SEATTLE — Editor's note: Cultivating Culture will continue to air monthly on KING 5. Please email Shante at ssumpter@king5.com to highlight Black creators, innovators or pioneers in western Washington for the series.
Music has a way of bringing people together.
For Bobby Akinboro, it was his answer to solve the problems he faced when he moved to Seattle in 2016 to start his career at Microsoft.
“Straight out of school I came out here," Akinboro said. "I was really excited to start this Program Management role and get my feet wet, only to realize that there was a much bigger problem facing me. I wanted to start building a community because I couldn't find one here in the city. I never found issue finding people like me. Then I get to Seattle, and it felt like it was a struggle and then the 'Seattle freeze' on top of that made it even more difficult."
Akinboro was 22 when he arrived in the Pacific Northwest. He thought the area should have brunches, parties, and areas for young black professionals to come together. He decided to learn to DJ to create that community.
“I don't know why that was the solution in my head," Akinboro said. "But I was like, I'm going to figure this thing out and I'm going to bring people together through music. What I thought was just going to be a hobby, and a pastime has really become a full career."
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Akinboro’s stage name is "DJ Blast." Some people even call him Bobby Blast. His name is now synonymous with the hip-hop and afro beats music scene in Seattle.
“Growing up music was never really a part of the picture," Akinboro said. "I love music. But I never thought that's what I want to do. I’m an immigrant born and raised in Nigeria. So, when I thought of careers, there were only four options, I had to be an engineer, a doctor, a lawyer and accountant. Moving to Seattle, and somehow becoming a DJ was never in the cards for me. It kind of plays off, like Alter Ego. I get the chance to be this person that I'm not at Microsoft. It’s a really cool dichotomy between the two.”
Akinboro held his first event in 2016, three months after moving to Seattle. Seventy-five people showed up and packed the venue.
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Three months later his second event brought 300 people and did the same thing. Akinboro realized he was on to something as people continued to pack his events.
“Then someone from Microsoft came up (and) they were like, ‘Hey, man you work with us but you're doing all this on the side? Why don't we like bring you to Microsoft and do something?'" Akinboro said. "That's how I do my very first concert for Pitbull. Now I go from rooms of 300 to a room of 5,000 at Gasworks Park. I thought, 'oh I can really do this.' That changed my entire perspective on life."
Since then, Akinboro has done over 30 concerts and six tours all over the world. He’s opened shows for several artists including Dua Lipa, Nas, One Republic, Burna Boy and Wale.
“I say all the time God knew what He was doing for me," Akinboro said. "There's no way I could ever see any of this coming. I remember when I did the 25th Anniversary Illmatic tour. I did the Oakland Arena that seats 40,000 people. Less than a year prior to that the biggest event I had done was 5,000. So, things changed very quickly. I remember the first time I did Climate Pledge Arena for Dua Lipa. I'm like Dua Lipa, she's no joke and they called me. There's so many situations that I find myself in now, where I'm just consistently in awe at all of what God's doing in my life."
Akinboro is now a pioneer and resource for people seeking black culture in the Pacific Northwest.
“I remember when it first started, around 2019," Akinboro said. "People were like, ‘Hey, we heard about you. We're moving to the city or we're coming to the city for the weekend. What should we do?’ I mean, when did I become TripAdvisor? When did I become that person? Then I realized no, this is an area of responsibility. Some people’s entire experience of Seattle could happen through me. I started taking that a lot more seriously."
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Six years later Akinboro has seen the change for the better when it comes to finding black culture.
“It's very different before it was one black community, at least transplants," Akinboro said. "Now, there's several, you can find 5 or 6 events on the same day, whereas before you couldn't find 5 or 6 events in the same month."