Loading organizations...
Key people at itiswhatitis.fm.
itiswhatitis.fm operates as an independent record label based in British Columbia, Canada, primarily focused on the release and distribution of electronic music, encompassing various subgenres including electronic jazz. The label has cultivated a catalog of tracks and extended plays from a select group of electronic and electronic jazz artists, contributing to the broader electronic music landscape. Key figures associated with the label include its founder, Mathew Jonson, an acclaimed electronic music artist whose debut record in 2001 was the first release on the label, and the group Cobblestone Jazz, another prominent act featured in its discography. While specific financial metrics such as funding raised, valuation, or employee count are not publicly available, the label maintains a presence within the niche electronic music production and distribution sector. itiswhatitis.fm was founded prior to 2001 by Mathew Jonson.
Key people at itiswhatitis.fm.
itiswhatitis.fm is a collective or organization founded by a group of young technologists of color in Silicon Valley, initially known for launching a viral meme campaign in 2020[2]. Rather than operating as a traditional company with a conventional business model, itiswhatitis.fm functions as a creative and social-impact-focused entity. The organization gained prominence by leveraging exclusivity and secrecy to generate hype within tech communities, then redirecting that attention toward charitable causes supporting racial justice and the Black community[2].
The organization demonstrates a unique approach to activism and community engagement: it identifies how Silicon Valley's attraction to exclusive, invite-only experiences can be weaponized for social good. This philosophy—manufacturing hype through scarcity and then channeling it toward meaningful causes—sets it apart from conventional tech ventures that pursue growth and monetization as primary objectives[2].
itiswhatitis.fm emerged in June 2020 as a grassroots project among a group of young people of color working in tech, including engineer Regynald Augustin from Twitter[2]. The project began organically as a meme shared among friends—the now-iconic 👁👄👁 emoji—that unexpectedly went viral across Twitter and Silicon Valley[2].
What started as an inside joke quickly spiraled into a phenomenon that captured the tech community's attention. Rather than letting the momentum dissipate, the team made a deliberate decision: they would redirect the hype they had generated toward a critical social need[2]. Within a day and a half of the meme's launch, the group had raised more than $200,000 for charities supporting Black trans people and the Black Lives Matter movement, directing donations to organizations including the Loveland Foundation, The Innocence Project, and The Okra Project[2].
itiswhatitis.fm represents a growing counternarrative within tech: the use of insider knowledge and cultural fluency to critique and redirect the industry's own mechanisms. The project exposed how Silicon Valley's hunger for exclusivity and mystery—the same forces that drove Clubhouse to a $100 million valuation with just 5,000 users—can be harnessed for purposes beyond venture capital returns[2].
The organization sits at the intersection of meme culture, social activism, and tech criticism, demonstrating that young technologists of color possess both the cultural capital and strategic thinking to shape narratives within their own industry. This challenges the traditional power structures of tech entrepreneurship and investment.
itiswhatitis.fm's initial campaign proved that viral moments in tech can be deliberately engineered and repurposed for social impact. The organization's evolution from a one-off meme to an ongoing entity—evidenced by current staff listings showing a "Director of Memes" position[1]—suggests the team is formalizing its approach to culture-making and activism.
The future likely involves itiswhatitis.fm continuing to operate at the intersection of tech culture and social justice, potentially launching additional campaigns that leverage insider access and cultural understanding. As tech communities become increasingly scrutinized for diversity and social responsibility, organizations like itiswhatitis.fm that combine authentic community representation with strategic communication may become more influential in shaping how the industry perceives itself and its obligations to society.
