Femi and the Foundation

Femi and the Foundation is a band on the rise. Channeling the spirit of The Roots, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Fugees, and Erykah Badu, they balance raw and rooted musicality with fearless experimentation in a fusion of funk, rock, hip-hop, and r&b — lending additional influence from afrobeat, psychedelic rock, blues legends, and modern jazz innovators.

Based in Washington, DC, they have quickly established themselves as a headlining act and as broad-reaching collaborators, drawing large crowds at some of DC’s most iconic regional venues and community music festivals. Their 2024 EP, Build for Us, showcases this evolution, with a full-length album planned for release in August 2025.

This is music for the mo(ve)ment — music for hope, for solidarity, and for justice. Build with us.

Clifford Cartel

Clifford Cartel is a creative from the DMV intent on exploring the existence of humans – black, white, poor, or otherwise – through rap, vigorous performance and music production. Having discovered the magic of music in middle school, Clifford Cartel picked up a keyboard and microphone and never looked back. 

While at South Carolina State University, Clifford Cartel started a record label called DGAF Society. A space intended for new rules, Cliff handcrafted didactic mix-tapes and albums for himself and others, while organizing concerts, merch and release parties.

To date, Cliff has 6 full albums circulating the interwebs – including Today, Pigs Fly – his latest offering, with a new Live Album slated to drop in the summer of 2025. The aforementioned projects afforded Cliff opportunities to write, produce and perform all over the country. Clifford Cartel is also a producer, composer and arranger. His work includes composing original music for the Atlas Theater. Clifford Cartel is a D.C. 2020, 2022,  2023 & 2024 Arts and Humanities Artist Fellow and an active member in the Recording Academy.