When Fu’ad told me that my next story would be on an artist, I was excited. Less so after I did some research and found more of his work. I didn’t think I could do it. This person is a creative through and through. How would I capture the essence of his work? Would I be able to tell his story well? Then, on a Friday morning in October, with a slightly erratic heart rate, I called Seyi Akinlade. And we talked.
It’s the summer of 2016, and Ohema by Dj Spinall ft. Mr Eazi has us in a chokehold. You directed that video. So you’ve been important for a while now, but what would you consider as your big break?
Ah… I had no idea this was going to go in any direction like this. I thought you guys were going to ask me about food. LMAO. But okay. Uhmm. I don’t know if I got a big break. But what put me out there? I got to do some interesting work with Ice Prince earlier that year in 2016. He’s a great person, and he pushed that work as a collaborative effort between both of us.
I’ve seen your work. It’s hard to have a personal favourite, but there’s this photo of a woman in a net dress and gloves. It’s so majestic. You’re an artist, so was there a particular creative work that pushed you to decide, “Yes, I’m going to create art too”?
It happened over time. I don’t have any crazy stories about being artsy as a child. But over time, even in school, I started to fall in love with pictures. And more than everything, I was interested in creating them myself, not just being photographed or looking at photographs. I was that person who used to borrow people’s cameras and try to use them. I enjoy exploring art in any form that interests me. Sometimes it works out; sometimes it doesn’t.
Like that photo.
Yeah, like that.
I work at Eden, so forgive me for imagining your art style like a fine meal. Now, let’s imagine together. What are the biggest influences on your art style? Think of these influences like ingredients. What makes your art the way it is?
What’s in the recipe? Well, I’d say nostalgia. I’m inspired by making people reminisce or making myself reminisce. The concept of going back to a time where I felt good. Nostalgia is a big one. Anything that’ll push real feelings and emotions, even till the point of tears. I’m with it. I like to explore those feelings. Then sound. Music plus nostalgia, light, and shadows. It’s a very long recipe, but these things come together to push those emotions.
That’s such an exciting recipe, and I recognise it in Ginger Me, a fave from Rema. You directed that video. What was that set like for you? What was your favourite part of the entire process? Which part did you detest the most?
Ginger Me was a very interesting project and it did a lot for me as a filmmaker. I mean I’ve been learning this thing since 2016, and I can tell you for free that I didn’t know shit. I’m aware now that I have a gift, but being technically sound wasn’t my MO. I’d kind of shut my eyes and shoot.
But Ginger Me and the other projects from that year were a big step for me in knowing how large-scale productions work. We could spread our wings a bit more, get smarter people in the room. It was better than doing my thing by myself, as I’d done many times before that.
For my least favourite part, you don’t want to hear all that. As my grandmother would say, there’s so much yama-yama. There’s an entire list, but those aren’t the things I like to dwell on. They’re standard procedures when working in this space. It’s art. It’s going to be what it’s going to be.
So, this year, you’ve done some amazing work. You’ve directed the video for Crazy Tings – Tems; Kolo – Ice Prince ft Oxlade; and even the “No Easy Way” campaign for Adidas. How would you say your work today differs from your work in 2016?
Let’s even use the Ice Prince projects as a case study. Shout out to Ice. For me, the vibe is the same. But like I said, there’s more technical knowledge on the table and better equipment in our hands. We know what to do and who to surround ourselves with to make these things work properly. There’s still a long way to go, but we’re working on bigger projects and I’m not the smartest person in the room anymore.
I imagine your work, despite being fulfilling, will be hectic. That leads me to my next question, what was the moment you realised you were going to choose Eden?
So, I’ve been living alone for a long time, where ever I’ve been in the world. And you know everyone has their strengths. I suck at food unless it’s the basics. What’s that stuff Bella Shmurda said? ‘I can boil water, Indomie, egg…’
LMAO
He said some funny stuff. But yeah. I’ve always been around great women who can cook. My grandmother owned a restaurant back in the day. My mother was a superb cook. But, I don’t know how to manage myself properly with food. And now being in Naij, and living alone, you need to budget. You need to be smart with your money and you also need to eat safely.
That’s one thing that struck me about Eden. From the aesthetics to the app. I thought, these guys look like they know what they’re doing and I’m in trouble in this department. Eden took out a chunk of my worry with food. Because I don’t have the time. So, yeah that was a big thing that freed up my time and mind. Everything is well done. Packaging, delivery, it’s all seamless and I don’t like stress.
I’m sure you travel a lot for work. How does that affect your Eden Life?
It’s cool that there’s a feature on the app that allows me to pause. It’s not some long process like most other places might be. And there’s always something else I can get done. So, if I’m not eating, I can be getting my cleaning done. That’s one of the things I like as well. Being able to switch services and pause. I like that a lot. Especially because it means that I don’t waste money when I’m not getting food.
How do you think your work will be different in another 5 years?
It would be different. I’m enjoying exploring with other creatives. For the longest time, I was always doing a lot by myself. But now, being able to have a team around me is helping. Also, being exposed to bigger projects with value, means I have more to work with.
But, I’m excited to see my work go in a different direction. I mean, the world is bigger now. There are so many cultures to explore. So many art forms to try out. So many styles and mediums. I came in very guerilla; you know. Learning by making mistakes, but now I’m excited to dive into the art of filmmaking. Yeah. I’ll be doing some very interesting stuff in the future.
I can’t wait to see what that looks like. Now, who is someone you know who deserves an Eden Life, and why?
Hmm. I know a bunch of people. Who is someone I know? My sister. My sister is Funmi. Shout out to Funmi. She’s an amazing person. She’s in the medical field and she works crazy hours back-to-back. She’s in Emergency Medicine, so she’s on-call all the time. So yeah, she could use this kind of service. And the advantage of having stuff done for her for a good price and with good follow-up service. She deserves a good life.
Thank you for taking the time and talking with me, Seyi. I totally agree with you and I hope we can serve Funmi soon.