Some Updates For Your Headtop

what's been happening on this end!

May 31, 2026

Coming into 2026, one of the things that was most important to me was being able to write more. I had it on my goal list and vision board, I even said a little prayer *Lianne La Havas voice* for myself about it. I manifested it. Dreamt it. Talked about it. And now, it’s May 30th and I haven’t published anything in a while. But is publishing writing? I thought to myself as I tried to find an excuse to escape not getting to the goals I set. To be fair to myself, I have written A LOT this year. It just so happens they’re mainly emails and pitch decks, scripts and story boards, tweets and thoughts. Nothing this long and strung together but yet communicating full ideas even if they’re breadcrumbed. Anyway, all of that to say it’s been a while. I miss sitting in bed in the mornings to reduce the amount of white real estate with black lettering. I missed it so much that my friends and I decided to launch an editorial magazine (more on that later).

May 28th, 2025, Kodjo, Felix and I were at a client’s house for a film shoot. I remember being on the set of that shoot that day and Felix walking in saying “yo, we got approved”. Those words in that moment held the weight of a feather, I mean it means something and sure it’s a pretty big deal but I’m locked in on this shot! We gotta get it before the light changes. A year later and wow, those words now bear the weight of a bag of bricks! I’m eternally grateful for those two guys, I wouldn’t be here, in this form and state, without their support, care and friendship. Getting approved for the establishment of an LLC, little did I know, would lead to an even tighter bond with two men I considered part of my inner circle prior to that. Kanea is now 1 year old, we have built things (physically), made a lot of motion and still photography and now we are embarking on even bigger and to be frank, more tedious creative expeditions. For those who do not know, Kanea is a creative studio and production company founded by Kodjo Seddo, Felix Amenyo and myself, Nathan Abia Lawer-Yolar. We have 4 main buckets: photography (editorial and commercial), commercials and ads (motion ads for socials, tv, etc), music videos, and film & tv (shorts, feature, tv episodes).

In owning a creative company with 2 other people, I feel like I can dream at 300% capacity. Nothing sounds outlandish and quite honestly, that’s fucking amazing. I remember watching this Tyler the Creator interview for instagram where he said “create like a child, edit like a scientist” and I would like to build on top of that and say “always dream without limits then execute within reality”. That has been our approach, anything truly is possible. Sure, there are constraints but thinking about those should be secondary to the ideation process. This is what has led us, 3 Ghanaian-born men based in Seattle, WA, to believe we can launch a global editorial magazine.

I had to take a break to go attend TJ and Elena’s wedding in Port Townsend, arguably the most beautiful and bespoke wedding I’ve been to. Congratulations to you two! May this day be the gateway to eternal love!

Back to the magazine, it’s called Pillar Magazine and we have officially got the ball rolling. We have assembled an amazing team of creative juggernauts who we truly believe are the best. They move us so intellectually and we cannot wait to build with them. We have Kodjo, Felix and I taking on Visuals Director & Photo Editor, Managing Editor and Editor In Chief respectively. Chelsea Williams and Priscilla Ward of Salon Archives (btw check out their amazing substack here) are our co-Heads of Fashion. Nthabiseng Mushi is our Head of Music, Alexis Mansanarez is the Head of Sports, Donny Brock is our Art Director, Michael Miller is our Head of Growth, and Adrienne Kemp-Rye is our Head of Partnerships. Pillar is a biannual magazine exploring how we create, express identity, and connect across cultural borders by covering sports, music, art & film, and fashion. Our entire thesis is that culture doesn’t travel in straight lines, we want to document those cultural foundations and how they shape global conversations. We are a print-first magazine and will have issue 001 on shelves on March **, 2027. We have a website built with an about page and a manifesto page to share more. At the bottom of the pages, there’s a CTA, kindly put in your email if any of this intrigues you and you would like to join us on this journey. Also, here’s our instagram. More about Pillar Magazine soon!

Team Dinner on May 28th, 2026 (Also happened to be Kanea’s 1st anniversary)

On the personal creative endeavors side, I’m going to be in a pop-up show that Nifemi is leading and curating. I am so honored to have my piece next to his work. Nifemi has done an excellent job communicating his creative ideas in these pieces that I am nothing but extremely inspired. We had a chat recently and I joked that “building a world is so damn hard, that’s why God is God” to which he replied “shout out to Big G”. Creating and building anything, let alone a whole world with a clear direction and a point of view, and visual language, is impossible so I want to applaud Nifemi on this. The show will feature Nifemi, myself and Heidi Grace Acuña. The show opens on June 4th at Prairie Underground in Seattle, 6–9pm.

I’m working on finishing up the drafts for 2 shorts, rewriting a feature and then starting a new one…sometimes I surprise myself how much I work on. I am also working on some new tableaus so as Mr. Duckworth said “new flows coming, be patient brother”.

I was having a chat with Nate and Saint because I sent them this instagram post that said “You should do it broke” that stuck with me. The idea that being ready is a feeling and you can’t rest on your laurels for all the stars to align before embarking on a creative journey. With us living in a capitalistic society, it is impossible to divorce creativity and capital sometimes, but I think in that tension lies the truth, that the ideas aren’t always going to be tied to capital, that community is the best way to succeed. I have now directed 10+ things, most of those with Kodjo & Felix, Michael has featured in a lot of it and so has Jayvon. These are people who just picked up the call and decided to jump out the window with me. With that being my truth, I want to reflect on Pillar Magazine being a similar endeavor, a group of people coming together to make something they believe in and stand behind. So I end with this, not only should you do it broke, do it broke with your friends because like Nathan James Tettey said on In The Fire, “the journey is the film”.

Recently read and loved: Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson (still reading)

Recently watched and loved: The Thomas Crown Affair (remake with Pierce Brosnan)

Currently on repeat: Joy by Samm Henshaw

(ICYMI) Here are all the links to everyone and everything referenced :

Pillar Magazine Website:

https://pillarmagazine.co/

Pillar Magazine Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pillarmagazine/

Pillar Magazine LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/pillar-magazine/

Salon Archives: https://www.instagram.com/salonarchives/

Chelsea Williams: https://www.instagram.com/chelstyled/

Priscilla Ward: https://www.instagram.com/macaronifro/

Donny Brock: https://www.instagram.com/donnybrock_psd/