Most people know the Ogulu family through Burna Boy. What fewer people know is that the musical talent running through that family did not start with him, and the next person carrying it forward is doing so through animation.
Nissi Ogulu is a singer, visual artist, product designer, engineer, and the founder of Creele Animation Studios in Lagos. In 2025, she was named the winner of the Forbes Woman Africa Youth Icon Award. She is also Burna Boy’s younger sister and the granddaughter of Benson Idonije, the music critic and broadcaster who served as Fela Kuti’s first band manager and one of his closest friends.
The Studio She Built
Creele Animation Studios was founded with a mission that is simple to state but difficult to execute: to produce African animation for a global audience. Not animation set in Africa or with African characters inserted into Western storytelling frameworks, but animation that is authentically, unapologetically rooted in African culture, history, and experience. 
“At Creele, our mission is simple: to produce African animation for a global audience,” said business manager John Etienne. “Incredible stories are waiting to be told, and it would be unfair to keep them hidden.”
Nissi’s first animated short, The Satchel, came out in 2020, a 3D work inspired by Yoruba creation mythology and the conflict between Oduduwa and Obatala. It was a statement of intent. And SOPO is the fulfillment of it.
What is SOPO
SOPO (the Yoruba word for “connect”) is a 3D animated musical short film loosely adapted from Benson Idonije’s 2016 memoir, Dis Fela Sef! The Legend(s) Untold. It follows the emotional journey of Dotun, a father burdened by academic expectations, and his musically gifted son, Oyejo. Against a backdrop of intergenerational tension and the soulful rhythms of Afrobeat, the two slowly find their way back to each other.
The story is told through the lens of a young musician yearning for his father’s approval, a story as universal as it is specifically African. The Afrobeat backdrop isn’t incidental. According to Nissi, the film is “about the birth of Afrobeats and is an adaptation of a book by the great Benson Idonije, who shared his experiences managing Fela and witnessing the formation of the genre.”
Her grandfather’s memories, her grandmother’s legacy, and her family’s music. All of it is woven into one short film.
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A True Family Project
SOPO could not have been made by anyone outside this family, and the production reflects that.
Bose Ogulu, widely known as Mama Burna and one of Africa’s most respected talent managers, served as executive producer. The original music and score were composed by Made Kuti; Fela’s grandson, connecting the story directly back to the generation it depicts. The film was produced entirely in Lagos with contributions from animation teams around the world.
The private premiere was attended by Burna Boy, Bose Ogulu, Mo Abudu, Wale Ojo, and Toke Benson, among other leading figures in Nigerian entertainment. Burna Boy sat in the audience and watched his sister’s dream come to life on screen.
“Storytelling is not new, animation is not new, but it’s how we are choosing to do it. That is where the magic lives,” Nissi said at the screening.
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Why This Matters
Beyond SOPO, Nissi has spoken about the broader ambition clearly. “Through SOPO, we aim to connect African stories with global audiences, emphasising shared emotions and journeys while maintaining an authentic African perspective.”
There is a generation of African children who grew up watching animated content in which nobody looks like them, speaks like them, or lives in a world that resembles theirs. Nissi Ogulu noticed that gap early and decided to do something about it; not from a distance, and not with someone else’s stories, but from Lagos, with her grandfather’s memories and her family’s music.
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