By Joséphine Li

Daniel Obasi is Nigeria’s fast-rising Instagram fashion sensation. 

The multi-talented young creative, at merely 25, has already shot portraits for Billboard and the New York Times, and styled fashion editorials for Dazed and Vogue Portugal.

Through Instagram, Obasi has established relationships with kindred spirits from the worlds of art and fashion. Last year, Instagram helped take Obasi’s career to the next level — he received a direct message from Beyoncé’s creative director, Kwasi Fordjour, saying that he was interested in involving Obasi in Beyoncé’s upcoming project, which, Obasi later recounted and described as “Unbelievable.”

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The undisclosed Beyoncé project would turn out to be the “Black Is King”, pitched by the singer as a celebration of “the breadth and beauty of Black ancestry,” the star-studded visual album features a mix of African creators and performers, and those from the diaspora, both in front of the camera and behind the scenes.

Looking at this young talent’s previous personal projects, “Black Is King” — an Afrofuturist vision of a world where African traditions are foregrounded and celebrated — was a fitting commission.

In Obasi’s work, he combines the traditional, the contemporary and the imaginary to create a Nigeria freed from the social and political limitations of reality. Afro hair, brown eyes, dark skin, and beautiful local garments abound, the diversity of sexuality and gender is embraced.

Obasi sees many aesthetic and thematic similarities between “Black Is King” and his current project. According to him, “Black Is King” is a contemporary piece talking about changing the African narrative. It is a story of Africa, and it is best told by Africans.