Laolu Senbanjo: Celebrated By Rolling Stone Africa

With his roots in Yoruba heritage, Laolu Senbanjo transforms every surface into a bold canvas, making waves from the streets of New York to the global stage and redefining what it means to be an African artist.

BY NICOLE ASINUGO
Excerpts from Rolling Stone Africa

NEW YORK CITY weather is notoriously unpredictable. One moment, it’s a biting cold with residents huddling under layers of clothing; the next, a swelter-ing heat forces them to retreat into air-conditioned havens. For Laolu Senbanjo, the city’s erratic climate has a peculiar irony. Here’s a Nigerian man, used to the scorching unforgiving sun of his homeland, lamenting on the New York heat. But after spending years away from Nigeria, this paradoxical gripe was a testament to how deeply he had integrated into his new environment.

Laolu Senbanjo, popularly known as Laolu NYC, is an artist whose work is unmistakable, character-ized by its striking and intricate attention to detail. His art transcends traditional canvases, finding expression on everything from sneakers to bottles, walls, and even bodies. “Everything is my canvas,” he proclaims, a mantra perfectly encapsulating his artistic philosophy. His work, a fusion of ancient African traditions with modern pop culture, tells stories of his Yoruba heritage, spirituality, and the human experience.