Meet Akin Akinwande

Today we’d like to introduce you to Akin Akinwande.

Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
My story began when I was 9 years old. I was born and raised in Nigeria, and I come from a family of musicians, where my father taught himself how to play many instruments, my mother sings, and my brothers play multiple instruments. At the age of 9, my father put me and my brothers in music school, to learn the basics of the piano, and from there, we each became our own artists. At the age of 10, I became to watch artists, such as Michael Jackson, Usher Raymond, Ginuwine, and I began to teach myself how to dance.

Many years later, I now live in Peoria, AZ, where I’m now a Creative Director. How did that come about? In 2016, I started a company name “Rhythm Creative Lab,” which specialized in Video production, photography, and choreography. I fell in love with a camera, and from there, I started showing the world what I captured through my lens. I use all my creative gifts in various ways, and they all overlap. I’m a drummer, a dance instructor, a videographer, photographer, creative. I’m an artist.

Please tell us about your art.
I play music, dance, film, photograph, and teach. I make things that are captivating to my audience, to make them think about life, and about who we were created to be. I try to influence people in a positive way, through the message of hope, through my faith in God, and through my experiences. I hope people take realness and an edifying message.

As an artist, how do you define success and what quality or characteristic do you feel is essential to success as an artist?
Success is an inward expression of progress. Success to me is an incremental progress in one’s life, work, creation, and artistry. Each day, I hope and strive to be better than I was the day before or the week before. A characteristic that is essential to success is humility. When a person is humble about who they are, what they’ve done, it attracts people to them, which breeds more success, that is bigger than one person. Another characteristic is to be a student of your craft. Things are always changing. An artist needs to know how to change, how to grow, and to learn. Without this, people become stagnant, wherever they are in life or with their art.

How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
My website, which is under construction and my Instagram @akinakinwande1 and @rclab1.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.rhythmcreativelab.com
• Email: rhythmcreativelab@gmail.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/akinakinwande1

Image Credit:
Dorrell Edwards, Pascal Trenou, Chelsea Herrera

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