Abraham Adegeye is a Nigerian-born fashion model, musician, and social media influencer, who is based in Vienna, Austria. To the part-time fashion influencer, challenges are part of any game, but giving up has never been an option.
Adegeye’s multicultural background is one reason why his approach to the arts is dogmatic, among other descriptions. The Lagos-born model has always loved fashion ever since he was a kid. His passion for modeling was piqued when he was in Nigeria, but he only got the chance to establish himself when he moved to Europe. According to him, he saw the opportunity and made use of it. Now, he works with various brands around the globe and this afforded him the opportunity to combine his modeling career with music because he believes it is a perfect fit since he loves Afrobeats and desires to represent Nigeria in the diaspora.
“I enjoy making music in my free time and I think since I have made myself a name in the entertainment and fashion industry, why not combine it, that was my thought.”,
said Adegeye, on his journey into this hybrid career.
Adegeye’s journey was never easy at any point. In fact, in the initial stage, it was very difficult, especially being a black man trying to build up to something in a foreign country. Nevertheless, he did not let that bring him down. Instead, he held onto his belief and kept going. Consistency, hard work, dedication, and God’s grace, according to him, brought him to this point. “Ups and downs are part of the game, but giving up was never an option.”, this has served as his mantra over the years.
Often posed with the question of which feels more comfortable, music or modeling, Adegeye continues to say,
“Since I started my career in modeling and fashion, I would say I feel more comfortable with it, through the experience I gained over the years. I am still new to the music game, but I think with time I will grow into it more and become hopefully better.”
Being an artist in the diaspora, Adegeye feels he has a lot to prove but his approach is burden-free. On his plans, he said,
“Working on releasing more music and also planning to bring out my own brand soon. All step by step, and I know nothing is impossible with the right mindset. I am also planning to create something in my hometown Nigeria, which helps other people and artists as well. My goal at the moment is to get bigger and establish myself more in the music industry as well.”
Being at the center of a hybrid career is quite interesting, but for Adegeye, despite music being the latter discovery, it has always been something he wanted to. But, according to him, he had to wait for the right timing to kick off. So in sharing an appropriate timeframe of his journey into music, he said, “I became a musician not long ago, approximately 6 months ago.”
Abraham Adegeye listens to a lot of music daily, and he tries to implement that in his modeling jobs, this is how he brings both careers together.
On the saturation of the modeling industry, both home and abroad, Adegeye is well informed, but he believes people’s unique selling propositions are how they stand out.
“… being an African here makes me stand out more and since I have been in the game for quite some years, I was able to make my way through my personality and the work I put out there.”
and with influences split between the likes of Kanye West, Travis Scott, Wizkid, Burna Boy and so many more, he never runs out of impressive inspiration.
As stated earlier, Adegeye’s journey was never straightforward. He claims his parents weren’t very amused at the beginning, but with time they saw that he really had a passion for modeling. It took them time to accept, but with wins here and there, they began to see he had potential.
This career, much different from his childhood dream of becoming a banker is quite different, but with growth, appraisal, and acceptance, Adegeye has turned things around for himself, although he still believes he wasn’t into music or modeling, he would probably be working at a bank somewhere. But music and modeling are his passion, so he will stick to them.