FROM COLLEGE ATHLETE TO PERFORMING AT THE GRAMMYS WITH TYLER THE CREATOR
Saturday January 11th, 2020 I strolled into MILK Studios in West Hollywood, California for an experience I would never forget.
I walked into an all white room with 5 people standing around and waited in a chair patiently. I hear a running noise of someone behind me. So I quickly turned around and all I could see during that split second turn was a “G-Hat & G-socks” before they ran into the self built dressing room.
The G-Hat & socks could be the Golf Wang. I thought to my self “Could that be….Tyler The Creator” No way! Why would a celebrity come to a casting audition…?
While I am pondering these thoughts, I hear a voice say “Obi. Obi. Obi!”. I quickly snap back into reality and its the assistant asking me to sign an NDA because this is a high level secret project.
I sign the paper and then they ask me to take some simple pictures up against a white wall. A couple serious photos and then some simple smiling photos. After I took the photos they sat me down and said one other person will need to speak with me before I leave.
5 minutes pass and no one has approached me so I start to look at my phone and scroll through Instagram to bypass the time.
All of a sudden, I get a tap on my back and I turn around and its…TYLER THE CREATOR right in front of me! I am absolutely shocked, but still maintaining my cool because I am a professional, lol!
He introduces himself and says “Hey! I am Tyler”. In my mind I am thinking “Obviously, I know who you are! Your Tyler The Creator!” You aren’t just a regular civilian named “Tyler”.
We begin talking for a couple minutes and he starts complimenting my style and my chains. Of course, I returned the compliments back and that led to a very organic and fun conversation.
Tyler then asks me if I am “Nimble”, so without hesitation, I start dancing and he immediately starts laughing because he was not expecting me to respond in a dance move. In that moment, I knew he liked me.
The next day, I got a message from his team notifying me that I was booked for the 2020 Grammy Awards as one of the IGOR Dancers for Tyler The Creator. Keep in mind! I am not a dancer, I am an Actor & Model primarily, so to be chosen as a dancer from that one courageous dance move was astonishing to me.
I gladly accepted of course! And was now going to be working with one of the biggest artists in the world!
On January 23rd, 2020 the Thursday before the Grammy’s we report to Universal Studios lot to practice with the other 20 IGOR Dancers & Tyler The Creator.
The first day of practice was very difficult! We had to learn a whole entire choregoraphed routine for the biggest award show in the world. I stayed focused and made sure I didnt mess up. A lot of people messed up or werent trying and Tyler kicked them out of the performance. So it kept everyone on their toes and working hard.
First day of practice lasted 10 hours and I was physically and mentally exhausted. I was so laser focused because I wanted to make sure I got the whole routine right and didn’t want to mess up in-front of Tyler.
Friday January 24th, 2020 we arrive at The Staples Center for rehersals. This was absolutely incredible because all the Grammy performers and artists were there.
I am walking by the Jonas Brothers, Lil Nas X, Medona, Diplo and many more incredible people. I was in complete aww!
We head to the Grammy’s stage and the whole entire Grammy committee and celebrities are there watching us. So obviously the goal is to not mess up! A cool thing about performing at The Grammy’s is you get to see all the live performances and winners before it even happens! They do multiple full Grammy run practices to make sure everything goes smooth!
So I already knew days in advance that Billie Eilish was going to win multiple Grammy awards. But I was a good soul and kept it a secret because I wanted the world to be as astonished as I was!
We get 5 full performance run throughs with Tyler and everything looks amazing. Then on the last one, I got kicked straight in the face with a Doc Martin Boot during our mosh pit on stage.
I instantly started bleeding from my nose everywhere..all over my pink suit. Because we were in front of the committee, I didnt want to stop and ruin Tyler’s Moment. So I quickly grabbed a tissue from my pocket while dancing and put it up against my nose so the blood would stop going on my suit.
After we walked off, the medical staff rushed over to me and eased the bleeding. I now had a black eye, partially broken nose, headache from the Doc Martin Boot hitting my face and of course a nice BLOODY GRAMMY SUIT! I was looking very presentable to shake hands with Beyonce & Jay-Z at any moment now! The pink suit blended with the red blood, was a red carpet killing look!
They asked me if I still wanted to be in the Grammy’s on Sunday and I quickly replied “OF COURSE”!
The next 24hrs before the Grammy’s I iced my eye every hour and was on an absurd amount of pain relieving medication.
Sunday, January 23rd 2020 I woke up and drove to the Grammy’s! The day started off a bit sad because when I got to the Staples Center they had announced that Kobe Bryant had just passed away in a helicopter crash. I was devastated to say the least because I was legitimately standing in the house that Kobe built for over 20+ years, it just did not seem real.
I re-gather myself and perform some prayers and meditation while I wait. It was very fun being at the Grammy’s! You see so many celebrities around! Billie Eilish, Stevie Wonder, DaBaby, Quavo, and Ellen Degeneres. It was a star studded event for sure.
1 hour before the Grammy’s, Tyler gathers us up by his trailer and gives us a speech of a lifetime. He urges us to visualize this performance as if we “were sitting in a car and driving the car straight into a building”. It was alot more elequent than that, but he was trying to say that he wanted us to destroy the Grammy stage!
And that’s exactly what we did! The performance was phenoumenal! And then Tyler The Creator won a Grammy for best Rap Album of the year, which made the moment even better.
Rolling Stones and many other publications ranked it as one of the best Grammy performances in history! I was so happy!
Overall, it was a great experience and I am excited to see where the future holds for IGORS + TYLER THE CREATOR!
Here is a link to the performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJilkMPqvs0
My Instagram Page For More Grammy Photos: https://www.instagram.com/itsobinwankwo/?hl=en
