On a Spaceship

Ken created the cover art for Burna Boy’s 2015 album On a Spaceship. The large charcoal portrait shows the musician holding an astronaut’s helmet, with a spacecraft rising behind him.

The image holds a quiet moment before departure. Burna Boy is still on the ground, but everything around him points toward movement and possibility. Drawn at a scale of 42 by 74 inches, the portrait brings Ken’s early practice in charcoal into the world of album art.

Commissioned by Spaceship Entertainment. Artwork and album design by Ken Nwadiogbu; photography by Oseni A. Kolade.