With his new poetry piece Distant Daily Ijó / YNWA and the striking video that accompanies it, British Nigerian artist, poet, playwright, and performer Yomi Sode pays homage to black music and culture by extension, and the safe space that African pioneered genres such as Grime and Afrobeat have been providing black bodies over the years. While the overarching perception on African culture spells danger, they feel like home to Africans, and whether it is Distant Daily Ijó exploring the constant dance we’re in that gets us through life, or YNWA, which celebrates how music helps us through our best and worst moments, Yomi Sode has delivered a gripping piece of art, superbly merging poetry and music, in ode to black survival.
To bring both singles and their themes of black survival and celebration further to life, Yomi Sode collaborates with actor and director, Elliot Barnes-Worrell for its accompanying video, which was executive produced by fellow poet and creative Caleb Femi, who also stars in the captivating six-minute visual spectacle with Yomi Sode, alongside Distant Daily Ijó producer Conrad Kira, Casualty and Peaky Blinders actor Peter Bankole, and Solomon Israel from Doctor Who.
With references to black British music legends such as Wiley, Kano, Ghetts, and D Double E, Yomi Sode perfectly describes the Distant Daily Ijó / YNWA experience as “poetry, at the heart of a culture”.