Tunde Olaniran

Based in Flint, Michigan, my practice subverts and expands the understanding and definition of pop music and performance. Using music, time-based visual media, and live performance, my work meditates on themes of transgression, particularly those that deal with Blackness, masculinity, fatness, belonging, and economic justice. I am developing a visual narrative that interrogates and exposes false narratives of Black masculinity, especially within the realm of contemporary music. I want to create space for people to experience joy without compartmentalizing their values and identity; I aim to capture the essence and urgency of contemporary music without reinforcing oppressive themes often found in pop, r&b, and hip-hop. My body of work taps into ancient African technologies of dance and movement, the powerful repetitive structure of pop, and the urgency of hip-hop production to alter discourse and name things experienced living on the margins of justice, access, liberty, safety, dignity.