Damon Turner’s Trap Heals is more than just a professional creative agency, and a business that works to provide communities of color with sustainable equity. Trap Heals is a prayer. An idea. A feeling. A desired outcome for marginalized communities. As well as something that doesn’t exist quite yet.
“The Trap doesn’t heal anything at the moment. It’s killing our communities. With good motive behind it, some people sell dope in the hood to support their families because there aren’t viable options in the communities, we come from, to get out of poverty and come from mobility. Right now, the Trap does not exist. It doesn’t heal but I believe it can.”
Turner is an entrepreneur, rapper, and Cultural Architect for black communities everywhere. His agency, Trap Heals, works towards creating mechanisms, industries, and systems that black people can use to elevate themselves using the culture that we’ve been celebrating for centuries—our own.
“In doing this, I feel like we [black people] can work ourselves out of poverty. Trap is a trillion-dollar industry globally. It’s everywhere—Tokyo, Mexico. We’re seeing people wear the drip and try to have sauce, but those trillions of dollars never go back to our communities,” shared Turner.
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He continued, “So I pray this becomes an intervention where we are able to own the train out of the industry that we’ve created.”
While creating opportunities, Trap Heals also works in the spaces of events, music, fashion, art, content, investments, and security. In 2021, they hosted pop-up events in Leimert Park in partnership with Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation.
They also did another event with BLM, where they were able to do a global pop-up activation, producing events in LA, Atlanta, and Philadelphia simultaneously, where they could all see each other using an app, Twitch.
In 2010, Turner and his company built a 72-foot-long proximity greenhouse in South Central connected to Bryan Stevenson’s biopic “Just Mercy”. This was one of his favorite projects the company worked on.
“Part of the art activation we incorporated was to humanize people who were incarcerated. We honored their stories and created a safe space for people to come every day and feed their souls.”
“We’re a cultural architecture firm,” said the entrepreneur. “We’re doing this to put on for the people in our communities.”
As Cultural Architect, Turner builds safe spaces for diverse people to come and share ideas with those in a different mindset.
“The goal is to start new conversations, and that a new idea is born to move culture forward,” he said.
Turner architects spaces that unify people with hopes to move along the world based off the connections made. He believes that with all spaces—political, entertainment, activists, etc.— someone must know how to navigate and bind all these different worlds.
He’s the man for the job.
With LAS in celebration of Black Men’s Month, Damon also took time to reflect on the roll the men of his life have played in creating the multi-dimensional man he is today. Turned mentioned that “there are four types of men who’ve greatly influenced his life”, however, it was his godfather, Elbert, who shaped him greatly.
“[He] was a former Navy man, Chicago OG, and really straight forward, straight edge guy who gave me that gangsta perspective,” Turner reflected. “He always looked out for me, made sure I was covered spiritually, and made sure I wasn’t a knucklehead out in the streets.”
He continued, “but then I also have people like the poet Amir Suleimani who gifted me with the ability to use my words and write spoken word and make music that communicates heavy concepts in a beautiful way.”
As the year continues, Trap Heals’ projects have become less event base, and more centered around ideas.
Damon told LAS that, “we’ve been working heavily with the cities of Flint, Michigan as well as Inkster, Michigan, to introduce new cultural systems that can help their cities money and economic opportunities.”
For those looking assist Turner’s mission in creating change in marginalized communities, his advice is to follow your own steps and see where it leads you.
“We lose ourselves trying to mimic or follow someone else. We all have very dope individual power that needs to be explored. I can be an inspiration to someone, but I pray that my light is more an inspiration for someone to see their own path.”
For more information on Damon Turner and Trap Heals find him on Instagram @iamdamonturner or visit: https://www.trapheals.com.