What if the spirits of Chris Rock, Bill Maher, Carrie Bradshaw and the MTV character "Daria" possessed a little girl born to immigrant parents in the city of Chicago? What if the little girl grew to be an even more cynical and sarcastic teenager? Oddly enough, a teenager with a fashion sense that would make Paris Hilton and Gwen Stefani fall in line and salute. What if this girl grew up in today's ridiculously hyper-media saturated world of "be-scared-and-spend"? She would probably manifest herself as the character known as Seven Spoon.
Seven Spoon is the hilarious, edgy comic strip character created by Olusola "Shala Esquire" Akintunde, an art director and record producer born and raised in Chicago. He developed her about a year ago to vent his opinions and detached observation of the absurdity we call life. There is nothing Seven will not address; from the usual antics of our current government to "Jay-Z cheating by pretending to die in his last video'". Seven has and will talk about anyone and anything that dares to participate in the ridiculous stage show that is pop culture. I think she speaks for a large part of urban Middle America that is cynical and often overlooked by the book-ends that drive American culture; the East and West coasts. It still f*%ks me up to see how many people across the country relate to her, though, says Esquire.
Once Esquire developed the concept he knew he would need a character artist to aid in the illustration of his pieces. He would eventually meet Chris Tannehill, a local student at Columbia. I design and develop concepts and things very well but I'm not the best character artist so I sought to find the cat that would illustrate my vision the way I would and that was Chris, says Esquire about his partner in crime. I had a bunch of rough sketches and directed him until we tagged her look. The process usually goes like this: I will write the piece and develop her look for that edition. He will then sketch and render. Once that is done, I bring her into the computer and add the finishing touches and script, an excited Esquire added. Getting Seven to the masses was the next step. Esquire decided to start with his fledgling email list; developed from his work as a record producer and band member of the Chicago rap squad, Qualo. Seven Spoon soon hit the internet and the subscriptions grew into over 8000 loyal fans and recipients of the weekly comic. Neatly packaged in her single-celled comic box, Seven is awaited by a growing base of fans anticipating what she will say and wear. Esquire elaborates, It's crazy the kind of fan mail I get. People actually let my cartoon character inspire and dictate how they dress and think about things. She's a trendsetter, A f*@kin' cartoon. I love y'all, though.
When asked why he decided to create a female character to voice his opinions, he replies that his two daughters and his ñchallengesî with the female gender were definite inspirations: ñWriting for a female character has really forced me, as a man, to look at things a lot differently, he explains. Esquire is trying to find Seven a home in an international publication and or syndication vehicle that understands his vision and is willing to "push the envelope". He hopes to eventually develop an animated short. He elaborates, I think she would be perfect for the Dave Chapelle Show. She would be like the Simpsons were to the Tracey Ullman Show; a short that comes on right before the show goes to commercial. That would be hot.
"Seven Spoon is the fourteen year old daughter of the Spoons. Raised Uptown, Chicago, this eccentric teen spends much of her time observing the world's hypocrisy and the "grown-ups" that nurture it. A smart-ass far beyond her years, she contemplates the comedy and madness that is humanity. Love her or hate her, she probably doesn't give a f%..k,... I bring you Seven Spoon."
-Shala Esquire
