Issue 9 by Effuse Magazine

EFFUSE Magazine | DEC - FEB

Co Editor: Tapiwa Mugabe 2017 has come and gone and with it it’s own cycles of birth, life and death and all that is contained within these experiences. This year brought it’s set of valuable lessons. The experience we gained during this year will be useful for the coming year too. There are things to be grateful for and things to mourn about from the past year and most important of all there are lessons, all the experience from the past year available to us, to take into the coming year to inform our decision making and to take us further in our lives. There is more love to experience in this life going forward and in 2018 we must strive to learn more than we did this year to create a better future not just for ourselves buy for others so that we share in the lessons that we gain from put personal experiences. Such a collective effort to understand life results in in a rich collection of stories and ideas. Each experience we go through in life is catalogued in our memory and saved as part of our story. All these stories make up a series of lessons which we use to navigate this experience as human beings. This year I began the year by asking myself and questioning what life is and it’s meaning. And at end of the year I find myself with more questions regarding our existence as human beings on this planet and in this universe. During my search and questioning to reach some understanding of who we are, my faith was up and down as I found and lost God, a spiritual gymnastics of sorts and trusting that God uses such exercises to strengthen our faith and knowledge of him i have learnt that we are all here for a purpose. Through prayer and seeking as well as my belief in God I have been able to see life as a series of lessons and and the greatest lesson of all been to love. Our purpose can be summed up as a call to love, to love one another, to love our work, to love our planet and all that it contains. We are put here in this world with this experience to tend to one another as a Gardner tends to flowers; in a pot or a patch of land. The lesson is the same, to love another and with that said I hope 2018 brings more lessons on how to best love and care for each other as human beings and to ever fall in love with our work and all thats contained in our lives. And when 2018 ends I hope we have learnt and gained as much knowledge to take us further as a people and a species, to enable us to build build a better world and a more beautiful version of ourselves.

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EFFUSE Magazine | DEC - FEB

CO N T E N T S EFFUSE MAGAZINE Effuse Magazine This 9th issue features some of the great talents worldwide including Nigeria, Ghana and United Kingdom. With this issue we are celebrating a successful end of 2017, despite the ups and downs we might have faced to get this far. @effusemagazine

Front Cover Our front cover for this issue is the multi talented creative and business brand builder Michaell Bullion. It’s a pleasure to have Mr Bullion on our 9th issue front cover and he is a very inspiring individual whose feature will inspire lots of our readers.

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@michaellbullion

Photographers Credits to the amazing professional photographers that took some of the images featured in this 9th issue. Mekxphotography Rukudzo K Photography Archyra Photography Afrom Jam » p.20

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Contributors Thank you to our content contributors worldwide and our Co Editor for always delivering the best content for our issues.

Social Media: @effusemagazine Contact: effusemag@gmail.com » p.28

Happy New Year!

EFFUSE Magazine | DEC - FEB

ED I T O R ’ S L ET T ER CECILIA KUPERA

Flying isn’t really one of my favourite things to do but I am writing this editor’s letter a few thousand feet in the sky. It just made me realise that sometimes we create our own fears that stop us from reaching our desired goals. As for me I wouldn’t have seen the beautiful Canary Islands, if I didn’t remove the fear of leaving my home. This trip has taught to me step out of that home comfort and challenge my fears. Reaching our goals can only be done through conquering our fears and stepping outside our comfort zones. Even though it’s one of the hardest challenges, but the best ideas and businesses are created through taking risks. As we come to the end of 2017 and stepping into a new year of 2018. I encourage you all to step outside your comfort zones and eliminate the fear of becoming the best version of yourself. Create the best change for your life, career, and surround yourself with positivity to start the year of 2018 till the end. Remember to remove the thoughts of fear towards the process of being great. Plan your work and move at your own pace, don’t be pressured by someone’s success. Let’s get our diaries, vision plans, and story boards ready for the year 2018. Live your best life in 2018 and be the best version of yourself! Thank you for your continuous support and enjoy reading this issue.

Happy New Year!

R EMP LI C O L L EC T I ON

EFFUSE Magazine | DEC - FEB

Reves Clothing Company, is pleased to announce its Rempli’ (Fulfilled) Collection. The new collection which is a fine blend of class and sophistication, reflects very distinct aesthetic characters. Each piece from the Rempli’ is created to set the gentlemen apart stylishly. With our eye-catching bespoke pieces, we dare you to be yourself and wear the clothes that truly express your individuality and identity Shop our Rempli’ collection and stay connected to the very essence of who you are.

Styled by @olunicholas Photography by @kunmi.owopetu

Contact: Instagram: @revesclothingco Website:www.revesclothing.com Email: revesstudios@gmail.com Phone:080234www6900

Full interview coming soon.

EFFUSE Magazine | DEC - FEB

REMPLI COLLECTION.

EFFUSE Magazine | DEC - FEB

REMPLI COLLECTION.

EFFUSE Magazine | DEC - FEB

B L A C K RO YALT Y - Afro Jam T

he f irst t im e we d i d

the m u si c a s p e c t. Th e e ve nt

o f Af r i c a n c u l t ure p re s e nt

Af roJ am in 2 0 16 wa s

wa s su cce s s f ul l a s t ye a r

t h i s ye a r. We re a l l y wa nte d

s ole ly to promo te u p com in g a nd an ar t i c l e o n U n i ve r s i t y

a n i g ht we re Af r i c a n c u l t u re

Jaz z , S ou l, R n B, Al te r nate,

Ti m e s i ns p i re d us to d o ub l e

f l o u r i s h e d i n a p re s t i g e, to p

Afrof u n k mu sic i n I re l a nd.

u p thi s ye a r. Th e a r t i c l e

t i e r co l l e g e. Th i s ye a r, we

We tr i e d to i m pl e m e nt

sa i d : “ Tr i n i t y Af ro Ca r i b b e a n

h a d n o t j us t m us i c o f t h e

s po k e n wo rd a n d m ayb e

S oc i e t y b r i n gi n g d i ve r s e r i c h

s a m e g e n re a s a b ove, b u t

eve n d a nce a s wel l b u t t h ere Af r i c an cu l t ure o n c a m p us”.

a l s o d an ce an d f as hi o n . Th e

was n o t eno u gh ti m e a nd

Thi s e ncoura g e d us to e n s ure

f as hi o n s h ow b ei ng t he h i g h-

th i n g s d idn’t wo r k ou t a s

we have n o t j us t m u s i c b u t

l i g ht o f t h e e ve nt d i d n’t

pla nn ed so we s tayed w i th

have m os t i f n o t a l l a s p e c t s

co m e to a s u r p r i s e b e c a u s e

EFFUSE Magazine | DEC - FEB

th e organ isers d ec i d ed to

l o g o h a s a wo m an c ar r y-

t he c rowd c h eered o n fo r

h ave a m essag e w i th e ac h

i n g a ca l aba s h ) . Thi s s i gni-

him as they got the message

mod e l a n d c at wal k . Th e f i r s t f i es co m m u ni t y and to g et h-

i n s tantl y : B l a c k E xcel l e n ce.

wal k was t ra d it iona l a nd

e r nes s a s t h at i s w h at o u r

O n ce h e wal k ed o u t, 5

it tra n sit io ne d f rom Bl a ck

soc i et y i s a b o u t s o h e r

m o d e l s i n 3 p i e ce s ui t s

R oya l t y, to sl ave r y a nd the n a ppe a r i ng i n e ve r y wa l k wa s

a l s o wa l k e d i n a n d we re

into l i ve s o f bl a c k p e o p l e

n e ce ssa r y. Th e s e co n d wa l k

t a k e n o u t o n e by o n e w i th

to d ay. A m o d e l w i t h a ca l-

op e ne d w i t h t h e s a m e m o d e l

wo m en i n eve n i n g g ow n s.

ab ash mad e an ap pe arance

wh o wa s a s l ave i n th e f i r s t

We h o p e t h e s o c i e t y s t ays

at the en d o f a l l wal k s to

wa l k , wa l k o ut w i t h a 3

ex t re m e l y re l e va nt a n d g e t s

s i gni f y t h e a f ro so c l o g o ( ou r pi e ce su i t o n h i s ow n a n d

e ve n b i g g e r o n TC D c a m p u s.

EFFUSE Magazine | DEC - FEB

BLACK ROYALTY.

EFFUSE Magazine | DEC - FEB

MEET ROBYN BANKS

EFFUSE Magazine | DEC - FEB

“Your elevator don’t reach this floor.” How d i d yo u s t ar t yo u r m o d-

What i n s p i red yo u to i n

e l l i ng & b ra n d a m b a s s a d o r

t he m o de l l i ng i nd u s t r y? I

c are er ? I s t a r te d m o d e l l i n g a

h ave a l ways wa nte d to b e

wh il e a g o t hro u g h par t ak i n g

a m od e l s i n ce I wa s a l i tt l e

i n p ag e ant s. I rece nt l y g o t

gi r l b u t I wa s s ce p t i c a l a b o u t

a p p ro a c he d by t wo o rg an-

j o i n i n g t h e i n d us t r y a s I

i sati ons to b e t h e i r b ra n d

n e ve r wa nte d to l o s e we i g ht

a m ba ss a d o r d u e to my s o c i a l

i n o rd e r to b e t he t y pi c a l

m e d ia pre s e nce a nd my co n-

s k i n ny m o d el. O ve r t h e

st a nt p o s t s.

ye a r s t h e re h a s b e e n m o re ro o m fo r t h e c ur v i e r m o de l s

EFFUSE Magazine | DEC - FEB

in the ind u st r y. The refore,

How i m p o r t a nt i s s o c i a l

D e s c r i b e yo u r s e l f a n d yo u r

th i s h a s b ee n my sou rce of

m e d ia to you i n te r m s o f

l i fes t y l e i n a few wo rd s ? I a m

in s pi rat io n .

b ui l d i ng u p to u r c a re e r ?

a s t u d e nt w h o l oves trave l-

S oci a l m e d i a h a s b e e n a

l i n g a n d ex p l o r i n g d i f fe re nt

v i ta l tool i n b ui l d i n g my

f i el d s. R e ce nt l y I s t a r te d a

c are er b e c aus e th at is w here

Yo u t u b e t rave l v l o g c h a n n e l

you g e t t h e op p o r t u n i t y to

( R o by n B an k s ) w he re I do c -

n e t wo r k w i t h a l l th e c l o t h-

u m e nt a l l my t r i p s. S o

i ng l i nes, p h o to gra p h e r s a n d

f a r i t h a s b e e n e n j oya b l e

com pa ni e s to p o te nt i a l l y

h owe ve r I a m n at ura l l y s hy

col l ab orate w i t h .

a n d re s e r ve d s o I a m s t i l l

Wh at are t h e c hal l e ng e s you h ave f ace d on you r jo u r n e y s o f a r ? Th e ch a ll e ng e is t he re al i s ati on that s ucce s s t a k e s t i m e. You j u st have to b e p at i e nt an d co ns i s te nt and h ave f a i th that eac h day t h at g o es by b r i n g s you cl o se r to achi e v i ng you r

I s t h e re a p ar ti c u l a r fo r m o f

go als.

soc i a l m e d i a t h at yo u us e

How is t he exp er i ence and the c ha l l e n g e s of b ei n g an amb a ss a do r ? I h ave h a d a gre at exper ien ce wor k i ng

wo r k i n g o n s te p p i n g ou t o f my comfor t zone.

t h e m o st fo r yo u r c a reer

Any wo rd s o f en co ura g e -

b ran d b u i l d i n g ? I o n l y us e

m e nt to o t h e r yo un g wo m e n

my I n s t agra m account @

w h o wa nt s to b e i n t h e s a m e

ro by n . b an k s _ .

c areer an d to t ho s e s ea rc h-

as an a m ba s sa d o r fo r d i f fe r-

What m a k e s yo u r s o c i a l

ent b ra nd s. As of ye t the re

m e d ia p res en ce an d v l o g-

h as nâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t been a ny c hal l e ng e s

gi ng di f fe re nt to o t h e r s ?

of be in g an a m b a ss ad or.

I be l i e ve w h at m a k e s m e

I n s te a d it ha s in sp i red m e

u ni q u e i s t h e way I ex p re s s

to p ursu e my f u t u re p l ans of

myse l f co n f i d e nt l y a n d

be in g a bu s in e ss own e r.

u na p ol og e t i c a l l y.

i n g to be b ran d am bas s ad o r s ? I en co u ra g e th o s e w h o w i s h to p u r s ue t h e s a m e c areer path to be co n s i s te nt, i nve s t i n t h e m s e l ve s a n d to a l ways p ur s u e t h e i r d re a m s e ve n i f i t m e a n s s te p p i n g o u t o f t h e i r com fo r t zo n e.

@r obyn.banks_

EFFUSE Magazine | DEC - FEB

Robyn Banks.

Photographer: mekxphotography

EFFUSE Magazine | DEC - FEB

Tasia R. Graham is a 19 year old artist from Birmingham. Tasia describes her art as both abstract and realistic and centred around black culture and her experience of the world. Inspired by black culture her work stems from the black womanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s experience which she feels is underrepresented in media. .

EFFUSE Magazine | DEC - FEB

TASIA

INTERVIEW BY TAPIWA MUGABE Can you describe the first time you realised creating was something you absolutely had do? I think it was when I was in secondary school and I would paint landscapes. It was my way of escape. I asked my teacher what to do as everyone else was getting into Math or Business and I didn’t know what to do. “And she looked at me and said, you need to get into art, if you don’t get into art you’re going to be disappointed. And she told me I could do anything involving art and at that point I decided this is what I’m going to do. What is your favourite painting you have created? The woman with an afro (below) I wanted to created an image of a powerful woman, because you rarely see women like that and if you’re going to have an image of a powerful woman why not have her in her natural state with an afro? I wanted it to look pretty, to mean something and make people connect with the image so I added to the hair stars and after I was pleased with it and thought this is my favourite painting. What are you trying to communicate with your art. I just want people to connect and feel something even if its to take away what I was feeling when I created the painting. What’s your favourite gallery? The Tate Modern. What inspires you? I think the world around me is what inspires me and translating that into a picture or a painting. You seem to paint human faces quite a lot, why the human face? I find painting faces interesting. When you draw faces there’s a lot of detail, so I learnt in art classes to see beyond the face and think of the skeletal system be him the face snd the muscular structure and how that affects the face.

tasia9876.wixsite.com/tasiagraham

@tasiargx

EFFUSE Magazine | DEC - FEB

WHAT IS MUTUPO AND HOW IT STARTED? The MUTUPO brand was formed in the latter stages of 2016 after a group of friends with an aligned vision discussed the lack of, and access to quality to clothing from our country, Zimbabwe. During these conversations, there was the realisation that there isn’t anything distinctly Zimbabwean in comparison with the iconic Kitenge, Ankara and Aso Ebi to name a few.

race and cultures over our first year of operation.

MUTUPO is a concept of trendy clothing that marries current trends with native heritage in a way that could stand head to head with modern brands today. MUTUPO was born of this ethos of “Bringing Heritage into the Future”.

WHAT DOES THE BRAND MEAN FOR ZIMBABWE / THE ZIMBABWEAN COMMUNITY? We want to give Zimbabweans a sense of pride and an education in their culture. We know firsthand all the nuances of our culture and how they affect our pride and what that effect has on your achievements. The brand represents a new positioning for Zimbabwean culture elevating it into popular culture and will continue to be synoptic of great quality, great experiences beyond clothing, and an honest portrayal of what Zimbabweans are capable of.

WHAT DOES THE BRAND STAND FOR? MUTUPO is all about bringing heritage into the future. We want people to be proud of where they come from and a huge part of that pride comes from aesthetics. We want to share African culture to the world at the level of many notable brands like Supreme, Adidas, Comme des Garcon and the like. We hope to impart a sense of actionable pride that inspires the wearer to understand where they come from, whilst feeling inspired to move forward boldly into the future. We take pride in being able to share our culture with the world, having grown a reputation of welcoming and appealing to people from different types if backgrounds,

WHO ARE THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE BRAND? The guys behind MUTUPO are: Takunda Chikuku (@tai_ parker) & Sheunesu Badza (@sho_dza). Takunda comes from a creative and strategic background in Marketing & Technology and Sheunesu comes from a background in finance and business.

Since inception in December 2016 we have released various types of headwear, and have recently launched our new collection of jumpers as we also celebrate our first year of operation this December. Be sure to check us out all social platforms @mutupoworld and support the movement, all items only available for sale from www.mutupo.com

EFFUSE Magazine | DEC - FEB

MUTUPO WORLD CLOTHING BRAND

EFFUSE Magazine | DEC - FEB

MUTUPOwww.mutupo.com WORLD.

EFFUSE Magazine | DEC - FEB

T R I P TO T H E L E K K I CO N S E R VAT I O N CENTER TRAVEL EDITORIAL BY IBEMERE UCHECHUKWU Lekki Conservation is situated in Lagos, Nigeria. Wow, this trip was one of the most memorable ones Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve ever embarked on all my life and I sure would love to visit again sometime in the future.

EFFUSE Magazine | DEC - FEB

frica is abundantly blessed with beautiful natural environment which has lots of wild life, breathtaking trees, cultures as well as various types of dishes from different countries. These qualities are one of the things which distinguishes Africa from other continents in the world. I’ve always aspired to travel around almost all the countries within Africa as well as some other beautiful nations across the world if I am permitted the opportunity to do so and that aspiration has just begun to take form right from the first day of the month of October. I decided to start my touring of Africa right from my country of Origin which happens to be Nigeria. The first of October marked the 57th anniversary of Nigeria and I decided to take a tour of one of the well talked about tourist attractions in Lagos city which is “Lekki Conservation Centre”. I’ve always seen different feeds and images about this one amazing jungle like conservation centre where wonderful fun activities can be done. This trip was originally organised by “The Bloggers Advocate” team to give lifestyle bloggers an opportunity to have fun together on the holiday and also network to either share ideas or get to do some sort of collaborations together. The fun and adventure of the conservation centre begins right from the gates to the centre for you can sight a number of monkeys right from the entrance joyfully swinging around to grab the attention of those visiting. I took a few moments to enjoy the view and also capture some images of the monkeys. After spending enough time watching at absolute awe, I decided to kick start my tour through the jungle like conservation centre by taking a walk through the plank bridge parts which occupied even more monkeys and I also caught sight of an alligator below the bridge. I’m not a fan of reptiles so I didn’t stand much longer watching the gator, I only decided to continue my walk through the plank bridge and decided to offer one of the monkeys a muffin which I was munching on at the time. If only you could have seen the energy at which the monkey jumped forward to grab it’s snack and swinger back up on one the trees to do justice to it.

I realised I had spent quite a while watching the monkeys so heading on to the next aspect of my tour was required. I walked over towards the tour guides and was shown over to the spot where I had to take a walk on the longest canopy walk in Africa. My goodness this canopy was quite frightening for the height at which this went was extremely beyond what I expected. I went on to climbing the wobbly bridge with 5 other people and to tell the truth I was scared to the extreme all through the 6 stages of the bridge. At some point I caught sight of a young lady who looked to be her mid thirties crying ridiculously out of fear on the bridge out of fear and one thing about walking on this bridge is that once you’ve begun, there’s no going back until you’ve completed the whole 6 stages. I was frightened and at the same time excited about this activity I was engaged in at that point in time because I felt like I was on top of the world. I safely completed the whole 6 stages of the wobbly bridge and headed down to join my fellow bloggers out on the open space of the conservation centre where the grasses out there were in their full colours of green and the sun was radiantly shining upon their by bringing out the melanin in us black beautiful people and decided to take a few pictures for the gram. Once we got tired of taking pictures a few of us brave ones decided to go climbing the tree house which was hundreds of feet above the ground. I’m not really friendly with heights, burning didn’t want the ladies in noticing this, so I bravely went on climbing the tree house all to the half when I felt a weird breeze gently caressed my body, it then I made the wrong decision of looking down. The fear and shiver that went through my whole body i can’t explain for I was shook with fright. But I bravely continued my climbing and up I was with 2 other people hundreds of feet above ground taking pictures and being happy to have been brave enough to have gone up there like monkeys. The trip ended when we got down from the tree house and the whole team had to head back home. You should come visiting Nigeria sometime soon, there’s a lot of fun activities and rich cultures you could tap into for inspiration.

EFFUSE Magazine | DEC - FEB

20 year old university student Takura is the owner and founder of Nyem Eyelashes. The company was founded in October 2017, when she realised that she was into eyelashes.

“ I f i r s t t h ought a b o u t st a r t-

th e n we n t a h ead an d m a d e

people closest to me in my

in g N yem w hen I w as in my

m e a l o g o a n d t h a t ’s w h e n

l i fe, m y fam i l y, m y fr i e n d s

roo m l ooki ng t h r o u g h a l l

I st a r t ed m ak i n g m y v i s i o n

an d ro l e m o d el s . If I wa s

my m a ke up cos me tic s p r o d-

a r e a li t y. I cu r ren t l y h a v e

t o p i ck m y fav o u ri t e l a s h e s

uct s . T hen I r ea lis e d I w a s

6 se ts o f ey el as h es o u t a t

t h ey wo u l d d efi n i t el y b e t h e

rea ll y i nt o eyel a s h e s an d I

th e m o m e n t t h ey g o b y t h e

M e l L a sh e s t h i s i s d ue t o

tr ust e d i n G od ma d e a b r a n d

n a m e s o f M e l , Ay a , N g u ,

t h e fact t h at t h e y are n a t u r a l

out of i t . I am so me o n e w h o ’s

J u le s, Pe d s an d P ep . W h e n

y et p o p p i n g . M a j o r i t y o f m y

in to makeup and b e au ty. M y

p i c k in g t h e n am es o f m y ey e- b u y ers l i k e t h e Pe d s l a s h e s

cou si n (@ Te eTa k s D es ig n e r )

la s h e s I u s ed t h e n a m es o f t h e t h ey ’ re n at u ral b u t a l o t

EFFUSE Magazine | DEC - FEB

f u ll er t ha n t he M e l L a sh e s. I

p o sti n g m y l as h es o u t t o cu s-

b ra n d wh i ch fo cu s s es o n o n e

pr oduce ever yt h in g my s el f ,

to me r s i d eal l y I t ry t o e n su re

i t e m , b u t as N y em p ro g r e s s e s

as id e from t he la sh es w h ic h

th at th e l a s h e s a r e d i s p a t c h e d

m y fu t u r e p l an s are t o e n s u r e

ar e s e l ect e d by m y f r i e n d s

w ith in o n e d ay a n d arri v e t h e

w e b ra n ch o u t an d m a k e i t a

an d f r om di ff e re n t ma n u f a c-

n e x t. S o m et i m es w i t h b u s i-

c o sm et i cs l i n e w h ere mo r e

t ure r s w or l dw i d e . I n o r d e r

n e s s thi s d o es n ’t h a p p en , b u t

m ak e u p i t em s w i l l b e a v a i l-

t o pr oduce m y p a ck a g in g ,

th e lo n g e s t i t sh o u l d t a k e t o

a b l e t o p u rch as e. M y l a s h e s

i t t akes m e abo u t 3 min u te s

r e a c h a c u s t o m e r i s 3 d ay s .

a r e d i ff e r e n t b e c a u s e I l i s t e n

pe r pa ckage as I h a n d ma d e

N y e m i s d i fferen t b ec au s e

to what the customers want.

ea ch o f t he pac k a g in g . Wh e n

it’s n o t j u s t g o i n g t o b e a

A l w ay s t ru s t a n d b el ie v e ! ”

EFFUSE Magazine | DEC - FEB

M EET B IG BEN

The new face of Afro-soul music. Fas t r i s i ng s t ar, B e n e d ic t

S o u th A f r i c a w i t h t h e v i d e o

s i n g l e t o u sh er h i m i n t o t h e

D ik e U ch enna kn o w n in th e

ma k in g s ev eral a p p earan ces

re l e as e o f h i s ‘’M e an d M e ’’

sh owb i z worl d a s b ig Be n

o n n o ta b l e T V s t a t i o n s b o t h

(m eXm e) E P n ex t y ea r.

des c r i bes hi m s el f a s a n A f r o -

in G h a n a a n d N i g eri a. T h e

so ul s ens at i on. Si g n e d u n d e r

g o d M C fu rt h er feat u red h i m

H ar mo ny Record s, th e y o u n g

o n h is h i t si n g l e ‘ D o M y

G ha na ba s ed N i g e r ia n i s

O w n ’ w h i c h wa s a p ro d u c -

gr eat l y l ea vi ng a m a r k in

tio n o f b i g B en . B i g B en h as

th e mus i c i ndus t r y. H a v in g

r ec en tly a n n o u n c e d a n o t h e r

w or ke d w i t h M . a n if e s t o n h is

sin g l e to b e rel ea se d n ex t

‘M o ne y’ song, o n h is y e t to

mo n th f e a t u r i n g r e n o w n e d

be r e l eased EP, th e r e c o r d

G h a n a ia n si n g e r, B i s a K d e i .

pea k ed at num be r o n e o n th e

Th e s o n g i s t i t l e d ‘ L o v i n g

tr ans A f r i ca r adi o c h a r t in

Yo u ’ a n d t h i s m i g h t t h e

H e h a s st at ed t h at t h e p u r p o se o f t h e E P an d it s t i t l e i s t o g i v e p eo p l e a f e e l o f wh at h e i s a b o u t , p ro perly introduce himself and s h a re h i s d i v e rsi t y wi t h h i s fa n s an d e v ery o n e. He i s s u r e t o b ri n g i n a fe w s u rp ri s e s along the line with what m i g h t b e a h y b r i d o f a fr o , s o u l an d cl a ss i c.

EFFUSE Magazine | DEC - FEB

For more info: harmonyrecords.net @iam_bigBen on all social media @harmony_recordz

CREATIVE

MOGU MICHAEL BULLION TALKS ABOUT

INDUSTRY CHALLENGES

AND THE BRIGHT

FUTURE AHEAD....

UL ‘‘

the world is rapidly changing and in order for us to survive it, we must continously evolve our minds and our skills

‘‘

Continue...

Exclusive Interview

Michael Bullion

Often regarded as the Branding and Business development powerhouse of the African Music industry in the United Kingdom, Michael Bullion has often kept himself away from the public eye believing in elevating the brands he works above his personal profile. Its no suprise now that we were finally able to catch up with him and have a sense of the depth in his creative mind. Interview By TAPIWA MUGABE As a creative in your industry what are some of the challenges you are currently facing as an individual in the industry? As you may know, my creative skills and influences are quite diverse as they are used in a range of creative driven industries I champion such as, Brand and Business Development, Artist Management, Video Direction/Production, Concert Production, Radio Show Production and most importantly as a Visionary. For this reason, the challenges I have faced and currently face in the industry are quite diverse considering I dabble into a variety of industries. Although the core of what I do is heavily focused in the Entertainment industry, my passion shill heavily lies close to where I started as a business man which is the brand and business development of small to medium ethnic minority businesses. Having played this role for the better part of the last 8 years, I have had to continuously study and understand the rapid changes that happen in the business and entertainment world, which have been shaken up by our technological advances.

As I carry a spirit of excellence within me, I was very detailed about the planning of the video shoot, not only did I direct the video, but I also took on the role of video producers as I was very specific about the kind of team I would want to work with, the kind of models and dancers that would be suitable for the video, the perfect cost effective location, and the best collaborators. As with any video shoot, this one had its challenges from my satnav sending me on a wild goose chase to a makeup artist not working to time and also an initially temperamental fluctuation in weather in the earlier part of the day.

As a radio show producer what are your aspirations for radio and how far do you hope to take your radio show? Producing a radio show was a new thing for me as I had no previous experience in the role and didn’t really have any clue as to making it work properly. However, when my good friend Tomi Badejoko who is the show Anchor contacted me about being the producer, I felt privileged and grasped the opportunity with both hands. Shoreditch Radio, had given us a slot to host our radio show which we named ‘Tribes with Tomi’. Originally, we wanted to make the radio show an Afrobeats music show but as a keen advocate of doing things differently, I decided it would be better to do a show that covered the black culture, meaning Afrobeats, afro swing and grime would be the genre of music which we specialise in. With the show only 4 months old, we have amassed a decent following of just under 700 followers on social media with an average of 5000 listeners tuning online. As we have experimented with several things over the fist 4 months, including DJ’s we are now at a point where we know exactly what the audience wants and how we deliver it it to them. 2018 is going to be a big year for us as we have bigger dreams and aspirations for the show, some of which are; to make it more interactive with listeners, engage with followers more via social media, and become one of the first platforms to release new music for the culture. Our aim is to gradually grow into become the culture information hot stop for all things afro music and grime related. It sounds like a lot to achieve in the space of year but considering it’s a new show, we have had the privilege of major afro music artists in our short stint in the radio industry such as Niniola, DJ Neptune, Base One, LAX and B-Red. In 2017 you directed the ‘International Girl’ video. What was the experience like? Amazing. International Girl is the first music video I have directed and it is a project I am extremely proud of completing. The interesting thing is part of the success of the video came from the fact that I was actually in charge of managing the artist at the time (Stunnah Gee) whom I gave a story board after listening to the song and he was like “You have to direct this video, Michael”.

Shot in a property worth £3.5million, the Concept of the video was to be a solo video with a lot of focus on the artist whom had not released any music video in over 3 years as he looked to come out making a statement to the industry with his new music. The diversity in the selection of the dancer and models coupled with their unique swimwear provided by Majestik Goddess and second outfit provided by DAO London really brought out the sexiness and beauty of the ladies on set. The swimming pool also played a big role in the some of the creative shots we had of the lead model who was only confirmed 12 hours before the shoot day and happened to know how to swim. I could not believe my luck as I can only say she was God sent as not only did she swim but she was able to perform an underwater float which we were able to capture and again was for me an eye catching scene in this creative music video. The only disappointing thing for me coming out of this shoot was that there was meant to be an inclusion of some drone shots of the property in the video. However, on the day, this became

unachievable, as we were not notified that the property was situated in a ‘no fly zone’ due to its proximity to one of the UK’s largest airports but hasn’t dampened the success of the video. What has been the highlight of your career so far?

How do you see the landscape of music and the entertainment industry in the Africa and the UK changing? Afro music – is changing rapidly for example now you have Afro-swing, a fusion of Afro beat and Grime. Also importantly and interestingly, the big (music) labels have not yet grasped how to generate money from the music coming out of Africa especially. This is in part because of the way music is consumed in Africa, it’s almost music comes out for free so labels are trying to find a way to make manage this.

I would probably say going into politics at an early age of 26 in 2010 in this country as a Nigerian migrant in a difficult borough such as Thurrock is still my greatest highlight so far and although I have taken a step back from politics in the last 2 years (since may 2015), I still aim to go back into it at some point in the upcoming years as it is something I’m very passionate about.

Another example is that of Wizkid and Davido. Their journey as artists signed to the same label saw Wizkid’s music change because labels were trying to market his music to a certain target audience which is a market the labels were used to without taking into account that Wizkid already had a sound that made him appealing without sounding different to what he started out doing. Over the next few years, Afro beat will evolve. Now it is still in development we haven’t scratched the surface of what this genre can become. There is a lot of interest in the African music scene coming from the USA for example where there is a huge consumption of music. Afro beat is a culture that is growing so it’s beyond music – food, fashion, lifestyle, it’s a whole culture, there is a need for platforms to bring these elements to the world, and we can get people to engage. Africans are intelligent and multifaceted and they have a lot to show and offer.

When I started out in politics, I knew what I wanted to do for my local area (Grays) at the time but I never quite understood how to do it, all I knew was I wanted to do was not only to become a positive change but also inspire a generation of new young leaders. I was young, grey around the edges and lacked the full understanding local government politics and the process of policy implementation. For this reason, in my first election year which was also a general election year, I decided to run as an independent candidate, free of party politics, able to learn the ropes and more importantly, connect with local residents. As expected, I took a hammering defeat at the election because as, I was new to politics, lacked the experience and more importantly it was a general election year so voters were more inclined to vote down the party line. Although I felt defeated, I had a sense of achievement in the fact that

Davido has had a more successful 2017 becuase he has not had the pressure of having to compromise the originality of his sound in order to connect with the global listeners. He has simply kept his music style with the hope that listerners worldwide will love it and it has worked well for him

almost 300 local residents still casted their votes for me and this would become the platform on which I would try to take my political career further in Thurrock.

‘‘

going into politics at an early age of 26 in 2010 in this country as a Nigerian migrant in a difficult borough such as Thurrock is still my greatest highlight so far

Who are your role models and what has been the most valuable piece of advice you have received in your career so far? I have my mentor who i look up to and i have learnt a lot from. I admire her zest for excellence in her work and family life. Im also inspired by Diddy and Obama. Obama inspires me because of his charisma, eloquence, his ability to communicate with people from different walks of life and being able to express himself. He inspired me to go into politics because of his background being Kenyan, self-made, and President of the free world. That propelled me to delve into the world of politics. We talk about being effective and aspiring to change our communities but we don’t do enough to be involved in politics. I did a presentation during black history month a few years ago which was shown to 300/400 people and it included information on the civil rights journey and how people like Martin Luther King Jr, inspired us and showed how far we have come as people. Diddy – is an entertainment guru, his accomplished so much over a generation. In 2017 he was the single highest earner in hip hop without releasing a song which showcases his understanding to use product - that is an element that I am focusing on going into 2018. I am inspired by and i connect with his business acumen for bringing the business and entertainment world together and I’d like to do that with the Afro music.

‘‘

How do you plan to empower the younger generation? Young people played an important part of been the inspiration for me to go into politics, young people were my focus. I got some flak for my manifesto when i ran for my constituency because i was so focused on young people. I wanted to engage them in community and i was attacked for excluding older people or other groups of society but i said young people are the future. For exmple Brexit has happend when younger people need to be in the E.U, yet the older generation have voted us out of the E.U. We need to be learning new ways of working and new languages for the sake of our future. There is a political shift occurring and young people who are the future, who are shaping the world from the technological to evry sector need to be involved in the decision making. As young people we push culture – e.g everyone wants to be African now and that is the power of young people, been African is a cool thing now and its because of young people embracing their culture and music and arts and it is that loud voice pushing barriers and shaping the future. Our skills as Africans that we are showing to the world should be a reflection of our enterprise and a sign of our resourcefulness. This should also make us able to work with the big world brands and show what we can bring to the table. Any new up and coming projects you would like to share with us or tell us to look out for? None that i can tell the world of right now, just watch this space, 2018 is gonna be a big year of pushing boundaries and effuse magazine interviewing me is sign’ of start of a lot things and of things to come. Of people who don’t know me they should follow my socials to know more. What are your social network and social media handles? Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. @michaellbullion

n o i ll u B . M

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EFFUSE Magazine | DEC - FEB

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Full interview coming soon.

EFFUSE Magazine | DEC - FEB

NO LIMITS / BOUNDARIES ARTICLE BY E. W. MAKONI

EFFUSE Magazine | DEC - FEB

Wh at are o u r l imi tati on s a s

a stoni sh i n g a b o ut h av i n g

b at t l e s a re j us t s te p pi n g

hu ma n b e i ng s? D o we re al l y

Ch r i st i n yo ur l i fe - yo ur

s to n e s ? S u re l y, I’m n o t t h e

h ave a ny ? Wh o /What l i m it s

a c hi eve m e nt s a re d i f fe re nt ;

o n l y o n e w h o fe e l s t h i s way.

us ? I wa s ra i s e d i n a G od -

the y we i g h m o re. Vi c to r i e s

fe ar i ng ho me and was al ways

throu g h C h r i s t m e a n m o re

to ld that t h e wo r l d wa s my

b ec a u se t he y a re a p ar t o f

ca nvas an d I cou l d ac hi e ve

s om e t h i ng greater t han yo u r-

anyth in g I wante d to throu g h

s el f. I b e l i e ve t h at a l l o f us

Ch r i st (Ph il ip p ians 4 :1 3 ) . I f

a re here o n p u r p o s e fo r a

th at ’s t h e c ase, why d o we

p u r p ose s o w h e n we p u r s ue

limi t o u rs e l ve s o r l e t o t h e r

ou r d rea m s t h at h e l p b e t te r

pe opl e’s opinio n s of u s l i m it

othe r p e o p l e’s l i ve s we b re a k

us ?

b ou nda r i e s.

Ye ars l ate r, I s t il l b e l i e ve

I sn’t i t i ro n i c t h at p e o p l e

R e g a rd l e s s o f yo u r re s p e c t i ve

th at we c a n do a l l thi ng s

w ho g o t h ro ug h t h e m o s t a re

j o ur n e y, t h e p r i n c i p l e s a re

throug h C hr i s t Wh o s t re n g t h-

t h e o n e s w i th t he m o s t pow-

t h e s a m e. S e a rc h fo r t h e m !

ens u s. N ow, t h is i s not to

e r f u l s to r i es ? I f i n d i t i ro n i c

s ay w it h o ut C h r ist we c a n’t

that the g a m e c h a n g e r s a n d

ac hi eve a ny t hing j u st by

s hap er s a re t h e o n e s w h o’ve

l oo k i ng at t h e cou ntl e ss

e nd u re d t h e m o s t. Th e re fo re,

n on -b el ievers w h o’ve b rok en

w hy d o I s e e m to fo rg e t t h at

bo u nda r i e s t hrou g h o u t

w hen I’m g o i n g t h ro ug h my

h i s tor y. We are p owe r fu l a nd

b attl e s? Af te r a l l t h e s to r i e s

th at ’s b eca u se we are m ad e

I’ve re a d an d d o c u m ent a-

in G o d ’s imag e. Th at b ei ng

r i e s I’ve watc h e d, w hy i s i t

s ai d, t he re is som ethi ng

s o ea sy to fo rg e t t h at t h e s e

I be l i eve o n e o f th e re a s o n s we o f te n f a l l i nto t h i s r u t i s b e c a us e we co m p a re w h e re we c u r re nt l y a re to o t h e r peo pl e’s s u cces s. O u r j o urn e ys w i l l d i f fe r a n d t h at ’s th e be au t y o f l i fe. I nste a d o f fo c u s i n g o n w h e re t h e s e s u cce s s f u l p eo pl e are, l e t ’s foc us o n h ow t h e y g o t t h e re.

H e re’s a re m i n d e r to yo u a n d I t h e n ex t t i m e we’re fe e l i n g a l i t t l e d i s co u ra g e d : We o f te n l i m i t o u r s e l ves o r a l l ow p e o p l e’s n e g at i ve o p i n i o n s a b o u t us l im i t u s. Wh e n we c a n g e t pas t s e ek i n g p eo pl e’s va l i d ati o n , we c an brea k bo u n da ri e s a n d b e co m e w h o we we re c re ate d to b e.

EFFUSE Magazine | DEC - FEB

Michael Ampo. www.styleinthistown.com

EFFUSE Magazine | DEC - FEB

www.styleinthistown.com

EFFUSE Magazine | DEC - FEB

soigné

EFFUSE Magazine | DEC - FEB

www.blacshade.com

EFFUSE Magazine | DEC - FEB

EX P LO R ERS . 2018

Coming Soon!

EFFUSE Magazine | DEC - FEB

Explorers. Explore your talents and aspiration. Inspiring young women to follow their dreams and passion, whilst living their best lives. Live the lifestyle whilst staying focused on achieving your life goals. As young women we should motivate each other and inspire each other to be better and do better.

Live your best life.

EFFUSE Magazine | DEC - FEB

THANDIE “I am an 18 year old student at University of Bolton, started there when I was 17. I have been doing modelling for a while on the side as I am trying to venture into the modelling world. I have passion for modelling and inspiring other African girls to know it’s okay to slay and love your body.”

@__thandie

Full interview coming soon.

EFFUSE Magazine | DEC - FEB

Thandie. Photographer: Rukudzo K

EFFUSE Magazine | DEC - FEB

XXX JTTVV DPN FÃ²VTFNBHB[JOF

EFFUSE Magazine | DEC - FEB

Jalouse UK.

EFFUSE Magazine | DEC - FEB

Michael Ampo. www.styleinthistown.com