This week, I'm excited to host the design titan Brent Rollins. He’s an artist, art director, designer, author, and TV producer. Brent is known for creating the logos for films like John Singleton's Boyz N the Hood and Spike Lee’s Mo’ Better Blues. His design prowess extends to album covers for legendary artists such as Gang Starr, Blackalicious, and Dilated Peoples.
Our conversation centers on his work for the cover of the Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Blackstar album. Brent discusses the mission of the Ego Trip Collective and explains how his role as the collective’s art director led to the opportunity to design the Blackstar album cover. We explore how he masterfully integrated Eddie Otchere’s photographs into the cover design and the references that catalyzed his creative vision.
Host: Siima Itabaaza
Guest: Brent Rollins
Kutimba With Siima Newsletter: https://kutimbawithsiima.substack.com/
Email: kutimbawithsiima@gmail.com
I sit down with legendary photographer Eddie Otchere. He’s known for photographing icons like The Notorious B.I.G., The Fugees, and So Solid Crew.
Our conversation explores the creation of the album artwork for Black Star’s 1998 debut album, Mos Def and Talib Kweli Are Black Star.
Eddie shares behind-the-scenes stories from his photoshoot with Mos Def (now Yasiin Bey) and Talib Kweli. We also discuss Eddie’s views on contemporary rappers and his vision for the visuals of Black Star’s follow-up album.
Host: Siima Itabaaza
Guest: Eddie Otchere
Story editing and advising: Allison Behringer of Rough Cut Collective
Order the Spirit Behind The Lens here.
Kutimba With Siima Newsletter: https://kutimbawithsiima.substack.com/
Email: kutimbawithsiima@gmail.com
In the final part of my conversation with British photographer and documentarian Tee Max, we explore the album cover of Madonna's Ray of Light.
We dive into the backstory behind the cover art, discuss why Tee considers it a remarkable image, and reflect on Madonna's extraordinary ability to reinvent herself.
Host: Siima Itabaaza
Guest: Tee Max
Kutimba With Siima Newsletter: https://kutimbawithsiima.substack.com/
Email: kutimbawithsiima@gmail.com
This week photographer and documentarian Tee Max joins me for a conversation about music photography. Tee's striking black-and-white portraits depict several Hip Hop and R&B icons, including Beyoncé, Da Brat, Notorious B.I.G, and OutKast during their early years.
Tee shares his journey into music photography—what shooting Nas taught him about performers, the time he almost botched a shoot with Mary J. Blige, his MTV Base show with music journalist Fusion, and more.
Host: Siima Itabaaza
Guest: Tee Max
Kutimba With Siima Newsletter: https://kutimbawithsiima.substack.com/
Email: kutimbawithsiima@gmail.com
Friday, December 13, 2013 - everyone remembers exactly where they were. Beyoncé shocked the world with the surprise release of her self-titled album, flipping the industry on its head.
Writer Sydney Urbanek joins me to unpack the Beyoncé album cover and how it defies societal expectations surrounding Black women performers. We explore the evolution of typography across Beyoncé’s album covers and the lasting influence of the self-titled cover on her visual identity.
Host: Siima Itabaaza
Guest: Sydney Urbanek
Read A Moving-Image History of Parkwood Entertainmenthere.
Kutimba With Siima Newsletter: https://kutimbawithsiima.substack.com/
Email:kutimbawithsiima@gmail.com
Journalist and photographer Charisse Kenion joins me to discuss Grace Jones’ Nightclubbing (1981) album cover.
We unpack the complex dynamic between Grace and her longtime collaborator, Jean-Paul Goude, the visionary behind the image. Our conversation also explores androgyny, the agency and complexity of Black women, and more.
Host: Siima Itabaaza
Guest: Charisse Kenion
Kutimba With Siima Newsletter: https://kutimbawithsiima.substack.com/
Email: kutimbawithsiima@gmail.com
I dissect Sade's Love Deluxe album cover art with curator and cultural critic Larry Ossei-Mensah. He explains how the image embodies self-love. Together, we explore how the Love Deluxe cover departs from typical portrayals of the band’s lead singer, Sade Adu. Additionally, Larry and I discuss the “Sade Girl Aesthetic” on social media.
Host: Siima Itabaaza
Guest: Larry Ossei-Mensah
Kutimba With Siima Newsletter: https://kutimbawithsiima.substack.com/
Email: kutimbawithsiima@gmail.com
I usher in a new era with Shadé Freeland!
She shares why Toni Braxton’s celebrated 1993 self-titled album cover resonates deeply. We explore Toni’s portrayal of femininity, Shadé’s platform ‘THE BLK PRSPCTV’ and the importance of recognising album cover art at music award shows.
Host: Siima Itabaaza
Guest: Shadé Freeland
THE BLK PRSPCTV: https://www.theblkprspctv.com/
Kutimba With Siima Newsletter: https://kutimbawithsiima.substack.com/
IG: @kutimbawithsiima
Email: kutimbawithsiima@gmail.com
Hello everyone!
It’s been a while! I’ve been restructuring the show, and I'll return this November with new episodes. In this episode, I explain how the show will evolve.
Welcome to the new era of Kutimba With Siima!
Claudette Johnson is a leading figurative artist based in London. Her large-scale works challenge the erasure and misrepresentations of Black subjects, particularly Black women. In the 1980s, she co-founded the BLK Art Group, a collective of young Black artists who explored race, gender, and the politics of representation. In 1982, the BLK Art Group organized the First National Black Art Convention at Wolverhampton Polytechnic. Johnson's lecture on the portrayal of Black female figures in Western art, the only presentation by a female artist, was a pivotal moment that propelled the Black feminist art movement in the UK.
Music and dance have always been integral to Johnson's practice as inspiration and subject matter. She discusses the impact of jazz and Miles Davis’ "Kind Of Blue" on her art. Johnson fondly recalls how the dance parties she attended growing up were a source of joy and affirmed her Afro-Carribean identity. She also explains the recurring use of blue in her works.
Subscribe to the Kutimba With Siima newsletter for a playlist inspired by Johnson and current exhibition listings.
Host: Siima Itabaaza
Guest: Claudette Johnson
Story editing and advising: Allison Behringer of Rough Cut Collective
Email: kutimbawithsiima@gmail.com
On June 6th, 2024, James Barnor celebrated his 95th birthday! This pioneering Ghanaian-British photographer is known for his work in photojournalism and studio portraiture. He was Ghana’s first newspaper photographer and the visionary behind the country’s first color processing lab. Barnor’s photographs document life in Ghana as the nation transitioned to independence.
In the 1970s, Barnor moved to London, where he captured the multiplicity of Black diasporan life. As a freelance photographer for Drum magazine, Barnor shot covers, fashion editorials, and current events.
In 2021, I spoke with Barnor during his first retrospective at the Serpentine Gallery in London. Our conversation explored various aspects of his life and career. We discussed his experiences in teaching and police photography and how his family played a pivotal role in shaping his career as a photographer. Barnor shared anecdotes about his encounters with Ghana's first Prime Minister, Kwame Nkrumah, the legendary boxer Muhammad Ali, and Ghanian Opposition Leader J.B Danquah.
Subscribe to the Kutimba With Siima newsletter to hear Barnor discuss his favourite photograph.
Host: Siima Itabaaza
Guest: James Barnor
Story editing and advising: Allison Behringer of Rough Cut Collective
Email: kutimbawithsiima@gmail.com
This year marks the 22nd anniversary of Brandy's iconic album, Full Moon,! Her mesmerizing vocal runs and innovative vocal stacking on the album revolutionized vocal arrangement, earning her the moniker, "The Vocal Bible."
I'm joined by award-winning songwriter, producer, culture journalist, music historian, and music executive, Mel Smith, to delve into the influence of gospel music on both the vocals and production of Full Moon. We discuss how gospel singer Kim Burrell's Everlasting Life album impacted Brandy's vocal evolution and expanded her vocal range. Additionally, we explore how producer Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins, incorporates elements from the church into the album's production, the pivotal role of LaShawn Daniels in the vocal production process, and how Full Moon transformed the gospel music genre. Lastly, we talk about why Full Moon is an afro-futuristic work.
Host: Siima Itabaaza
Guest: Mel Smith
Newsletter: https://kutimbawithsiima.substack.com/
Email: kutimbawithsiima@gmail.com
I am thrilled to kick off Season Two with Winnie Byanyima! She is widely recognised for her tireless advocacy for social justice and gender equality. Currently, she serves as the Executive Director of UNAIDS.
We shift focus from her professional endeavours to explore one of her deepest passions – art. For the first time, Winnie opens up about her profound love for art and building her remarkable collection. She recounts her initial encounters with art, underscoring its role in expressing her African identity. Winnie tells me about unlearning Eurocentric notions about art and the notable artists represented in her collection. She leaves us with invaluable advice about collecting art.
Host: Siima Itabaaza
Editing: Wana Benjamin
Newsletter: https://kutimbawithsiima.substack.com/
Email: kutimbawithsiima@gmail.com
IG: @kutimbawithsiima
In the season finale, I am joined by Alicia Kennedy, a food and culture writer from New York. She is the creator of From The Desk of Alicia Kennedy, a weekly newsletter covering food culture, media, and politics. Alicia's first book, titled No Meat Required: The Cultural History and Culinary Future of Plant-Based Eating, was released in August 2023.
During our discussion, we dissect On the 'Grandma Rule, a newsletter edition in which Alicia utilises the late chef Anthony Bourdain’s concept of the Grandma Rule to explore topics such as culinary tourism, food media, and personal choices regarding food.
Alicia and I delve into navigating projections from omnivores, abstaining from cooking as a form of protest against patriarchy, the ways plant-based eating has enhanced her culinary skills, and the prevailing dominance of restaurant chefs as arbiters of food trends.
Kelly Taylor Mitchell is an artist and educator living and working in Atlanta, GA. Her multidisciplinary practice centers oral history and ancestral memory, real and imagined, woven into the fabric of the Africana Diaspora. Kelly's work is deeply invested in labor intensive making, slowness, and home-spun passed down processes.
We discussed how she conceptualizes and creates her pieces, the significance of food and materials, and rooting her artistic practice in celebration and joy.
Host: Siima Itabaaza
Editing: Wana Benjamin
Email: kutimbawithsiima@gmail.com
Patreon: patreon.com/KutimbaWithSiima
Dieu Donné: https://www.dieudonne.org/
Today's guest is Catherine E. Mckinley, a curator and author of four critically acclaimed books, most recently The African Lookbook: A Visual History of 100 Years of African Women, which won the inaugural Eiger Foundation Prize for Best African Photobook. An exploration of Africa's photographic history, fashion, trade history, and African women's selfhood, the book features works from The McKinley Collection, her personal archive representing African photographies from 1870 to the present. Works from The McKinley Collection have been shown in international museums and galleries. She lives in New York City.
Catherine and I spoke about building the McKinley collection, clothes as monuments, how her work on textile traditions informed the compilation of the book, the impact of the camera and sewing machine on Africa's cultural and economic landscapes, the place of African Women in the archive and more.
Host: Siima Itabaaza
Editing: Wana Benjamin
Patreon: patreon.com/KutimbaWithSiima
Email: kutimbawithsiima@gmail.com
Welcome to Kutimba With Siima!
In the Premiere Episode, I'm joined by Ifeanyi Awachie to review the landmark Africa Fashion exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum in New York. Ifeanyi is a Nigeria-born, Atlanta-raised writer, curator, filmmaker, and scholar.
Africa Fashion is the largest-ever exhibition charting the global impact of African fashions from the 1950s to date. The exhibition, first shown at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London last year, features over forty designers and artists from Africa and its diasporas. Over 180 items, including garments, sketches, catwalk footage and music, depict how Africa’s influential sartorial language has been crafted.
We discuss how we felt about certain curatorial decisions, what we enjoyed and disliked, what we would have done differently, the legacies of the exhibition and more.
Host: Siima Itabaaza
Editing: Wana Benjamin
Patreon: patreon.com/KutimbaWithSiima
Email: kutimbawithsiima@gmail.com