The 10 Best Album Covers for 2019 in Nigerian Music
Music is the art of thinking with sounds
I’m passionate about a lot of things, but design and music shuffles the top of that list and this year, it’s exciting to see the Nigerian music scene putting more effort in creating beautiful album covers that actually fit the context of the music they create. The way music is being consumed has changed drastically thanks to the streaming era and album covers are important touch points now more than ever because if people are going to spend minutes staring at your song being played on Spotify, heck it better be worth the look.
Here’s a list of my favourites
P.S these are just my personal perspectives about the artworks, not necessarily the artist’s and i can’t speak for any of them.
10. Fish Roundabout- ReubenRane
The only mixtape on this list, Fish Roundabout” is the debut mixtape of ReubenRane. There’s just something beautiful about the image of Ladi Kwali, the famous potter on the 20 naira note hiding a rolled up denim sleeve, scratching on a jukebox. I’ll leave you to draw your own meanings from the piece. It’s a fitting canvas for the amazing sounds on the album, notable on moses and a’minna with a sweet hausa sample . Beautiful work on the patterns also
9. Lucid-Asa
Asa has always taken a simple emotive photographical approach to her album arts like the classic self titled debut album and beautiful imperfection which is my personal favourite and Lucid flows in this same aesthetic . Lucid is a soundscape of where she is currently and its evident in the music, a well produced cocktail of sounds revolving around life, crushing break-ups, victories and happiness. The album was created to make us feel, and that portrait excels at that, lovely tattoo also i must add.
8. Lagos in July x December- TGM & Vader the WildCard
Vader the wildcard and TGM spazzed on the album covers for these series and took refreshing ideas for the art direction of both. Lagos in July sees an open cd with post stamps, and I’m particularly fond of the back cover. It’s interesting how each of the songs spelled July and flipping the last song to the left cos it’s titled Yaba Left is one of the subtle things that make my inner nerd scream.
The December version takes a really creative spin on the Detty December vibe and the attention to detail is top notch . It might be December but the artwork is filled with a lot of Easter eggs. Have fun decoding them
7.Woman of Steel- Yemi Alade
Yemi Alade is transformed into a goddess that looks like an hybrid of an Egyptian queen and a Wakandan princess, killing it in a majestic pose and a silver ring.
This is a very strong image that sets the tone for the album, combining that golden statue look with the African patterned crown deserves some accolades.
6. Mandy and the Jungle- Santi
Santi’s latest drop is a vivid, genre-blending mix of trippy production through the mind of cruel santino. the album cover and the alternate artworks did a great job in painting the story in a comic strip like fashion, with probably the best typography on this list. A good representation of the alte aesthetic we’ve come to associate him with.
5. Falz- Moral Instruction
Falz did an excellent job sampling fela on beats and message on this album, it’s only fitting he kept that consistency on the album art. If you put this art besides the other amazing pieces Lemi Ghariokwu created for Fela, it’s evident they are branches of the same roots. It evoked feelings of nostalgia and a nice fit the thought provoking project.
4. Love is Contagious- Wurld
The blue haired vocalist takes us on an emotional trip on love is Contagious and there’s something striking about the album artwork. I’m a sucker for keeping things simple and this album artwork excels at just that. the first thing you’d notice when looking at Wurld is the blue hair, and the cover emphasises that distinct look, a brush sitting lofty on wurld’s head is just icing on the cake.
3. Ycee vs Zaheer- Ycee
Ycee’s latest project has been widely anticipated and the album cover went viral, sometimes a simple and effective concept is all it takes. It’s a visual pun that shows the two alter egos to the artist, Ycee vs Zaheer, the way the blue and orange hues divide Ycee’s face with the amazing photography is such a powerful image. The back cover expands this concept further by furthermore separating the alter egos. I love it.
2. African Giant- Burna Boy
Burna Boy’s latest body of work is heralded as one of the best albums this year, not only in the nigerian music scene but globally, it was widely accepted by the global community and it had a well deserved grammy nod. The art direction for this project is excellent, integrating an artist on a currency is nothing we’ve not seen before but it was executed perfectly, fitting into the album theme and the animated integration into Spotify music player is nothing short of a feast for the eyes.
- Alternate Ending- Paybac and Boogey
Paybac and Boogey form a rap duo called lost and found and they created a masterpiece this year, a concept album called Alternate Ending and the comical storybook feel of the album cover is such a visual delight.
It’s like a ticket preparing you for the amazing mind trip into Boogey’s bars and paybac flows.
It also had alternate album covers which are all fire, i hope it’s a pun on the album name, my favourite being the one that fuses the duo’s face.
Another reason why I’m in love with the art direction, is how they took it up a notch and made an artwork for each song, wow, that’s just amazing. We see you lost and found.
Honourable Mentions
-Gemini- Tay Iwar
-Cray Cray- Crayon
-A Good Life- Davido
-Wilmer- Patorankin
-Bad Boy Blaq Reloaded- Blaqbonez
