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Aja Walton x MTV

Source: Aja Walton / AJA WALTON

MTV Entertainment Group aims to make ‘Black History Now’ with new Black History Month campaign this month. The network has been highlighting Black trailblazers and content creators throughout the month including Brooklyn-based nail artist, Aja Walton. Black History Month is more than examining the past, but also spotlighting the future of Black creative icons. Today, we will introduce you Aja, who has been using her artistic talents in the latest ‘Making Black History Now’ campaign with MTV to create custom nail sets inspired by some of today’s biggest acts in music.

Walton is a self-taught nail artist specializing in custom nail art design, which she refers to as “ten mini masterpieces.” Aja Walton, represented by See Management, is an exceptionally detailed artist with intricate designs that have since caught the eyes of several creatives. Aja is an artist, except she has a variety of ten little canvases to explore.

The Atlanta-born artist took her talents to New York six years ago upon graduating from Howard University in Washington, D.C. A mathematician major worked in tech by day while pursuing her creative passion of crafting specially designed nails by night. The word traveled fast of Aja’s talents, and she began attending and working for NYFW every year thereafter.

This year, Aja’s visible everywhere including MTV’s latest campaign. In celebration of Black History Month, she teamed up with the music network to create nail art inspired by a few of the most iconic Black albums of our generation. She first debuted the collaboration with a nail set inspired by Sza’s CTRL album.

If you look closely at the pine green nail set, you will see Sza painted on the middle finger with a 3D snake design on the ring finger that is thoughtfully crafted. Each nail is reminiscent of a piece from the cover of Sza’s top-selling debut album.

Aja shares her next feature with the ‘Making Black History Now’ campaign featuring Drake’s infamous cloudy skies NWTS album. “It’s such an honor to be sharing nail art in the coolest of spaces. To all the talented nail artists & painters that have stretched & influenced me, thank you so much. let’s keep pushing boundaries for what them nails do,” Walton says about the collaboration.

The latest in the series with MTV features Rihanna’s eighth studio album ANTI. It has been five years since the release, so it was an ideal time to spotlight the legendary project. Aja wishes Rihanna a happy birthday in her recent post on Instagram.

We are most impressed by Aja’s close attention to detail. Custom nail design is an art form, and it is important that platforms like MTV continue to share positive Black stories of the creators who are not next up, but right here in this moment creating magic in every creative sector.

‘Making Black History Now’ is MTV’s largest marketing undertaking for Black History Month. The company also plans to create social media campaigns through its MTV, Comedy Central and VH1 properties to highlight Black trailblazers, content creators and entertainers. VH1 and Smithsonian Channel, which is also under the MTV Entertainment Group umbrella, will air notable Black movies and specials about Black pioneers such as Martin Luther King Jr. and former President Barack Obama.

After a long summer of 2020 Black Lives Matters protests against racial injustices around the world, SVP of Brand Creative Group, Deva Newman said, “‘Making Black History Now’ is a campaign that ‘falls in line’ with its ‘ongoing commitment to social impact.”

“’Making Black History Now’ truly speaks to the moment that we’re having right now,” Newman continued. “There’s so much change happening even in the midst of a pandemic and highly-charged racial climate witnessed as historical action. It took more than 70 million diverse voters to make a collective historic action with the Biden/Harris win, and we see our diverse audiences embracing this message of ‘Black history now’ as it resonates with change happening across the nation.”

Although Black History Month is the shortest month in the year, Newman believes this is just the beginning of a progressive conversation and has no plans of slowing down any time soon.

“The world is watching the Black community in a different way. I think there’s a lot of momentum, and I think we leverage that momentum and excitement to continue pushing for change,” she said. “There’s so much happening now, I don’t see it just stopping in February.”

Creative nail artist, Aja Walton, has one more addition to her series for the campaign to close out a month long dedication to Black artists, pioneers and innovators alike. Be sure to follow Aja on Instagram and look out for updates for her next feature in the series.

MTV’s ‘Making Black History Now’ Campaign Features Nail Artist Aja Walton’s Iconic Album Art-Inspired Designs  was originally published on globalgrind.com