9 best and worse album covers of 2015

2015 was the year of albums in Nigeria, with 29 albums so far.

While the most obvious subject of discussion and concern is the music, we at Pulse are different. We see past that, taking a holistic view of the product.

There was a time when album artwork was considered almost as important as the album itself. From Olamide’s iconic cover to “Baddest Guy Ever Liveth”, to  Banky W’s sleek look on “R&BW”, we've celebrated design, both great and awful, beautiful and ugly, thoughtful and nonsensical.

Behind every great album is great artwork. The design of an album’s cover is a crucial aspect of the album itself. Although it might seem that an album is all about the music, the artwork is the face of the album, which means that it’s the thing that gives potential listeners their first impressions. Your album’s first impression is central to its success.

There is one overriding purpose for album artwork: to attract listeners to your music.

1. Burna Boy – “On A Spaceship”

What’s not to love about this. The singer who has always had  a fascination with the ‘high’ life received freedom from Aristokrat Records to form Spaceship Entertainment. To give his sophomore LP a face that interprets the title “On A Spaceship” he hires artiste Ken Nwadiogbu. 40 days later this was born. the art work which was made public via Instagram shows the singer naked from his waist up, with a Space Helmet nestling comfortably in his grip. There's also another artwork of the image superimposed on a photo from outerspace.

2. Falz - "Stories That Touch"

Falz, ever the comic man, created a conceptual album telling relatable stories that pierce through our barriers, uniting us in music, rhymes and bars. His album art stays true to that with a slightly disturbing image of his face, and lyrics off the songs scrawled on them. The fonts and the doodles which form shapes along the face is an indication of the light-hearted theme surrounding this album. All of this activity on the art promises casual entertainment, with just enough spirit (Falz's eyes) to give substance.

3. Seyi Shay - "Seyi or Shay"

Part of the conceptual theme of this lady's marketing has been the creation of an alter ego to ensure that copies of the album leave the shelves, and this does make her music look attractive. If anything, the morbid, ominous look of the art which shows two versions of the singer, one version is clad in black, and stares into the mirror. What stares back is a completely different Seyi Shay, with edgy dressing and trendy hair. This enough to make a man want to give this a spin.

4. Runtown - "Ghetto University"

The dreary texture of this album art forms the basis for the infusion of two Runtowns. In the fore, he maintains a domineering position in a classic ghetto street. But a throwback to his past is evident, as a portrait extends behind the man, hands clasped, eyes closed in supplication and prayer for a better. Two versions of Runtown converge on this album cover to sell the music, and inspire. Throwing in the prayer position speaks to the prevalent belief system of his target market. Pray harder, get schooled, hustle, sweat and taste victory.

5. Orezi - "The Ghen Ghen"

Pop albums in Nigeria are a noisy bunch. They contain easy to digest songs which are meant to be good-timing materials which capture the spirit of the times. Orezi has that spirit displayed on this album arts which is colourful, striking and attention-seeking. He strikes a swag pose, with a colourful jacket, shades and gold chains. Right here is the classic depiction of the 21st century pop singer who represents the flashy side of things.  This is truly “The Ghen Ghen” album cover.

6. Reminisce - "Baba Hafusa"

This rapper possesses a keen understanding of imagery and all the joys that come with one. Reminisce titled his album 'Baba Hafusa', which translates to 'Hafusa's Dad', after his first child, Hafusa. To make that name stick with an image, Reminisce rocked his traditional look, but added extra zip with left hand holding tightly to a gigantic red stuffed animal, and the right clutching a baby carrier. The music though fails to bear a connection  with this imagery, but on the basis of this art and all that it promises, this is a win.

7. LeriQ - "The Lost Sounds"

LeriQ is currently Nigeria's most experimental music producer, with a catalogue boasting of amazing fusion sounds. On his project he captures that production wizardry via the title and the accompanying cover that depicts him as an enchanter with all the access to powers lost and sacred. The artwork bears a vintage dull look, with grainy rendering leading from which the viewer can see a LeriQ in exotic regalia,his vision lowered to the focal point which interestingly is a light emanating from a console. There's also a time-piece thrown in for good effect.

8. Naeto C - "Day 1"

Naeto C is a hard act to pin down, as he has slowly failed to get his music right. Now the rapper pressed the reset button with this conceptual Hip-hop gem which showed all of his lyrical prowess, and to get that into the open, his cover was reminiscent of the glory days of art; the Renaissance. With Gothic fonts and compasses, this really does strike you as classy work, truly the new best of Naeto C, before the pursuit of lucre infiltrated his artistry...which it is. Sometimes all you need is one good font and white space.

9. Oritse Femi - "Money Stops Nonsense"

Let's all take a moment to look at the rebranding of Oritse Femi as the Musical taliban. This he has been selling after his single 'Double Wahala' gave him second life. This art is the embodiment of that idea as the singer promises a deep-cutting album. An Arabic turban veils the singer, but leaves room for his eyes to peer through, and suggests enough character and soul-searching on the work.

The Worst Album Covers of 2015

1. Skales - "Man Of Year"

Now how is this an album art for a debut album, with such an over-ambitious title. Red cup, corny look, poor representation. 'Whack of the year; is an appropriate title for this. The flashy gold-them of the album lays the perfect framework for what could have been a killer art, but the picture and the cup suggests a lack of seriousness to the music which is off-putting to many potential buyers. At best, this is a remarkable Corel Draw creation from an SS3 student.

2. Yemi Sax - "J.A.L.T.O.S"

Creativity went missing on this cover, as the Sax Man found a way to create something to inspire nothing. That in itself is a talent. Yemi Sax sits with two saxes in a photo that also contains a queer dress sense - he has a bowler on a white shirt, suspenders, shorts and a bow-tie. The deal-breaker has to be the look on the face of the Saxophonists. That look is uninspiring.

3. Iyanya - "Applaudise"

As prosaic album covers go, this sits on the list as the only one which features no creative direction. There was no effort on this. Just a mischievous look on Iyanya's face, and some photoshop. Iyanya's portrait rocks a suit, which shows a disconnect with the theme of the music. This isn't an R&B album where a classy dress sense is needed to connote romance. This is pop fast-food music. Where did it all go wrong for the 'Kukere' master? We would have accepted something which shows him shirtless, and with a title, "Mr Oreo."

4. Naeto C - "Festival"

This singer gave us joy with his first album, and now he serves the reverse on this one. A traditional feel was the direction for this art, but the separation and execution leaves more to be desired. Naeto C scores good points for the traditional 'Agbada' wear, but that is negated with the interruption of the image with the title bar. Then there's the feeling that the art director had over-stretched his idea by the extremely busy background.

5. Wande Coal - "Wanted"

Wande Coal went the extra mile to create the look of a Wild West outlaw with a hat, shades, a tie, and a jacket. But that look failed. Instead, what comes out from all of that effort is the feeling that this outlaw is of a voodoo bunch, with the dark pose, and the layers of superimposition lacking a seamless integration.

6. MC Galaxy - "Breakthrough"

Someone took this hustler's idea, and dream and ran South with it. As an allusion to his native Annang heritage, he appears on the cover with beads and a wrapper. There are glass shards in the backgrounds and a gold beam saddling extra responsibility on the title fonts. Everything is disorderly and lacking a wholesome quality. One would transfer that impression to make a judgement on the quality of his music.

7. Joe EL - "Timeless"

"Timeless" album showed a creative flaw by being too similar to Sunny Neji’s 2012 ‘Timeless’ album. Even the album art looks like a modern version of its predecessor. There is also no mention of creative inspiration from Sunny Neji. This is simply cover plagiarism.

8. Olamide - "Eyan Mayweather"

Olamide took to his childhood neighbourhood and streets of Bariga to reconstruct success on his latest cover art. The final product shows him in full colour, standing head over shoulders on the rest of the models drawn from his adoring hood fans. Then there's the titular fonts which are divided into the Gren-White-Green of the Nigerian flag. This was meant to be symbolic and exquisite. They put in time into the work, and the effort comes right at you. But execution was skewed, and the end product is unconvincing.

9. Olamide, Phyno - "2 Kings"

The King of the West aligned with the Eastern Ruler on a symbolic album to mark time, and someone in both teams decided to go with this. More effort would have seen both rappers resplendent in their glory, symbolized on this work. But a gold and black colour choices with two lions takes away from the seller's arsenal.