As much as I appreciate the all-knowing-ness of Oprah and other highly revered members of the world, I really do appreciate the intelligence and sagacity of my mates. Chatting to them, arguing with them and adding more beauties to my small collection of pearls of wisdom is high-key one of my favourite things. Being able to dissect issues and questions with people who are more or less in same stage of life as me, but possibly in a different head-space, adds complexity to stuff I once deemed as truth and clarity to other stuff I might have thought to be insignificant.
And so I present to you, the next guest on the newest episode of All Zuri Cool Kids! Kele. Quintessentially cool in his laid back af demeanor. You'll probz catch him in a pair of rolled chinos, a denim jacket and a wide brimmed hat of some variation (maybe on a skateboard).

He serves as another breaker of the engineering kid stereotype, dabbling in a couple of things like art and music production. We sat in the sun for a bit and discussed the meaning of life- clothes. And some other stuff, in the form of a 21 question interrogation compiled by yours truly.

Here's what he had to say...



1:Your Aesthetic in 3 words?

simple, grungy, colourful

2:Most important colour in the crayon box?

green

3:New school vs Old School Cartoons?

Old school cartoons. They had more meaning to them, real plots. The characters were actual personalities. I feel like the cartoons of today have single faceted characters, where one will represent anger or something.

Also there was more of a first person experience with cartoons like Courage the Cowardly Dog and Dexter. We were in the story with them.

4: What's great about Africa?

It's got a lot of room to grow- I think that's great, especially like in an artistic sense because we're growing and discovering who we are in such a developed time and it'll be interesting to see what we do. 

There's also a lot of diversity and cool influences that we might not have discovered yet.

5: 3 things you do other than study engineering?

Make music. I draw and uhh... I like talking long walks and experiencing the outdoors. When I'm in the city its to skate or buy clothes or eat or something.

6:Importance of creativity and multifaceted-ness?

It's very important. Creativity is the spice in any stew. Creative people make things to mirror the world back at its self. They reflect or highlight its bad or good aspects.

Creativity is also essential for innovation and transformation.

 7:Shoes or clothes- which is more important?

Clothes. I'm not picky about shoes. I have like one pair of sneakers. Vans and All Stars are good enough.

8:A movie that left you confused?

The Matrix Reloaded- the most confusing shit ever, more than Inception.

9:What made you the happiest this week?

I had a very delicious burger that had bacon and feta and avo and it was large and saucy and juicy. Also had a vanilla milkshake.




10:What is peak personal style?

When your style describes who your are very lucidly. Like if I saw the type of clothing you wear on someone else I'd think hey that's your style, you know. 

It's more about how you wear clothes coz many people wear the same thing. It's about originality. So even if you wear common things, if you wear them in a way that's unique to you, that's style.

11: What did 10 year old Kele think 20 year old Kele was gonna be like?

I don't think he could see him... I don't at all know.
I wasn't thinking about my future back then-  I was hypnotized by naivety and ignorance and living in the moment I guess. 

12: What is the definition of wavy?

When I say wavy it means...
Specifically wavy-ness for me is...

A wavy person is a person who's artistic and creative in a way that's expressive of who they are.
It's one thing to have cool clothes and hair and stuff, but if someone were to ask you why you're wearing that or why you did that to your hair, you'd be able to explain.

I'm interested in people who tell their own story as opposed to telling other people's story or letting other people tell theirs. 

Being wavy is being able to share your own creative mind.


13: Top three favourite artists right now?

Recently? Uhm.. Flume ( I like the sounds he uses)
James Blake
and uhm... the guy who produced, Kendrick's To Pimp a Butterfly album... Terrence Martin.

Actually don't use that last one there's someone else!

I can't remember them but I downloaded their album a couple days ago and it was better than Kaytranada. I'll send you the name when I remember. If I remember.


14: To what extent is clothing an artform?

Clothing is used in so many ways that are similar to the way art is used. But, I guess there's also a line because they can also be used practically, for the purpose of protection.
It's difficult to draw the line because art is such a broad term with so many facets.

15: What does it mean to be young and black right now?

Honestly. it's a very undefinable thing. There's so many types of ways of being young and black. You can be more in tune with your traditional culture or not...Yeah I don't know We can't say which part of identity our weighs more. Both add to who I am,but it's not a resolute definition. There are lots of black people, lots of young people, all experiencing the world differently,



16: Do you think there are spaces for black creative people in Cape Town or nah?

There are. I can't speak for how many or how much space though. 

I went to the exhibitions at Hiddingh the other day and there was this one exhibition by this one girl...Her and a group of other black girls have come together with the intention behind their movement being to raise credibility around black woman art, coz cool we have black artists flourishing, but most of them are men. So yeah I guess it shows that some groups have more opportunities than others. 

17: and Joburg?

I don't know. I can't speak for Joburg coz I haven't seen much art there. I've never been to a First Thursdays there. I do admire what they're doing in terms of fashion though.

18: What item do you neeeed in your closet rn?

I've been dreaming about a trench coat. It's really dark but not black, it's purple, and knee length with sharp shoulders and a good collar. Similar to the Joker's coat. I'd wear it with black shoes and a button up shirt in a dark forest green. haha I don't even know if it'd suit me but it seems cool in my head.

19: Best dressed fictional character?

yoh...uhm... The music teacher from Class of 3000. He was quite dope.

20: What frustrates you right now and how are you planning to change it?

A lot of things that frustrate me mostly involve people haha. Uh..I don't like how a lot of people crave the attention of other people, where their whole life kinda revolves around pleasing others. So I've been trying to be friends with really nice people who don't expect more from me than what I am, who don't expect me to change, you know. If you're always changing and doing things out of character for someone's attention, like is that healthy? I feel like it breeds insincerity.

I can only change what's happening in my own life and space so I actively try to drill it into my head "Don't go out of your way to get attention form others as a way of validating yourself and who you are."

Also, although I am guilty sometimes, I try my best not to judge people based on first encounters or what I first see

21: Your opinion on SA youth fashion culture?

It's got many very different parts to it.

You get the part that like suits
The kids that dress like gypsies
The H&M and Cotton On type people
Thrifters. That's grown quite a bit

You get people that flow between all of these types of groups and then you get people that dress like...like.. Imraan, like wtf it he is tooo dope.

Dashikis are also growing in popularity but I don't know how I feel about that.