For Nigerian guitarist Kolade Segun Adekunle, taking West African guitar traditions to a global audience is about more than performing on international stages. It is also about teaching, building communities and creating pathways for younger musicians to understand, preserve and develop the sound.

Known professionally as Kolade Adekunle, the Nigerian-born music director, lead guitarist and executive producer, who is now based in Dubai, has spent more than a decade working across music education, live performance and production.

His ambition, he says, is to ensure that the distinctive guitar traditions associated with Nigeria and West Africa are preserved while finding new audiences around the world.

“My mission has always been bigger than performance,” Adekunle told The Guardian. “I want every guitarist in the diaspora, and every young musician coming up in Nigeria, to know that our sound belongs on the world stage. That’s what drives everything I do: the teaching, the community, the productions.”

Adekunle’s musical journey began in Ibadan, where he spent seven years as a choir director and music teacher at Mahanatez International School and Mount Zion Baptist Church.

During that period, he developed lessons covering sight-reading, orchestration and performance for students, including children as young as four. That early involvement in music education would later become an important part of his career after relocating to the United Arab Emirates.

He subsequently taught at Sunrise Academy in Ajman before joining Octus Mindzz Training in Dubai as a music instructor.

Adekunle currently serves as Music Director at Winners International Dubai, where he leads an ensemble of between 20 and 25 musicians through weekly performances broadcast to audiences across the UAE, Africa and Europe.

He is also the founder and convener of Monthly Studio Hangout, a Dubai-based musician development platform centred on structured peer critique, collaborative recording sessions and original showcases.

For Adekunle, such communities are an important part of developing musicians beyond what audiences see during live performances.

“The community is where the real work happens,” he said. “It’s one thing to play on a big stage. It’s another to help a young guitarist in Nigeria or the diaspora find their sound. That’s the part of this work I care about most.”

His community-building efforts also extend online. Adekunle serves as a top administrator of the Nigerian Guitarist Community, a digital network that he says has more than 38,800 members.

Through the community, musicians exchange knowledge, discuss techniques and engage in conversations around musicianship and professional development.

Adekunle has also performed at events in the Gulf, including the Dubai Youth Conference hosted by Renewed Step Ministries, now Eternal Life Mission, in June 2025.

As Principal Lead Guitarist at the event, he brought elements of contemporary West African guitar traditions and gospel-fusion artistry to an international audience. According to figures provided by the organisers, the event attracted more than 12,000 live online viewers.

He has also appeared on GBH Media Production’s GBH Spotlight Show and received recognition in the Best Musician category at the organisation’s Grand Finale Show.

Beyond live performance, Adekunle has worked extensively in music production. He served as executive producer of Oluwatumisile, a full-length album built around a distinctive West African gospel sound, overseeing aspects of the project ranging from creative budgeting to post-production.

He is also the author of The Shadow Season, a professional development book exploring psychological discipline, creative rigour and the demands placed on artists seeking to operate at a high level. Adekunle says the book is distributed in the United Kingdom, United States and UAE.

His work has also earned him several honours, including the Golden Star Award for Best Guitarist and Music Director of the Year 2026 in the Diaspora.

He also received an Award of Honour and Appreciation from the Rekindle Worship Experience in Dubai for his contribution to music production and artistic leadership.

Adekunle holds a Bachelor’s degree in Educational Management from Osun State University and a Nigeria Certificate in Education. His music qualifications include a Merit-level Acoustic Guitar qualification from Trinity College London and a diploma in Music Theory, Practical Instruments and Rhythm.

While his career has taken him from Ibadan to Dubai, Adekunle says his long-term ambition remains closely connected to the musical traditions with which his journey began.

He wants to see more young African musicians equipped not merely to reproduce existing sounds but to understand their musical foundations well enough to preserve, reinterpret and introduce them to new audiences.

Looking ahead, Adekunle says he intends to continue expanding the community around West African guitar music while creating opportunities for emerging musicians to develop their craft.

“I want to keep building: more students who find their voice, more musicians who feel part of something bigger, more of our sound reaching places it’s never been before,” he said.

“That’s the mission, and I don’t think it ever really finishes.”