Kolapo Oladapo and his quiet revolution of African Innovation.
From satirical album covers to building creator communities, Kolapo is quietly
engineering the platforms shaping Africa’s cultural future.
In a world where most people follow trends, Kolapo Oladapo builds tectonic plates and
shifts the cultural ground beneath them. Equal parts futurist, storyteller, and systems
engineer, Kolapo’s work over the last decade has shaped how Africa sees itself—and how
the world sees Africa. From the dusty towns in Northern Nigeria to high-level strategic
rooms at Apple, his name rings loud in every layer of the continent’s creative economy.
Kolapo’s first moment of internet-breaking brilliance came in 2015. Armed with Photoshop
and a sharp wit, he reimagined Nigeria’s power elite through the lens of pop culture,
parodying their corruption via iconic album covers. His satire series—featured on Zikoko
and YNaija.
But satire wasn’t his endgame—it was a door. In 2016, Kolapo shifted gears, swapping the
digital battlefield for the frontlines of the Boko Haram crisis. He ventured into Northern
Nigeria at a time when most media houses wouldn’t dare. His photo series #InvisiblePeopleOfTheNorth didn’t just document the lives of Al-majiri children, it humanized them. CNN Africa picked it up. Zikoko amplified it. Kolapo had weaponized
empathy.
When Kolapo took the reins as Head of Digital at Cool FM in 2017, he did not only
manage content but also engineered culture. With AUX AFRICA, he and his team built a
visual time capsule of Afrobeats’ new vanguard—Tems, Fireboy DML, Joeboy, Khaid, Oxlade,
Asake, Victony—long before they headlined global stages. Today, AUX AFRICA’s YouTube
channel stands tall with over 3 million views, an archive of tomorrow’s legends in their
rawest forms.
But Kolapo wasn’t documenting the come-up alone. He was building ladders. Alongside his
team, he crafted DEI-powered experiences like COOL NYSC Tour, Wazobia Come Chop, and
Fuel My Moto, expanding radio beyond transmission into transformation. Beyond spinning
tracks, they amplified icons, giving voice to a global spectrum from Cardi B and Burna Boy
to Hernán Crespo and Femi Kuti.
Then came the Apple Music syndication play. In 2021, under Kolapo’s leadership, COOL FM
became the first African radio station to broadcast Apple Music 1 content. “Africa Now” and
“Rap Life” touched down on Nigerian airwaves, followed by Dotty’s The Agenda. For the
first time, global platforms truly intersected with local airwaves—and Kolapo was holding
the map.
In 2019, Kolapo helped birth CLOUT AFRICA—an ambitious multimedia incubator for
artists and creators. CLOUT SESSIONS extended the AUX AFRICA blueprint, giving
independent acts a studio and a spotlight. The content was compelling. The numbers—over
8.5 million views and 175,000+ followers—only told part of the story. CLOUT was a
launchpad.
But it wasn’t just about stars and screens. During the COVID-19 lockdowns, Kolapo
co-piloted The Freedom Concert—a virtual performance project in partnership with Lend a
Hand Africa, raising awareness (and sanitary pads) for young girls impacted by period
poverty. The mission was clear: spotlight the unheard, even when no one’s watching.
He also led the rollout of game-changing projects like Clout Talk Concert, Clout Magazine,
and Clout Awards, collaborating with music powerhouses like Mavin, Sony, and Universal.
The content featured culture bearers—Ayra Starr, Adekunle Gold, P.Prime, Oxlade, Ch’cco,
Seun Kuti, and more. NPR even partnered with CLOUT to celebrate Coming 2 America 2
through an African lens.
By 2022, Kolapo had earned his seat at the roundtable, eventually becoming the first hire
on ground in West Africa at Platoon. Kolapo’s campaigns for Ayra Starr, Teni, and Alor G
were as strategic as they were soulful. With his contributions, Platoon and Femme Africa
unveiled a fully equipped music room at Queen’s College Lagos, giving future female
producers the tools to dream and deliver.
In 2023, Kolapo co-founded COCOA, a digital-first, community-driven platform designed to
localize the global creator economy for African storytellers. Think open-source creativity
with an Afrobeat. With Cold Purewater, Cold Mineral, a culture podcast focused on
behind-the-scenes industry leaders, and #AIinPidgin content simplifying artificial
intelligence for creators, COCOA is writing the manual for an African digital renaissance.
By 2024, COCOA and Arroweye Pro rolled out AfricaWithAI, a radical program that
demolished one of Africa’s most persistent obstacles: access. One of its flagship tools, SIP AI,
a Pidgin-to-English email composer, helped over 6,500 professionals communicate in
boardrooms they weren’t trained for—but fully belonged in. With 27,000+ uses, SIP AI
proved that sometimes, a sentence can be an emancipation.
Kolapo isn’t just telling African stories. He’s building the platforms, tools, and ecosystems
that ensure Africa owns its narrative and exports them on her own terms.
Welcome to the future. It speaks Pidgin, knows code, and listens to Afrobeats.
