We recently connected with Nkiru Emelle and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Nkiru, thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

In 2021, I received a grant from the New York Foundation of the Arts to create a free public event that highlights the artistic culture of my immediate community within the Brooklyn Borough. This sparked the creation of Nollyhood. At our first event, with a maximum capacity of 280 people, we capped at 189 tickets sold before the event with an additional 43 attendees on the day of. We danced, had three performances, sold food and drinks, and curated a photobooth that highlighted an old Nollywood horror tale by the name of Karishika. The event was themed and everyone came dressed in their best Y2K Nollywood attire; it was a true soiree, and I get compliments about the event to this day! The entirety of the grant went to the venue, and paying out food, drink, djs, and technicians, but it is my hope moving forward that I can use the budgeting skills I’ve gained over the past two years in curating more events to fairly compensate not only those core workers but hosts and performers as well. By building relationships over the years within my community, I’ve granted myself access to a position where, with a bit of help, I can provide the satisfaction to others that comes from profiting off of your art.

Nollyhood is currently in corporeal form; I have artists ready to be interviewed and photographers and videographers available to do them, but no interview space; I have 50% of the footage for the visual component compiled but I still require interviews. I have access to several venues but need funding to secure them, and require equipment to display the visual medium, as well as funding to compensate participating artists for interviews and performances. This project will incorporate an ideal form of how human beings can use technology in tangent with their nature. By utilizing digital mediums of displaying art while also curating organic spaces to cultivate and appreciate said art, we help to bridge the gap between man and technology in an ever more postmodern world. Progress and technology does not need to mean we morph into something robotic and we forget what it means to feel, to bleed, to live, it instead gives us the opportunity to capture a moment of mortal essence and immortalize it for generations to come.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

“Self actualization is an endless journey and this should help me along. If anything I say resonates, I am deeply grateful. If anything I say angers, I am deeply grateful. If anything I say keeps you indifferent, then my words are not for you. Still, I am deeply grateful to be seen at all. I often struggle to express and define myself, but through words it has always been simple: griot. May my song, dance, and story live on in the past and in the future.​” – Nkiru xx
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Nkiru Ugonna Emelle (born Tiffany-Nkiru on December 15th, 1999), known professionally as Nkiru Emelle a.k.a NKI, is a Nigerian-American creative entrepeneur disciplined in writing, entertainment, and art curation. Born in Newark, New Jersey, she studied music theory, piano, poetry, essay and script writing, and voice intensely from 8 years of age through college. After her time at Howard University, she began curating small artistic events with a local company in the DMV. After some time she left DC and moved to New York to focus on making music at the end of 2019, releasing four singles, and several mixtapes at the end of 2020, including: Hooks N Loops, Rankenstein, INK¥, Tower Moment, and In My Telfar. Her work caught the attention of New York producer VDon, who features her on Lord Apex’s Supply & Demand as well as his compilation project Too Late 4 Tears. In the last quarter of 2020, she released a music video for her single Cleopatra off of her mixtape In My Telfar; it was well received and even caught the attention of it’s namesake, Telfar Clemmons. Her ability to leverage her unique talent and skillset landed her a recurring role as a Co-Host on their experimental public access channel, TelfarTV, where she experienced the culmination of her work there in a documentary-style presentation titled PERFORMANCE, debuted at NYFW 2021. In the midst of her artistic development, her skills as a writer awarded her two separate grants that helped her to fund the creation of her brand. She begat Nollyhood, releasing experimental beats and cast off tracks under the label name while throwing events under the same name to shed light on her brand mission, working quietly toward a more mature sound. She released her second music video, MARS, two more singles, and another mixtape titled The CONVER$4TION in October of 2022 and has laid low in her rollout of the work, quietly sampling it on streaming platforms while teasing greater plans in place that incorporate all her strengths, including writing and dance. She has since signed to Revolt Modeling Agency in pursuit of permeating high end brands with her sound. It is clear that she’s at the beginning of her journey, but she shows a steady, determined, unique pace of her own, and clearly marches to the beat of her own drum. Through this early lens, Nkiru Emelle certainly provides an exciting and intimate look into the journey of an independent artist seeking self-actualization and stability.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I moved to New York in August 2020 after dropping out of school 5 months prior. I had saved up $2000 from the pandemic funding, and used it to get a room in a 6-bedroom apartment. I got a retail job at Beacon’s Closet in Bushwick, and for the next three months I worked, miserably.

My friend and roommate at the time begrudged with me about the state of life; what’s next? How do we pop, get more, create something? She paints, I make music. So we encouraged each other to share our art, and I started sharing mixtapes through Distrokid and Bandcamp. In November 2020, I made a mixtape called In My Telfar, and tagged the brand for which it was named, and they followed me! I was so excited, I thought, maybe something good can come from this, maybe I’ll go viral! I had no thoughts of making myself a business at the time.

Then on Dec 10th everything changed.

I took what I thought was a business trip to New Orleans to see if I could make more money to support myself. I soon found myself caught in an elaborate scheme, a scam. 5 days before my 21st birthday, I was arrested in Baton Rouge, Louisiana for fraud, even though I hadn’t stolen any money. You might ask how does anyone end up in a situation like that, and I would have too until it happened. My profile showed me my place there, down to the black and blue American flags. I was in East Baton Rouge Perish Prison for two weeks, and had the most spiritual experience there. The stories I heard and the women I met radicalized me; there are so many people wrongfully imprisoned every single day. Women with the bruises from their husband’s hand print still on their cheek, pregnant women addicted to heroin with little resources to aid their disease, women who grew up in a lifestyle where shooting or robbing for your man is supposed to mean protection; it was a huge contrast to the sheltered suburban home I came from. After two weeks, my family helped post bail, I sublet my apartment, and after 6 mos on my own, I returned home.

I always felt bad for having struggles in this life. When I look at what I’ve been afforded, having seen so much of what others can’t afford, I feel despicable to even think I have problems. That experience exposed me to my flawed thinking; I must embrace my struggles, as I must embrace the shoulders of those who toil beside me. For the next 6 mos I went through an arduous trial to clear my name. I secured a good lawyer, and had a fair trial, and blessedly the charges were dropped. I had never been so scared in my life as I was when I was facing the judge. The idea that my freedom could be stripped from me with the pass of a hand has forever been imprinted in my psyche, and it’s brought me the resolve to make something of myself.

Then my life pivoted again in May. I was invited by Telfar Global to model for their release of their collaboration with Converse. I was shocked, and excited, and so began my business of selling my likeness. I came to the shoot and charmed my pants off. They have to remember me! I thought. And they did. 2 years later I am a signed model with a comfortable brand deal with my favorite company, with several other projects and brand commissions under my belt. Using my likeness and my talents, I lend myself to companies to help promote the usage and experience of their products. Makeup, hair, or even shopping bags- I am a unique face with a unique story and a core audience that consistently returns on investment. My business is small, just me, but I’m entering the phase where I need to expand into a larger team. I’m excited for it, and fueled by my resolve.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I’ve always been a bit in my own head, so when it comes to concepts of reputation, it’s always been hard for me to see myself how others might see me. As I grow in my business I’ve learned that my reputation is solidified because it is of little concern to me. I am much more concerned with my character. I know what’s good about me and what bad about me; I accept who understands me and do not judge the people who don’t. I am stubbornly and comfortably myself, and unafraid to speak on it. I love a well executed presentation and have a certain style to how I move through the world, I think these conditions contribute greatly to my reputation!

Contact Info:

• Website: nkiruemelle.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/nki.eme
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nkiru-emelle-8163b8237
• Twitter: twitter.com/naijacat
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@nkieme
• Other: tiktok.com/naijacat

Image Credits
Breonn Lyons @breonnspov Telfar images Miyah Morales @arcainetheartist mixtape (The Conver$ation) photoshoot