Tears flowed, then flowed with passion from Amplify Africa Co-Founder/CEO Dami Koujebolahis eyes as he looked out over the 400 people dressed in traditional African attire at Los Angeles' Majestic during last year's Afro Ball Gala, a formal fashion event hosted annually by his media and entertainment brand to celebrate Africans of distinction in their respective fields. While wearing his Nigerian heritage in its royal purple glory, Kujembola buried his face in Amplify Africa, Co-Founder/COO Timi Adeyebaand later admired the work of two boys from Lagos, Nigeria who have made it their mission to magnify African culture and unite the global black diaspora.
“We were so emotional, we were hugging each other,” Adeyeba reflects now, discussing the video Kujembola posted “to dispel the myth that black men shouldn't cry.” “Seeing something we've been talking about for a long time become a reality was just surreal. Even if we're talking about it now, I have fights.”
Since 2015, Kujembola and Adeyeba have grown Amplify Africa into an influential African media and entertainment brand in the US “with the goal of educating people about the continent, creating representation for the diaspora and giving the diaspora community a path to connect back to the continent. ,” says Kujembola. Amplify Africa has hosted over 250 events in that time, including the Afro Ball Gala. AFRICON, a multi-day conference and celebration of African culture, innovation and entrepreneurship featuring panels and immersive experiences. and Afrolituation, which bills itself as “the biggest Afrobeats party in North America.”
And while they have worked tirelessly to recognize African excellence in others, Kujembola and Adeyeba have also had their share of flowers: Two days after the conclusion of AFRICON 2023, the mayor of Los Angeles Karen Bass awarded them certificates of recognition for their “dedication to service throughout the greater Los Angeles community while remaining connected to the wondrous continent of Africa.”
Working in entertainment has long been a goal for Kujembola and Adeyeba — but from a very different angle. The two attended law school together at Babcock University in Nigeria in 2007 and were part of the Nigerian Law Students Union, with Kujembola as attorney general and Adeyeba as social director. After graduating from the Nigerian Law School, the two separately decided to move to Los Angeles to pursue entertainment law, with Kujembola attending USC in 2014 and Adeyeba attending UCLA the following year. “When we moved here, it became clear to us that there was a huge ignorance of where we came from,” says Adeyeba. “We would hear a lot of ignorant questions about whether we had power [or] if only we knew what languages lions speak. We decided we needed to change that narrative.”
In the mid-2010s, one can hear songs like “Drogba (Joanna)” by Afro B or “One Dance” by Drake, with Wizkid and Kyla — who mixes Afrobeats with dancehall, UK funky and more — at a club in the United States. But there was no special place for African immigrants to listen to their music outside their homes. “Because of our background in entertainment and entertainment law, we built a lot of relationships on the continent with a lot of artists before we moved here,” Kujembola said in the past. Advertising sign while discussing Afrolituation. The two threw their first party in 2016 when the Nigerian rapper Falz the Bahd Guy and late South African rapper AKA were in LA for the BET Awards as nominees. Since then, Afrolituation has traveled to nine other US cities (as well as international hot spots like Accra, Ghana, and Cairo, Egypt). hosted performances by Keys Daniel, Malek Berry, Major Lazer and Major League Djz; and attracted A-list guests Metro Boomin, Future and Brent Fayage.
Through Kujembola and Adeyeba's connections with Afrobeats artists and their groups, they have hosted more curated events and worked on the music in various capacities. Amplify Africa hosted the official parties for Wizkid's Made in Lagos LA stop in September 2021 and Burna BoyHis historic concert at the Hollywood Bowl next month, four years after Amplify Africa (with BET) hosted Burna for the first time at the BET International After Party at The Belasco. Amplify Africa has also hosted exhibitions and concerts for ODUMODUBLVCK and Mr. Eazi; Kujembola and Adeyeba assisted the latter with the promotional release for the artist's 'Up Next' Apple Music campaign. They have helped too Davido with the marketing of his 2019 collaboration 'Blow My Mind' with Chris Brown while hosting the song's release party “within a day,” adds Kujembola. And they helped A&R “Mbilo Mbilo (Remix)” by Eddie Kenzowhich characterizes Niniola.
“While we were doing this, we started the media page and started posting beautiful images from different parts of Africa and positive news about different things happening on the continent,” adds Adeyeba, who notes that Amplify Africa has a monthly global reach 15 million people. on its social media accounts, website and newsletter.
But when it came to the company's practice of highlighting Africans who excel in various industries, Kujembola and Adeyeba had to look no further than people attending their own events. Their Afrolituation parties also attracted entertainment industry leaders such as the chairman/CEO of Def Jam Tunji Balogunwho could “help us scale other parts of our company,” Kujembola said Advertising sign last summer. “We want too [Afrolituation] to feel like a networking environment where people of African descent can come and feel like they're meeting other quality people who are doing amazing things in their profession. You think [Afro Ball] Gala or AFRICON. We had over 100 speakers last year and these are people we have interacted with at some of our parties.” And while the Afro Ball celebrates successes, AFRICON is a way “for people to sit and share information, be inspired, do business together and really build generational wealth together as a people,” says Adeyeba, who adds that apart from the panels, the conference also features a market full of African businesses. (This year's AFRICON will be held September 27-29 at LA's Magic Box at the Reef.)
But Amplify Africa's co-founders wanted their mission to “give the diaspora a pathway to connect back to the continent” to become even more of a reality. Kujembola remembers the DNA testing craze between 2018 and 2020, when people were trying to discover where their families were really from in hopes of one day visiting their homelands. And while African immigrants are Amplify Africa's core audience, African-Americans forcibly removed from their homelands due to slavery are another key demographic for the company. This inspired Kujembola and Adeyeba to start Pathway, a one-stop shop for people to discover their African roots through a DNA test. learn more about food, music, fashion, language, history and more. Book travel on the continent. and explore their homeland through the mobile and web platform, which will be available on September 27.
“The whole narrative of our company is to showcase this reconnection with the continent,” says Kujembola.
FOCUS:
I knew I was committed to music when “We lost about $30,000 on one of our first shows we did. That was back in 2017. And then we did another show. We didn't even have that money back then. It was an investment and we lost the whole thing. I can never forget that. That's when I knew I was really into it.” — Adeyeba
The best advice I have received is “It's not what you lack that limits you, it's what you have and you don't know how to use it.” That was my approach to a lot of things, even when we started Amplify Africa. It was always “Hey, let's look at the diaspora. We have what it takes to be great.' And we live with it from the beginning.” — Cudjebola
Something most people don't understand is “How much work and how much strategy is needed to organize successful events. Sometimes, people just come and feel, “Oh yeah, it's just a party. You do not work “. People don't understand that it's actually a lot of work, like how many sacrifices we've had to make to continue what we're pushing for.” — Adeyeba
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