He’s going out with a bang!
The creator of the annual “Sept. 21” Earth, Wind & Fire celebration videos has just made his last one, NPR reports.
Demi Adejuyigbe is a comedian and screenwriter who has made videos of himself dancing to the Earth, Wind, and Fire song “September” every year since 2016.
It all started with the dance hit’s opening line: “Do you remember/the 21st night of September?” Adejuyigbe heard it and randomly decided to make a video, replacing the original lyrics with a remixed lapse of “21st night of September” while wearing a similar shirt. His then-roommate encouraged him to share it online in celebration of the date.
“So I made a video of myself dancing to it, and I made a quick shirt with like a stencil that I had and just posted that on Twitter. And they were like, ‘Oh, that’s funny,’ ” Adejuyigbe recalled.
— demi adejuyigbe (@electrolemon) September 22, 2016
A year later, during the days leading up to Sept. 21, 2017, he noticed that his original video had started making its rounds again.
“I was like, ‘Oh, maybe I should do another one. Oh, that’d be fun if I escalated this year.’ And then, as soon as I had done two, it was like, ‘It’s a pattern. You’re going to do this every year now,’ ” Adejuyigbe said.
Adejuyigbe has continued the tradition for the last four years, getting bigger and bigger each year, bringing in a children’s choir, a mariachi band, and even partnering with his friend Marina Shifrin to co-produce.
“There’s this sort of element to it where you’re just like, ‘Why is this happening?’ Like, there’s no real justification behind it, and it feels like this very niche sort of thing that’s simultaneously big and small. So it feels like you’re excited about this thing that you’re in on. But it also just feels like...when it’s going to happen, you know that it’s going to be bigger than last year. You know, it’s going to be a surprise,” Adejuyigbe explained.
This past Sept. 21 was no different, the content creator releasing another video, this time featuring a rotating room and a fully choreographed backyard party. However, he announced that this Sept. 21 would be his last, admitting that while he loves directing the videos, it’s a lot of attention and anxiety that comes with it. He’s been happy with his run and just wanted to end on a high note. Adejuyigbe added that the best part of the videos have been the creative process.
https://t.co/FRHZXzd9xe • https://t.co/ztznLId5fl pic.twitter.com/z2d4Mv6szm
— demi adejuyigbe (@electrolemon) September 21, 2021
“It just feels like doing the impossible with a bunch of friends. It reminds me of just being like a child and trying to make videos with my friends...you think you can do everything just because you’re like, ‘Oh, I’ll see a tutorial, and it’ll be easy.’ And as an adult, it’s the opposite. I’m like, ‘I just don’t think it’s possible’...And then getting to the point where we do it and looking around and just feeling like, ‘All right, we’re a bunch of 12-year-olds who just suddenly built a rotating room’ feels like we’re invincible,” he said.
Most of his later videos have ended with a call to action towards charitable endeavors, encouraging viewers to donate. This last one was no different, Adejuyigbe ending the video by launching a raffle for painting, the proceeds going to three organizations: Sunrise Movement, a climate activism org, Imagine Water Works, a New Orleans mutual aid org helping with Hurricane Ida relief, and the West Fund, a nonprofit helping provide access to abortion in West Texas. Mere hours after the last video went live, he had already garnered almost $1 million in donations.
“Hurricane Ida hit, and then Greg Abbott’s abortion ban in Texas also hit. And being from Texas, I was just sort of like, this feels like something that we have the power to just do something about and just provide for,” said Adejuyigbe.
The comedian has received tons of support, including from EWF themselves. He doesn’t know what’s next, but he plans to keep making video content and just see where it leads him.
“What I really love about the videos and why I keep making them is just the ability to make things and just have a plan and execute it. I don’t know. We’ll see what that turns into,” he said.
Click below to check out the very last, “Sept. 21.” Thanks for all the magic, Demi!
Photo Courtesy of Demi Adejuyigbe/YouTube