajeed on the rich history of Detroit and the Underground Music Academy (YouTube auto captions 1 hr 9 min) 

• Artist Feature: Waajeed - The Underground Music Academy from Carhartt WIP