Daily Inspiration: Meet Olu AnuAkin

Today we’d like to introduce you to Olu AnuAkin.

Hi Olu, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I recall a story my mother told me about how when I was a little kid, I would mix toothpaste, dishwashing soap, and anything else I could get my hands on just to get a chemical reaction—I told her I was making potions. So she ended up buying me a cheap chemist set so I wouldn’t accidentally make some type of poison of that sort. I often recall this story as a glimpse into the “mad scientist” and “alchemist” foretelling. My love for chemistry evolved into audio engineering, specifically mixing, and later into web development and handmade mixed media collage.

As a little kid, I would draw cartoon characters and write my own stories, some of which I still have the notebook for or at least a remembrance of the idea. With music there was a pivotal moment when Sprite or 7UP had these commercials where someone was rapping in them; that was inspiring. Also at the time, pop hits from Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys were alive and well. A friend of mine at the time would invite me over to play video games and draw; besides falling in love with Final Fantasy 7 and Metal Gear Solid, we would frequently put on music and allow the vibes to give us an experience outside of our problematic living situations.
Along with my mother’s love for Whitney Houston, the Isley Brothers, and various 70s & 80s artists, Tupac was among her favorite artists.
Soon after I started to turn poetry into rap lyrics. Not too long after that I was “ripping” songs from the internet to listen to and random instrumentals to write and rap songs too. Hip-hop heavy hitters like Biggie, Bone Thugs and Harmony, and Big L were listened to frequently. Then Lil Wayne and the Hot Boyz came out, and my cousins and I were obsessively listening to them. Sometime in my teens I started recording my own songs; long story short, I soon started performing and released a few mixtapes back when Datpiff was popular, and then more life hit me, and I had to go on a solo journey to get myself back, parts of myself I thought were gone and parts I didn’t realize needed to be expressed. Big shout-out to Bon Iver, Frank Ocean, and James Blake for heavy inspiration in my early 20s.

Growing up mostly split between my North American roots, rooted within “Black” culture, and Nigerian culture had me in an identity crisis. Amongst being active in the destruction of culture and being a part of certain statistics and lifestyles, there was a choice to make, and eventually I chose to go into “the unknown,” facing fears and walking through the fire, so to say.
2017 I released a project titled “Mama’s Boy” (which I’ve rereleased a shortened version of in 2022, available on my Bandcamp), and in 2019 I began creating handmade collages. In 2020 I began software engineering. As time passed, I went deeper into my healing journey and creative expressions.

Now I feel a sense of wholeness. No, things aren’t always as I wish for myself, yet keeping gratitude has been a “lifesaver.”

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Most definitely it has not been a smooth path, but I wouldn’t change that.
Where do I begin? From being a caretaker at a young age and being conditioned towards the normalization of violent behavior and family feuds; experiencing the complex, yet beautiful, experience of being from Nigerian African culture and African American culture; leaving a destructive lifestyle and finding my own voice; making the hard choice of taking care of another person’s child; and struggling with mental health and survivor’s guilt/remorse. Along with the fluctuation of the entrepreneurial lifestyle. Also, being a sensitive being and keeping my sense of empathy without becoming so jaded due to our current societal norms has been a challenge/obstacle. I face.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m known as a multidisciplinary artist specializing in music, mixed-media collage, writing, and modeling. I’m proud I’ve come to a point of being so authentic and accepting of my own voice and innate power.
I’d say my approach to creating, diversity in design, and range within production, along with my technical skills in audio mixing and AI-assistive coding, set me apart from most artists I see today.

How do you think about luck?
A large role to say the least. I wake up every day knowing how lucky and blessed I am. My mother almost didn’t have me due to previous miscarriages, but it was my grandmother who suggested keeping me.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://oluanuakin.me/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/olu_anuakin/
• Other: https://galoriousexpression.com/

Image Credits
SSNEAU