The term “multi-hyphenate” originated in the 1970s and was mostly used in Hollywood to refer to creatives who fell outside the traditional notion of a “triple threat” of singing, dancing, and acting. A multi-hyphenate is a person with several professions or skills so a multi-hyphenate artist is one who works in various artistic disciplines. Multi-hyphenate artists argue that this allows them to dedicate their time to many things that reflect who they are while remembering that they are not defined by just one job title.
As much as artists do different jobs to explore their different interests, it is important to note that sometimes one form of art is not enough to get by. Covid-19 left a lot of artists with the realisation that they couldn’t depend on one disciplinary to make a living. Covid-19 also reinforced the importance of the use of social media for work. Social media reaches audiences far and out under any conditions and the audience does not have to be present in person to enjoy the art.
Chi Ume was born in the United States to Nigerian parents. She was introduced to fashion at an early age and thereafter started her career in the arts and design. Ume grew up seeing the impact fashion had on her culture as well as the way fashion allowed her to express herself. The artist established her fashion line Bluehill in 2020 and she seeks to use it to magnify the image of black women as well as shine the light on black women. When talking about her fashion she mentions in passing that she is also a musician. She wants it to be known that this is an avenue of the arts that she pursues for herself and not to make a living or to be famous.
Many artists are inspired to create by something in their lives, whether it is a personal adversity or a social issue. This motivates some artists to produce only one type of art, while others express their ideas and concerns through different artistic disciplines. The latter results in multidisciplinary artists, also known as multi-hyphenate artists for the purposes of this article. If an artist is very spiritual and finds a lot of inspiration in their faith, their creativity may first manifest in words, leading them to create poetry, and then it may manifest in visions, leading them to paint. When artists are open to these various disciplines of the arts, they are able to practice the form of art that they know best while also learning other forms that they are interested in on the job. They are also able to bet on themselves and their work.
