# Afrobeat Sleeve Art

> The painted and collaged record covers of Nigerian Afrobeat, defined by Lemi Ghariokwu's sleeves for Fela Kuti from Alagbon Close (1974) onward. Each cover is a political cartoon that illustrates the album's lyrics, packing oil paint, cut-out photographs, speech balloons and caricatured soldiers and world leaders into a crowded, saturated 12-inch frame under a newly drawn title.

- Period: 1974–present
- Where: Sub-Saharan Africa
- Origin: Lagos, Nigeria: Fela Kuti's Kalakuta Republic and Afrika Shrine circle
- Branch: Counterculture
- Also known as: Lemi style, Afro Pop Art, Fela Kuti album art
- Page: https://stylogeny.com/styles/afrobeat-sleeve-art/

## How it works

- Illustrate the album's lyrics literally, as scenes, so the sleeve states the record's argument before it is played.
- Fill the whole sleeve, front and back, to the edges with figures, crowds, symbols and captions; leave no empty background.
- Mix paint and photography: paste cut-out photographs of the musician into painted settings, or paint over photographs.
- Caricature the powerful as fanged beasts and soldiers as zombies, and use speech balloons and short comic strips to make the satire explicit.
- Draw a new, legible display title for every album instead of using a fixed logotype or typeface.

## Its design choices

Defining choices make the style, characteristic ones are usual, occasional ones turn up now and then.

### Layout & composition
- [Collage & layering](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/collage-and-layering/) (defining)
- [Full bleed](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/full-bleed/) (characteristic)
- [Framed panels](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/framed-panels/) (occasional)

### Space & hierarchy
- [Horror vacui](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/horror-vacui/) (defining)
- [Sequential narrative](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/sequential-narrative/) (characteristic)
- [Extreme scale contrast](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/extreme-scale-contrast/) (characteristic)
- [Layered information](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/layered-information/) (occasional)

### Typography
- [Hand-lettering](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/hand-lettering/) (defining)
- [Ornamented display](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/ornamented-display/) (characteristic)
- [All caps](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/all-caps/) (characteristic)
- [Type as image](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/type-as-image/) (occasional)

### Colour
- [Full polychrome](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/full-polychrome/) (defining)
- [Complementary clash](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/complementary-clash/) (characteristic)
- [Flat fields](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat-fields/) (characteristic)

### Form & shape
- [Distortion & exaggeration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/distortion-and-exaggeration/) (defining)
- [Stylised figuration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/stylised-figuration/) (characteristic)
- [Naturalistic depiction](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/naturalistic-depiction/) (occasional)

### Surface & texture
- [Painterly brushwork](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/painterly-brushwork/) (characteristic)
- [Flat](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat/) (occasional)
- [Halftone & Ben-Day dots](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/halftone-and-ben-day-dots/) (occasional)

### Ornament
- [Folk & sacred symbols](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/folk-and-sacred-symbols/) (occasional)
- [Emblems & badges](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/emblems-and-badges/) (occasional)

### Imagery
- [Painterly illustration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/painterly-illustration/) (defining)
- [Photomontage](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/photomontage/) (defining)
- [Comic & cartoon](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/comic-and-cartoon/) (characteristic)

### Medium & production
- [Offset printing](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/offset-printing/) (defining)
- [Pen, brush & ink](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/pen-brush-and-ink/) (characteristic)

### Tone & intent
- [Agitational & persuasive](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/agitational-and-persuasive/) (defining)
- [Rebellious & subversive](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/rebellious-and-subversive/) (defining)
- [Communal & popular](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/communal-and-popular/) (characteristic)
- [Playful & witty](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/playful-and-witty/) (occasional)
- [Spiritual & sacred](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/spiritual-and-sacred/) (occasional)

Avoids: Generous white space, Modular grid, Typography only, Pastel, Ironic & self-aware, Calm & contemplative, Ornament-free

Palette: #e8401c, #f4c20d, #1f7a3a, #2a5caa, #7b4a2a, #141414

Typefaces: Lemi Ghariokwu's hand-drawn album titles, redrawn for each record, Collaged lettering built from cut-out photographs, Comic-strip hand lettering in speech balloons

Known for: Lemi Ghariokwu, Fela Kuti & Africa 70, Alagbon Close (1974); Lemi Ghariokwu, Fela Kuti & Africa 70, Zombie (1977; back-cover comic strip); Lemi Ghariokwu, Fela Kuti, Fear Not for Man (1977; title lettered with cut-out faces); Lemi Ghariokwu, Fela Kuti & Egypt 80, Beasts of No Nation (1989); Lemi Ghariokwu covers for Sunny Adé, Osita Osadebe, Miriam Makeba and Lucky Dube; Lemi Ghariokwu, Anoda Sistem (2002, Museum of Modern Art)

## Where it comes from, and what it’s close to

- Influenced by: [Pop Art Graphics](https://stylogeny.com/styles/pop-art.md) (1955–1975)
- Influenced by: [Black Panther Party Graphics](https://stylogeny.com/styles/black-panther-graphics.md) (1967–1980)
- Alike in its design choices: [Iranian Revolutionary & Sacred Defence Poster](https://stylogeny.com/styles/iranian-revolutionary-poster.md) (1978–1988), 69% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Ghanaian Movie Poster](https://stylogeny.com/styles/ghana-movie-poster.md) (1985–2005), 64% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Ethiopian Revolutionary Poster (Derg Era)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/ethiopian-revolutionary-poster.md) (1974–1991), 64% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Indonesian Woodcut Activism (Taring Padi)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/taring-padi-woodcut.md) (1998–present), 64% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [South African Vernacular Design (Ijusi)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/ijusi-vernacular.md) (1995–present), 63% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Egyptian Revolutionary Street Art (Mohamed Mahmoud Murals)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/egyptian-revolution-street-art.md) (2011–2014), 62% alike

## Real works

- [Zombie, Fela and Afrika 70 (LP sleeve, front and back)](https://www.discogs.com/release/1816011): Ghariokwu Lemi (design, back-cover comic and liner notes); photography by Tunde Kuboye, 1977, Discogs release database (crowd-sourced; release 1816011, Coconut PMLP 1003; no holding institution)
- [Fear Not for Man, Fẹlá and Afrika 70 (LP sleeve, front)](https://www.discogs.com/release/4951479): Ghariokwu Lemi (artwork, cover concept and design); photography by Tunde Kuboye, 1977, Discogs release database (crowd-sourced; release 4951479, Afrodisia DWAPS 2035; no holding institution)
- [Yellow Fever, Fela Anikulapo Kuti and Afrika 70 (LP sleeve, front)](https://www.discogs.com/release/1490191): Ghariokwu Lemi (design; signed on the cover); photography by Bankole Osunle, 1976, Discogs release database (crowd-sourced; release 1490191, Afrodisia DWAPS 2004; no holding institution)
- [Alagbon Close, Fela Ransome Kuti and Africa 70 (LP sleeve, front)](https://www.discogs.com/release/5083900): Ghariokwu Lemi (front cover, credited as 'S. E. Lemy'); Remi Olowookere (graphics, art direction), 1974, Discogs release database (crowd-sourced; release 5083900, Jofabro JILP 1002; no holding institution)
- [Anoda Sistem](https://www.moma.org/collection/works/96486): Ghariokwu Lemi, 2002, The Museum of Modern Art, New York

## Sources

- https://www.lambiek.net/artists/g/ghariokwu_lemi.htm
- https://www.thevinylfactory.com/features/lemi-ghariokwu-fela-kuti-record-sleeves
- https://www.okayafrica.com/fela-kuti-album-covers-lemi-ghariokwu/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemi_Ghariokwu

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From Stylogeny (https://stylogeny.com/), an atlas of graphic-design styles by Van Riel Online Services. How it is made: https://stylogeny.com/about/. Cite as: Stylogeny, “Afrobeat Sleeve Art”, https://stylogeny.com/styles/afrobeat-sleeve-art/