One of the hottest entertainment story over the past weekend worldwide is the released of Beyonce‘s 6th studio album titled ” Lemonade ”. The visual for the album has being anticipated a longtime by music lover and her fans around the world. However, in keeping secret to her notorious approach to her latest work, no one was giving clue or direction the project might looks like, this as lead the increasing in the anticipation level of that album.
Meet Nigerian Artists that Inspired Yoruba Art on Beyonce’s New Album Lemonade
The creative behind that visual of the project is one young Nigerian goes by the name Laolu Senbanjo. The young man is a Nigerian born and Brooklyn based singer and visual artist was tapped last December to work with arguably the biggest pop artist in the world. According to him, the information given to him was sparse, but he was told that Beyonce wanted to work with him. Days later Laolu met up with Beyonce and her team in New Orleans and after being briefed on what they wanted to achieve, he got to work putting his signature painting on her dancers. He described most of creative art as ” Ori ” which means the creator in Yorubaland , but to him ” Ori ” destiny.
Laolu has had a manic 2016 thus far. He had a very successful collaboration with sports wear maker, Nike, which saw him as one of the Masters of Air at the recently concluded AirMax CON. He featured in luxury fitness brand, Equinox’s “Committed” social media campaign. But it seems none of these compare to having the opportunity to share his Yoruba influenced work with the world while we all sway to the beautiful vocals of Queen Bey.
Laolu often says “everything is my canvas” and it seems like many other collaborators such as Nike and Equinox, Beyonce has become one of his canvas.
Laolu was born and raised in Ilorin, Nigeria to Yoruba Parents and is based in Brooklyn, NY. He’s a Visual Artist, Musician, Human Rights Lawyer and Activist. His motto is: “Everything is my Canvas” and takes it to heart. He puts his mark on everything from canvas, to shoes, to walls and buildings, to clothing and even the body with his Sacred Art of the Ori. There’s no separating Laolu from his Yoruba heritage, it is ever-present in all his work. A strong advocate of holding onto your culture and spreading its glory he finds a way to marry his modern detail and ornate style with his Yoruba heritage by being one of the leaders in Afrofuturism Art. His preferred mediums are charcoal because it’s something as natural as life and death and he also likes to dabble in acrylics, inks and even wood.
You can see more of Laolu’s work on his Instagram account: @laolunyc
Credit: AmeyawDebrah.com