Kutimba With Siima

This week, fashion stylist and costume designer Lisa Smedley-Calderon joins me. She’s styled musicians for album covers, music videos, red carpets, award shows, and tours, with a client list that includes Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, The Temptations, Stevie Wonder, Kirk Whalum, and Boyz II Men.For the first time, Lisa speaks in-depth about styling D’Angelo for the Brown Sugar album artwork. She takes us back to the phone call that started it all, when she knew almost nothing about him, and breaks down how she wove the spirit of New York into his look.She also recalls who else was on set that day, a name that too often gets left out of D’Angelo’s story.Learn more about Lisa's work here and here.Host: Siima ItabaazaGuest: Lisa Smedley-CalderonTheme Song: Plastic - Ryan James CarrPodcast Cover Artwork: ⁠Ian Mwesiga⁠Kutimba With Siima Newsletter: ⁠https://kutimbawithsiima.substack.com/⁠IG: ⁠@kutimbawithsiima

Today marks one year since the passing of D’Angelo, a generational artist whose music continues to resonate.In his memory, this week’s episode revisits the cover of his 1995 debut album, Brown Sugar. I’m joined by Toussaint Davy, former deputy editor of Touch Magazine, for a closer look at the image’s intimacy and the quiet cool it evokes. We discuss how the cover departed from the ways Black male musicians were visually marketed at the time, before placing it in conversation with the rest of D’Angelo’s album artwork.Order Toussaint's book hereHost: Siima ItabaazaGuest: Toussaint DavyTheme Song: Plastic - Ryan James CarrPodcast Cover Artwork: Ian MwesigaKutimba With Siima Newsletter: https://kutimbawithsiima.substack.com/IG: @kutimbawithsiima

Visual artist Robert Pruitt joins me to unpack the 1974 Impulse! reissue cover of Sun Ra's The Nubians of Plutonia.  We explore the connections between Sun Ra's Afrofuturist cosmology and Robert's own visual world. Our conversation ranges from Black futurism and myth-making to representation and the enduring question of what freedom might actually look like.Learn more about Robert's work hereHost: Siima ItabaazaGuest: Robert PruittStory editing and advising: Allison BehringerTheme Song: Plastic - Ryan James CarrKutimba With Siima Newsletter: https://kutimbawithsiima.substack.com/IG: @kutimbawithsiima

This week, I sit down with writer, editor, and cultural consultant Mazzi Odu to unpack the cover for Diana Ross' 1980 album, Diana. It’s an image that captured a turning point in both Diana’s personal and professional life.We break down the cover's visual language: the lowercase mononym typeface, the confident, unsmiling gaze, the wet-slicked hair standing in for her signature curls, and the borrowed jeans. Along the way, we get into the album's deep ties to disco and queer culture, and how this single image became a blueprint, echoed decades later by Whitney Houston, Beyoncé, and Taraji P. Henson.Subscribe to Mazzi's Substack hereRead Mazzi's writing about jewellery hereHost:  Siima ItabaazaGuest: Mazzi OduStory Editing and Advising: Christina M. TapperTheme Song: Plastic - Ryan James CarrKutimba With Siima Newsletter: https://kutimbawithsiima.substack.com/IG: @kutimbawithsiima

Welcome to Season Two!In this episode, culture journalist Thomas Hobbs joins me to discuss one of hip-hop's most recognisable album covers: Tupac Shakur's The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory.Thomas reflects on his lifelong connection to Tupac's music. We explore how Tupac used album art to build his iconography and why this image remains unmatched in the rapper's visual legacy.We also unpack the legal battle over the album cover art and what it reveals about the politics of ownership in the music industry.Read Thomas' interview with Riskie here. Read Thomas' interview with Chi Modu here.Host: Siima ItabaazaGuest: Thomas HobbsStory Editing and Advising: Allison BehringerTheme Song: Plastic - Ryan James CarrKutimba With Siima Newsletter: https://kutimbawithsiima.substack.com/IG: @kutimbawithsiimaEmail: [email protected]

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 ItabaazaGuest: Brent RollinsKutimba With Siima Newsletter: https://kutimbawithsiima.substack.com/Email: [email protected]: @kutimbawithsiima

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 ItabaazaGuest: Eddie OtchereStory editing and advising: Allison Behringer of Rough Cut CollectiveOrder the Spirit Behind The Lens here.Kutimba With Siima Newsletter: https://kutimbawithsiima.substack.com/Email: [email protected]: @kutimbawithsiima

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 Itabaaza⁠Guest: ⁠Tee Max⁠Kutimba With Siima Newsletter: ⁠https://kutimbawithsiima.substack.com/⁠Email: [email protected]: ⁠@kutimbawithsiima⁠

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 ItabaazaGuest: Tee MaxKutimba With Siima Newsletter: https://kutimbawithsiima.substack.com/Email: [email protected]: @kutimbawithsiima

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 ItabaazaGuest: Sydney UrbanekRead A Moving-Image History of Parkwood Entertainmenthere.Kutimba With Siima Newsletter: https://kutimbawithsiima.substack.com/IG: @kutimbawithsiimaEmail:[email protected]