When alumnus Femi “Femdot” Adigun ‘13 got the call telling him he would be performing at Lollapalooza, one of the biggest music festivals in the U.S., this summer he felt like he somehow told the future.

“I posted a tweet March of last year, talking 2018 Lollapalooza into existence,” Adigun

said. “So when I got the call offering me a spot, it was like wow—I called this.”

When he describes himself as an artist he makes it clear that he is a storyteller.

“I focus on trying to tell stories about myself and the people around me, I think that’s what captures people the most,” Adigun said.

Adigun will use his expertise as a storyteller onstage on Saturday, August 4 at Lollapalooza, with artists like The Weeknd, Logic, and Zedd performing on the same day.

For Adigun the process of making music is constant. He writes everyday about experiences he’s gone through, as well as other people.

“I write down whatever thoughts come into my head,” Adigun said. “If I’m going through something or I see something in the street that may remind me of a time that I went through, an idea may spark and I immediately start writing.”

Adigun has been making music since he was six years old. School and music have always been a part of his life. This past March, he graduated from DePaul University; presently, this is the only time in Adigun’s life where he has solely focused on music.

“This is a whole new chapter in my life that I’ve never seen before,” Adigun said. “I’ve always been great with time management but now that this big thing is off my plate I ask myself, ‘How am I going to adjust? And ‘What am I going to change?,’ but overall I’m glad I’m done.”

His mother, Siki Adigun, said Femi performing at Lollapalooza is “huge” and that she’s “very proud,” especially since music wasn’t always his first choice.

“As a child he wanted to be a epidemiologist, a special disease specialist. He wanted to research and find a cure to diabetes,” Siki said. “The fact that he was just doing music as a passion and it led him to this huge.”

At H-F, Femi was known as a student who brought life to the classroom and who was always ready to perform—even in class.

“I used to joke and say that Femi got his start with me in Spanish class,” Sheila Acebes, Femi’s freshman year Spanish teacher said. “I used give him my headset in the language lab and hit the mic for all of the students to listen and he would just rap; the class loved it.”

Acebes also said that she couldn’t be happier about Femi’s Lollapalooza performance, especially since this has been his passion for as long as she’s known him.

Acebes also experienced firsthand what his performances are like. She and another spanish teacher, Karen Fine, went to see him perform last summer.

“It was really fun to see him. The crowd was totally into him and there was so much energy in the room,” Acebes said. “Everyone was dancing and having a great time; he just owned the crowd.”

In the future, use his platform to give back Femi plans to give back to the community.

“What I want to do with music is much bigger than just making good songs,” Femi said.  “What I want music to do for me is put myself in a situation in which I can help other people…I want to be able to change people’s situation based off of the status that I have been able to acquire.”