{"id":55174,"date":"2022-04-25T18:32:04","date_gmt":"2022-04-25T18:32:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/?post_type=articles&p=55174"},"modified":"2022-04-25T18:32:04","modified_gmt":"2022-04-25T18:32:04","slug":"olly-sholotan-game-changers","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/olly-sholotan-game-changers\/","title":{"rendered":"How ‘Bel-Air’s Olly Sholotan’s Finds a Legacy of Hope Through His Ancestry"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Illustration by Peter Oumanski<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Every issue, GRAZIA USA highlights 17 Game Changers, who inspire, educate, and celebrate individuality, beauty, and style. Meet Olly Sholotan, the musician and star of Peacock\u2019s<\/strong><\/em> Bel-Air<\/strong>, who finds a legacy of hope in his ancestry \u2014 and aims to pay that forward with his own art.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

My parents are Nigerian. I was born in Atlanta, and then we lived in Nigeria until I was about 10 \u2014 when we moved to Texas. I think that every first-generation American, every child of immigrants, is so familiar with the concept of hope, became I\u2019d say hope is the driving factor in all of our parents\u2019 decisions. They all left something at home to come here to give us a better life.<\/p>\n

My parents left my grandparents in Nigeria knowing that they wouldn\u2019t be able to see them all the time. They left the familiarity with their culture. Our parents left all of that behind with the hope that we would do better in this country. I think, in a way, hope ties to love and motivation. Remembering their love and their hope is what has pushed me and kept me going.<\/p>\n

I think in the media, there is a homogenization of Black people, and Black men specifically. When you watch a TV show or a movie, Black men are generally portrayed as super tough, manly, grew up rough, from the projects. And there\u2019s not really any space in media for Black men who are more sensitive, Black men who deal with mental health issues like anxiety, Black men that are more privileged. So, if one Black kid who has felt othered by their background or by how they talk or how they dress or the types of art that they\u2019re into \u2014 if they can watch Bel-Air<\/em> and see themselves and feel seen, that\u2019s my goal.<\/p>\n

The thing that brings me hope is the belief that I can positively impact the world. My goal every night is to go to bed having put more good into the world than bad. Obviously, as human beings, we will naturally put a little<\/em> bit of bad in the world. You\u2019ll have a bad day, you\u2019ll say something unintentionally rude. But if I can go to bed at night having done more<\/em> good, that\u2019s a good day.<\/p>\n

For me, the pandemic afforded me the ability to really look inward: Why do I make the art that I do? What change do I want to affect in the world?<\/em> My relationship with my art changed. I want to practice my art.<\/p>\n

As a music producer and an artist in general, I think there is this common idea that you get struck with divine inspiration. You have this brilliant idea and it\u2019s done in an hour, when in reality, you have to get up every day and try again and again. Talent really is consistency. You have to hope that something eventually will happen, but the thing that keeps you coming back is the love that you have for your art.<\/p>\n

The reason art exists is because we look at these awful things that happen, and we go, How can I deal with that? How can I express that?<\/em> And all of that is in an effort to move on from that thing or move on with that thing. Think about all the breakup songs in history!<\/p>\n

Hope starts with love, so you need to find something \u2014 ideally not someone, because people disappoint you \u2014 but you need to find something that you love and make sure it\u2019s something that\u2019s powerful enough to get you out of bed every morning, because life is tough!<\/p>\n

I think of this quote that I see all the time: \u201cI am my ancestors\u2019 wildest dreams.\u201d Nowhere is that more apparent than the stage I\u2019m at right now. I don\u2019t know who my great granddad was, but I know for a fact that he wouldn\u2019t have imagined where I am right now, and that\u2019s just the coolest thing ever.<\/p>\n

\n

\u2014 As told to John Russell<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Pick up GRAZIA USA\u2019s March 2022 issue on newsstands and\u00a0email\u00a0contact@graziausa.com<\/a>\u00a0to subscribe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26633,"featured_media":55175,"template":"","format":"standard","categories":[23,16],"yoast_head":"\nBel-Air's Olly Sholotan Is Carrying on His Ancestry Through His Art<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Meet GRAZIA USA's Game Changer, Bel-Air star Olly Sholotan, who finds inspiration for his art through his family's ancestry\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/olly-sholotan-game-changers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How 'Bel-Air's Olly Sholotan's Finds a Legacy of Hope Through His Ancestry\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Meet GRAZIA USA's Game Changer, Bel-Air star Olly Sholotan, who finds inspiration for his art through his family's ancestry\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/olly-sholotan-game-changers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Grazia USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2022\/04\/Olly-Sholotan.jpg?fit=1280%2C1353\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1353\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/olly-sholotan-game-changers\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/olly-sholotan-game-changers\/\",\"name\":\"Bel-Air's Olly Sholotan Is Carrying on His Ancestry Through His Art\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-04-25T18:32:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-04-25T18:32:04+00:00\",\"description\":\"Meet GRAZIA USA's Game Changer, Bel-Air star Olly Sholotan, who finds inspiration for his art through his family's ancestry\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/olly-sholotan-game-changers\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/olly-sholotan-game-changers\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/olly-sholotan-game-changers\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How ‘Bel-Air’s Olly Sholotan’s Finds a Legacy of Hope Through His Ancestry\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/\",\"name\":\"Grazia USA\",\"description\":\"Driving tastemakers in Fashion, Beauty and Culture\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Bel-Air's Olly Sholotan Is Carrying on His Ancestry Through His Art","description":"Meet GRAZIA USA's Game Changer, Bel-Air star Olly Sholotan, who finds inspiration for his art through his family's ancestry","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/olly-sholotan-game-changers\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How 'Bel-Air's Olly Sholotan's Finds a Legacy of Hope Through His Ancestry","og_description":"Meet GRAZIA USA's Game Changer, Bel-Air star Olly Sholotan, who finds inspiration for his art through his family's ancestry","og_url":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/olly-sholotan-game-changers\/","og_site_name":"Grazia USA","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":1353,"url":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2022\/04\/Olly-Sholotan.jpg?fit=1280%2C1353","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/olly-sholotan-game-changers\/","url":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/olly-sholotan-game-changers\/","name":"Bel-Air's Olly Sholotan Is Carrying on His Ancestry Through His Art","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/#website"},"datePublished":"2022-04-25T18:32:04+00:00","dateModified":"2022-04-25T18:32:04+00:00","description":"Meet GRAZIA USA's Game Changer, Bel-Air star Olly Sholotan, who finds inspiration for his art through his family's ancestry","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/olly-sholotan-game-changers\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/olly-sholotan-game-changers\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/olly-sholotan-game-changers\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How ‘Bel-Air’s Olly Sholotan’s Finds a Legacy of Hope Through His Ancestry"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/#website","url":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/","name":"Grazia USA","description":"Driving tastemakers in Fashion, Beauty and Culture","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Grazia USA","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles\/55174"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/articles"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26633"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55175"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}