HOW LIL YACHTY AND SLAWN BUILT AN ART GALLERY IN 24 HOURS IN NYC

Over New York Fashion Week, rapper Lil Yachty teamed up with British-Nigerian artist Olaolu “Slawn” Akeredolu-Ale for a whirlwind project: the creation of a pop-up art gallery in just 24 hours. While details are still emerging, what’s clear is that the exhibit, which they dubbed “24 Hours in Atlanta” and featured under “Slawn and Yachty brought their art to NYC,” served as a vivid collision of music, visual art, and spontaneous creativity.

Slawn, known for his large-scale pop art, graffiti, caricature, and bold spray-paint canvases, already has a reputation for transforming raw ideas into immersive art. In the exhibition, the works appeared centered around themes of culture, identity, and unity. One piece in particular, titled “Family (2025)”, was spotlighted in event promos, suggesting a through-line of community and shared experience in the creative vision presented.

What might have felt like an exclusive fashion-week afterthought instead came off as a deliberate statement: art doesn’t have to wait for months in a studio; it can erupt, collab, and exist in the moment. Whether you’re witnessing the clean lines of Slawn’s visuals or Yachty’s kinetic energy intersecting with them, the pop-up felt less like a show, more like an event, one that mattered both for the art and the moment in culture it marked.