Yinka Lawanson: Music and Entertainment Provide the Ultimate Cover for Effective Global Prison Reform Advocacy

I had the pleasure of interviewing Yinka Lawanson who’s stage name is Lamboginny & his social media persona Lamb. Lamb is a famed Nigerian Afro-Dancehall musician & Global Prison Ambassador with more than 7 million social media followers. I also had the double pleasure of interviewing Lamb’s amazing social media influencer partner, business partner & most importantly his wife, Ling.

Elana: How did you get into this industry? It is clear to me that this is a passion project of yours and I’d love to know how this began.

Lamb: I became involved in prison reform in Nigeria and since I am a musician I felt a sense of responsibility to use my music to make a positive impact on society. I chose to take a creative approach by organizing concerts in prisons, hoping to inspire change and discourage crime among young people.

I just felt like music has a way of speaking to people, and as a musician, I have a platform to reach a lot of people. And with that platform comes responsibility, and I just felt like I could use my platform to make a difference, to make a positive impact in society. And when I looked around, I saw the issues with the prison system, how people were being treated unfairly, how some people were wrongfully convicted, and I just felt like, you know what, I can use my music to shed light on this issue and hopefully bring about change. And that’s how it all started. And the music video was just one way of bringing awareness to the issue and inspiring people to take action.

Elana: How did you become as passionate about the global issues with prison reform and wrongful imprisonment as you are?

Lamb: My country is a prosperous political country. It’s a very government-controlled country as well. It has yet to be successful in showing the actual state of, you know, the prison congestion and wrong industry with men and women in a way that you don’t come out as a threat, you know, to the government. So for me, hiding under the entertainment umbrella and appreciating what the government is doing. But then also using my platform, you know, to correct and expose the areas of weakness is something which I call diplomacy and advocacy that I had to apply, you know, along the line, apart from like organizing concerts for them and all of that, we found out that a lot of these young men and women that are wrongfully incarcerated or in prison and can’t afford the bill, We got into paying for their bills. So we went from just organizing concepts to full-blown advocacy. When I left Nigeria, we had helped over 100, and it was about 100 and 40-something people out of jail, you know? Yeah, some of these, we paid their bills; some of them, we got them lawyers to step into their cases, so it became a whole process. I still can’t even believe the thousands and thousands of inmates that were positively impacted as a result of the work that I did, which is the same work that brought me to America.

Elana: That’s wonderful and so rewarding. And how did you pay their bills? Is that through charity events, people donating, and you raise money for this. How did that work?

Lamb: Yes, that’s correct. Some of the funds were raised through charity events, but we also had donations from individuals and organizations who believed in our cause and supported us in our efforts to advocate for prison reform. We were able to use these funds to pay for the bills of those who were wrongfully incarcerated and couldn’t afford to pay themselves, as well as providing them with legal representation to help with their cases. It was a collaborative effort, and we’re grateful for all the support we received along the way.

At first, I started using my funds, and then, I went from using my funds to reaching out to my colleagues and musicians to raise money. Then once we raised the money, we would head to the courthouse depending on the courthouse where the case is being handled, we got volunteer lawyers who also came on board and started helping. I wasn’t doing this all by myself because a lot of my Nigerian musical friends also would come with me to the prison, you know, to perform because they never went to the prison to perform until I started organizing those concerts. We used entertainment and musicians to come with me on my “tour” of the prison concerts. We performed in between the performances. We had a motivational speech. We had real moments of life-changing conversations.

You see a lot of times, these men and women are sober, they’ve broken the cry, they regret their actions and we felt those prisoners didn’t deserve to be in prison because they didn’t commit any crime. We tried to pick up their cases and fight and we won’t stop fighting.

Elana: How many prisons have you visited outside of Nigeria?

Lamb: In America I have visited about five prisons, doing the same thing, performing in prisons, motivating men and young boys and men in prison. I became the first to ever do that in America as well. I performed once in one of the prisons in the UK as well. So, again, I spread that positive vibe everywhere I go.

Elana: Thank you so much for telling us about your work and your mission to use your music and passion for justice to fight wrongful imprisonment and bring hope to the people in need. Now, let’s bring out the brains behind your other operation, “Ling and Lamb”-Ling!

Elana: I would first love to know your backstory. How did you become Ling & Lamb

Lamb: It’s a funny story. I came to America in 2018 for a fundraising concert to support my prison reform project in Nigeria. Ling’s mom was part of the organizing committee in charge of the concert, and after it was over, I wanted to shoot a music video before going back home. So I reached out to Ling’s mom and asked if she could help me get in touch with her daughter to be the lead model in my video. Her mom told me to reach out to her on Instagram, and she responded to my DM, but she wasn’t really interested in being in the video at first. However, she did go home and tell her family about it. I knew there was something about her and really thought she would show up.

Lamb: We eventually met to discuss the costumes for the music video, and she showed up the next day for the shoot! If you watch the video, you would think we were already dating because of how we acted together. But I knew she was my wife even before we spoke because when I saw her picture, I told my friends that she was my wife, and I just had a feeling. It’s been four years now, but it feels like it’s only been four days.

Ling: We got married in January 2019, and then in August 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic some friends told us about TikTok, and we decided to give it a try. We accidentally went viral on TikTok after I tried one of Lamb’s foods from Nigeria, and we posted my reaction.

Once our first video went viral, we realized we could make a career out of this, and we both have entertainment and camera experience. We went full-time with our Ling and Lamb content and brand in March 2021 and now work together every day. We are with each other all the time, and while it can be challenging, we make it work because we are best friends.

Ling: We had never posted anything like that before, and we were not a social media couple, so it was surprising. My job is to help people go viral, and we achieved it by accident. Now Lamb and I get to explore each other’s cultures, try new foods and of course film the reactions and most importantly make our audience and ourselves laugh.

Lamb: From the beginning of our relationship, I credit my Ling for always capturing moments and documenting our memories and experiences. This inspired me to capture her trying the food from my country, which led to our viral moment on TikTok.

Elana: It sounds like you both have a lot of exciting plans for the future!

Lamb: We sure do! I am heading to Jamaica to shoot a music video, which I am very excited about. I am planning to put out a book and work on a TV project. It’s incredibly important to me to continue to create and inspire positivity, especially during these challenging times.

Ling: We will also be creating new content, new projects and whatever else comes our way. We are also going to keep moving forward with our own projects and interests as well. I am going to continue to pursue acting and modeling and keep growing as an artist . Best of luck with all of your endeavors!