Nigerian-Canadian rapper and singer TOBi has a sound that combines blues, soul, R&B, and Afrobeats. Born Oluwatobi Feyisara Ajibolade in Lagos, TOBi moved to the Toronto area as a child. He has released three albums with RCA Records and Same Plate Entertainment: Still (2019); and Elements Vol. 1 (2020), and PANIC (2023), both of which won Juno awards for Rap Album/EP of the Year. TOBi is known for lyrics that are both socially conscious and emotionally vulnerable, with nods to influences ranging from Eartha Kitt to Kendrick Lamar.

Sony Music and RCA approached Studio Loutsis to design a print magazine and social campaign that built on the existing visual language of the Elements Vol. 1 album cover. Produced at the height of the pandemic in the spring of 2020, the magazine’s concept was to create a visually and editorially cohesive publication, though it was actually produced virtually, with contributors located around the world, photographed via iPhone. TOBi served as editor-in-chief, with art direction by photographers Mark Clennon and Makeda Sanford. The final magazine blends content and lyrics from the album with TOBi’s interviews of artists and cultural influencers across the globe; the publication was illustrated by photographs taken by the art directors and by the interviewees--or the relatives/friends with whom they were in lockdown. Studio Loutsis expanded on the magazine by designing social campaigns for each contributor, which we then carried across all social channels.