I dropped fine art in JSS3 because I was better than my art teacher.”

Chuka talks a big game and he has the capabilities to back it up. With over a decade’s experience from working extensively with several top Nigerian artists and brands including Fidelity Bank, Mouka, Knorr, Royco, Lipton, Guinness, Malta Guinness, GTAssur/AXA Mansard, Wrigley’s, Oando, P&G, Interswitch, Verve, Quickteller, Golden Penny, Wakanow, Johnnie Walker, Pepsi, Star, Heineken, Maggi and many more. Chuka “Xavier” Obi has stealthily played a leading role in defining how entertainment/art is consumed in Nigeria. Some of his involvement includes writing the popular MTN Saka “I Don Port” ad as well as a few other notable ones. He’s not your mate in this business. ‬
‪When I reached out to the Lagos based creator, illustrator and father, to talk about his overall vibe and the significance behind the landmarks on Burna Boy’s Twice As Tall album cover, I could barely have a moment with him because he’s a busy bee. As a result our interview dragged longer than we both would’ve liked. When he finally had a moment, the information unpacked more than made up for the delay.‬

Nigerian superstar, ‪Burna Boy released his fifth studio album Twice As Tall on Friday, Aug. 14. Executive produced by music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs, the follow-up to 2019’s Grammy-nominated African Giant featured appearances by Sauti Sol, Naughty By Nature, Chris Martin of Cold Play and more, as well as additional production from Timbaland and Anderson .Paak. Whilst the album rightfully received plaudits for its duality, Pan-Africanism and Socio-political rhetorics. The album’s artwork packed a lot of artistic details that we couldn’t wait to unravel. ‬

A cover is pivotal to the total packaging of a commercially released audio product, or album. It’s usually the first thing you notice before picking up or listening to an album by your favorite band or musician. Album art can be meaningful or not, depending on the artist. An album cover can also help shape the way an album is viewed, it may also add to how an audience forms an opinion of an artist or band.
Album covers are a good way of visually presenting the music, which is why more artists are starting to get involved in the creative process. It’s not just a fine piece or art, but a marketing tool that can also become a collectors item. Burna Boy is a perfectionist, who takes pride in his work and I like to think everyone working with him knows what is expected of them. ‬When the foreign company originally saddled with the responsibility of creating the album’s cover and comic book failed to deliver in terms of relatability, Xavier was contacted to help supervise the artistic process. But it soon translated to something bigger. ‬
‪“They had issues with the American company that had been initially contracted to create his album cover and comic book (they were not cutting it as far as quality and understating of the Burna/Nigeria context), I got a call from Burna’s sister.”
“The cover angles were already pretty much agreed, but the meanings behind it weren’t. So I built a vision of Burna standing head and shoulders above the things that speak to African heights, from natural phenomena like the Kilimanjaro to ancient wisdom like the pyramids and Timbuktu university, all in his past, as strides forward to create the new monumental landmarks.‬”
‬
‪The comic book “The Secret Flame,” which accompanied the album’s release and to a lesser extent – the artwork encapsulates Burna’s larger than life personality, his love for African relics and his admiration for super heroes. During the course of our interview with Chuka Obi we got to understand the significance of each famous landmark on the cover. ‬

The full interview is available here for anyone interested https://www.creative-hiphop.com/2020/08/interview-meet-chuka-obi-creative.html

GOOD