I love turtle necks. I feel they add a little class to what one wants to wear. It makes one stand out and the darker, the classier. But there is a little story too this obsession for this wear.
When I was 8, my buddy, Omaru Amidu gave me his dad’s cassette. He knew ii had a thing for 80’s and 90’s blues. It was an Elton John bootlegged album called “Best of Elton”. Usually I would just listen and give it back to him but something gave me a better idea; buy it. He asked why and all I could say was, “the front picture is nice oh”. It was Elton wearing a 2 piece suit with a black turtle neck on, sitting on the floor. BEAUTIFUL!! So the first album I ever bought with my savings was because of a well directed photo cover.
Album covers is nothing to some people because they believe in quality over quantity: never judging a book by its cover and there are another group of people *cough ME cough* that would buy an album based on the beauty of the cover. To me, album covers tell a different story that is supposed to give the listener something wonderful to expect. There are many cases where the album is trash but the album cover will give one a second chance of listening. Example is a rapper called “K CAMP” based in USA. His album, “In Due Time” never had any feel too me because i don’t even know him. But the simplicity of the cover made me download it and oh boy I was blown away. It spawned massive hits like “Cut Off” and “Blessing”. If I never gave it a listen, I wouldn’t know this unearthed talent. Major labels all over the world care about one thing only: PROFIT MAKING. These guns will invest millions of dollars to make one album a massive success from A-Z. Kelechi, a US based Nigerian artist recently won a competition hosted by Green Label and was giving a huge amount of money to produce his debut album. He said he budgeted $6,000 dollars for cover art only. 6,000 DOLLARS FOR AL ALBUM COVER!!!!! That’s 24,000 cedis just for an album cover. Yohane jokingly said, “Why, the album cover go be God en wallpaper?” that’s how the industry feels about art.
In Ghana, we are still recovering from the highly orgasmic energy poured out at the Chale Wote festival in Accra. Art was the main show. This got me checking out art in music. Can artist make masterpieces through music? Can artist invest time and resources in making one good project? Hard to answer that. We recently read the review on one young artist that broke the barrier between art and music. If you haven’t read it, then do so here [ https://akwesiosei.wordpress.com/2016/08/26/the-fine-line-between-art-music-f-l-a-i-r-album-review/%5D. Ghanaian based artists don’t like art and that’s a huge problem. Having a selfie and a couple of photoshopped words won’t make it art. You will definitely have a fan base but your art form will fall. And this is the heavy truth: PEOPLE LIKE ME THAT APPRECIATE GOOD MUSIC WILL NEVER LISTEN TO YOUR MUSIC. But there is good news, while some choose to make noise and noise only, there are a few that respect the art form of music and are willing to invest much into their albums. And I’m here to appreciate and show them my maximum respect on my blog.
Ladies and gentlemen…… *drum roll* Here, in no particular order are the best 5 album covers in Ghana (p1).
1. WORLASI- NUS3 (STRENGTH WITHIN)
I’m saying this for the second time; this is an all-time classic. Thanks to Supreme Rights records and Worlasi for this masterpiece. The thing that got me to listen was the fine line of minimalist and maximalist that the artist chose to walk on. The picture is well organized and carefully planned. Here we see Worlasi, in dark colored attire lounging in a chair holding a captive’s chain holding another Worlasi, topless with a white trousers sitting yoga style. This part of the picture signifies one thing, “the only thing holding you back is you”. His music is all about self liberation and musical independence. One might see nothing wrong with this picture but for an art lover, one sees into what would probably be nothing to the artist himself. My attention was drawn to the ghetto blaster on the CRT television. Edem (one art fanatic) said this shows how the audio part of life can conquer and dominate the visual aspect of life. Don’t ask me. I’m as confused as you are. You see how these little symbolisms can come together and piece together one perfect album cover, that’s what makes NUS3’s cover one of the best in Ghana
2. JAYSO- MAKING TASHA PROUD
Jayso will forever be the number 1 underrated artist from Africa. He respects the fans like they’re family. His twitter account is one of the friendliest accounts out there. He is all about “being myself and making the people love the way I am”. Jayso hasn’t changed since the beginning of his career. He gave us the powerhouse called SKILLIONS and till date, no rap group in Ghana has ever come close to his feat. But surprising enough, this is his debut album. This album isn’t just the album for listening pleasure; it’s a soundtrack to life. He carefully orchestrated a motion picture with sound and made it all about the fans (Metaphor of Tasha). His album cover gets me all the time. Note, any artist looks adorable the moment they choose to use their childhood picture as an album cover (thanks to Nas). This is a group picture and Jayso is the only black kid in the midst of these children. This is very simple that I never needed Edem’s help here. Jayso is different. He sticks to his clean words and “positive music no gimmicks” principle. In the midst of people who look the same, sound the same, make the same music who would be listened to quickly than Jayso’s music. It’s true. Commercial music is all we want.
But we need good, ageless music that we can listen to anytime and that’s the music of the black kid in the midst of these whites. Take a good look at the picture and you will see something funny here. All these kids are either confused, smiling, laughing of holding another. One is even staring at Jayso. But THE KING IS LAID BACK, CRACKING A “IM COOLER THAN YALL” SMILE WITH A CROWN ON HIS HEAD LIKE, DO YOUR THING BUT IMMA REIGN DOING MINE. Ebuzu
3. DARK SUBURB- THE AWAKENING EP
Have you ever had a rush while listening to a completely different, experimental music from an African act before? If no, listen to Dark Suburb. An afro-rock act straight from Ghana who brings a new wave of great songs that are needed in the “end time of music”. With critically acclaimed songs like Get Out and I Dey Feel You Die, this group became the voice of the weird. Their album cover projects what they really do.
Effective branding and quality music form is the only promotion they need and they nailed it. I see a burial ground with 4 bones springing up while music is being played (the melodic notes) at midnight when the full moon is at its rise. Their dark music is to awaken our dead selves. Living in a country with a dominating and easy music form called afro pop, being different is a workload on its own and Dark Suburb’s job is to awaken our dead senses with good, weird and melodious music. See it as a different side to Jayso’s coin.
4. CHASE FOREVER- UNAPPRETIATED
How would you feel when you have paid your dues to a system, written great and memorable songs, recorded and released classics and fight to be at the top and never given your due credit? That’s the artist called Chase Forever. He makes good songs (Let me marry you, tell me your name, lonely), has arguably one of the top 5 best music videos in Ghana but always gets sidelined. As an artist, airing out your frustrations is a true mark of an unappreciated gem. And the album cover brings this feeling out. Colours play a vital role in sending messages. It’s so cryptic that it could mean love, blood, heightened emotions or pressure and this album screams these qualities. This isn’t a victorious album. No, it’s a journey through a man’s pain with his eyes in focus. He tells a story through his point of view. This is what makes this album a classier and critically acclaimed. (Review coming soon)
5. SARKODIE- MARY
Finally, my main man right there. Whether you like it or not, Sarkodie is currently the most successful artist in Ghana. He has amassed a cult following. His songs are massive and his albums and videos are both commercially and critically acceptable. But I never saw his album covers to be that awesome. I’m the type of guy that expects much from the greats. And Sark hasn’t lived to that expectations, not until he released Mary. He once said in an interview that the album is dedicated to his grand mum. While the album covers proves it, the songs had every female in mind and the production and features was just unbelievable awesome, shouts to Akwaboah by the way.
I said using a childhood picture as an album cover qualifies it to the good but when you show yourself as a family man in your album covers, you automatically stand par on par with equally classic album covers. Minimal colours (black, red and ash), few letters and a simple picture of granny. This is a perfect work of a minimalist and I laud this album. This is one of the few albums where you love everything about it, from A-Z. This is way way WAY, better than Sarkology.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Kojo Cue- The Shinning
Rumor- Poetic License
RJZ- BEGOOD BESAFE
In conclusion, the main purpose for this post is to plead to my upcoming and major stars out there; invest in good works. If your music is good, give us a good to look up to (no pun intended) before we buy it. This might sound weird but I’m the kind of guy that loves to listen to music that has album covers and I know there are more of me out there. Simple photoshopping won’t cut it. Invest in a good graphic designer whether it’s a mixtape or an album. Please make good use of your little marketing style. For all you know, your cover might be in the next installation of this post.
Sincerely,
Paa Kwesi,
Your friendly blogger.
Akwesi Osei 