Meet SMADE, an entrepreneur connecting the African Diaspora through music and entertainment
The word ‘African Diaspora’ is a word frequently used for describing the world-wide communities made up mainly of immigrants from Sub-Saharan Africa. There is a cultural affinity when they meet and come together from different countries, including Nigeria, Ghana and French-speaking Côte d’Ivoire. SMADE, true name Adesegun Adeosun Jr., is an undertaking which brings the African diaspora together in music and entertainment.
Early Beginnings
14 years earlier when he was 19, SMADE relocated from Lagos to London. He was sad to leave Lagos the third eldest of 13 kids, but he and his parents knew he would do well to get his training in the UK. When he came to Britain, when he grew up in a disciplined family he concentrated heavily on using his studies to build up a “traditional” career, and thus he completed his undergraduate studies with an independent master degree.
However, he became famous on campus as someone who threw parties to all his colleagues, despite his up-collection and not drinking alcohol. These groups rose in size over two years, with its biggest birthday celebration being the police calling. Everything was fine, but he likely suggested to organize such parties in a club. This led to the notion that club nights would begin to be organized. These club evenings began as birthday parties for others in clubs and many other unique occasions quickly followed. He received a reputation as the man you should go to if you want an event to be organized. However, he had greater aspirations than to host club friends ‘ parties.
Student Turned Club Promoter
One of the first things he had to do was discover a place after choosing to start co-hosting the periodic evenings. It wasn’t an easy method because of the way Afrobeats were nascent in the UK ten years ago. Very few locations wanted to host Afrobeat evenings so that he had to deposit a lot only to verify places. He remembered “wandering around the city of London, attempting to discover a place to enjoy him.” Shortly after he ran into luck, when a place seized him. The periodic nights of clubs quickly turned into nights where Afrobeats performers like Davido and Wizkid were well known.
Just a few years ago, leading venues in the West End of London and Shoredch called SMADE frequently to see if he wanted to host evenings in a club. He had a powerful faith in the culture of Afrobeats, and he liked the way younger artists came up. For many of the achievement he had, he still thanks these artists. “Their difficult job and their delivery ultimately filled the rooms, keeping individuals talking for weeks about occurrences,” he said. However, following frequent club nights in the city, he decided to work on something larger after hosting several sold-out events in places like the O2.
