Slawn Interview: Making $1M One Night off Paintings, Nike Collab, Frank Ocean, UK Rap, Nigeria

Get your music into stores & streaming platforms like YouTube, Spotify & TikTok with DistroKid. Release unlimited tracks & always keep 100% of your earnings. Plus—access more features than any other music distributor. Follow DistroKid Site: https://distrokid.com/ Youtube:    / distrokid   Instagram:   / distrokid   Facebook:   / distrokid   X: https://x.com/distrokid Follow Us!!   / kidstakeover   Host & Producer @ktoarshan Filming @kokobondrazak @Stevo1k Editing @kokobondrazak @ktoarshan Extra Production/Research @jack.kissane @antoniojohri In this interview, Arshan flew across the pond to Olaolu Slawn’s London-based studio to kick off the first of six interviews in our KTO in London series with one of the most ubiquitous names in the contemporary art scene in Slawn. Coming off the recent release of his Air Max 90 collaboration with Nike, Slawn sat down with Arshan to discuss everything from his humble beginnings growing up in Nigeria to having some of culture’s most respected names in Frank Ocean & Virgil Abloh champion his work. Even amongst all the accolades and success surrounding his art and influence, in Arshan’s conversation with Slawn, he remains adamant about one thing: he’s not an artist, he’s just a person. TIMESTAMPS 0:00 - Arshan meets Slawn’s dad - tough love 1:26 - Being successful at a young age & handling praise 1:50 - Slawn’s Nike Air Max 90 collab craziness 2:23 - Nigerian identity: being born & raised there, not claiming Brittain 2:43 - INTERVIEW EXCLUSIVE: next collab?? 2:53 - Early life: living with 16 people in a house in Nigeria 4:20 - Being a self-made artist 4:40 - Early life lessons that materialized in his art 4:54 - Misunderstood art “No one knows anything about anything” 5:27 - Slawn’s Philosophy on Hate & Love 5:53 - Clown symbolism: being bullied & laughed at growing up 6:44 - How being bullied gave him his name 7:26 - Quitting being an accountant because of skate culture & Mark Gonzales 7:53 - The book that changed Slawn’s life 8:32 - Opening up the first skate shop in Nigeria & being its Creative Director at 15 years old 9:08 - Why Slawn doesn’t consider himself an artist 9:47 - How a hobby became an obsession, his career, and his whole life 10:30 - The first time he was paid for his art (not with money) 11:00 - Working with Skepta in 2018 & being convinced to move to London 12:08 - How Slawn overcomes Painter’s Block: friends, sub-conscious, & Little Simz 13:00 - Slawn destroys his art piece: “A mistake is an opportunity to make greatness” 14:10 - Art’s function: Expression over Perfection 14:34 - Lil Yachty loving & supporting his art 15:01 - Art being a means to an end to support his family 15:50 - Making art for musical artists like Skaiwater’s ‘gigi’ 16:46 - What music Slawn listens to: Fimiguerrero, Finessekid, Len, Central Cee 17:24 - Frank Ocean hanging out with Slawn’s kid 17:45 - Being friends with Frank Ocean & working with him on Homer 18:13 - What Slawn has learned from Frank Ocean: stepping back 18:38 - What a day in the life with Slawn looks like 20:15 - The value of Slawn’s art & not listening to art dealers 22:06 - Making a million dollars in a day off of paintings 22:22 - Slawn’s advice for artists: MAKE! 23:20 - Slawn’s 10-year plan: make art then disappear 24:09 - Creating a Fight Club: winner gets his art 25:32 - Virgil Abloh’s influence on Slawn: Lucid dreaming, ownership, dealing with death 28:07 - Virgil’s omnipresence in culture & peer’s lives 29:55 - Having art on the Moon, in the Olympics??? Tags (ignore): frank ocean frank ocean homer homer virgil abloh virgil abloh skepta skepta lil yachty lil yachty skaiwater skaiwater fimiguerrero fimiguerrero len len central cee little simz little simz nike nike air max 90 air max 90 sotheby’s sotheby’s nigeria nigeria london london philosophy of art philosophy of art skate culture skate culture mark gonzales mark gonzales fight club fight club artist artist painter painter photographer photographer #slawn #olauluslawn #kto