Episode 28 is with Onyedi of Motherlan. Currently residing in London, Onyedi and I got to sit down for an interview on a recent trip he, and his friends, took out to NYC.
Growing up with an Australian mother and a Nigerian father, Onyedi lived in Australia til he was 12 and would go back and forth to Nigeria. We spoke about the culture shock he had eventually moving to Lagos. Growing up in an almost solely white population and then moving to an almost solely black population. Having family all over, he discovered skateboarding on a trip he took to California and brought a board back to Lagos. Eventually he was made aware of what is known as the first ever skate shop in West Africa, WAFFLESNCREAM, and became a regular. Onyedi then worked at the shop, became close with the founder Jomi, and met the crew that would eventually form Motherlan together.
In 2018, they started Motherlan when the cult moved out to the UK. Onyedi broke down the process of discovering what they wanted to do with the brand. Initially, he was still in Nigeria while most of the group was out in London, but eventually he made the move out there and started really pushing the brand. He spoke about the brand growing, working on delegating roles, finding structure for the brand, and transitioning into the head role as Creative Director.
Onyedi, and Motherlan, are quite multifaceted and this has much to do with his extremely eclectic understanding of culture. He enlightened me on how gnarly Nigeria can be, knowing how to move properly in places full of corruption, and the importance of sticking with people you trust. Family in the US, growing up in Australia, moving to Nigeria at 12, moving to the UK alone at a young age. I was super impressed when I was thinking about my own personal experience of living in the same state my whole life.
After the interview, Xavier helped me realize how fucking young Onyedi is and that shit humbled me. When I was his age I was not even close to that seasoned! Respect!
We also talk about filming, writing graff, collabs, etc! My fingers are cramping and I'm in class! Pce!!