This October, Atlanta author, designer, and illustrator Sean Fahie seems to be everywhere at once.
The Old Fourth Ward artist has spent the month moving between disciplines and deadlines: creating the key art for “Capturing the Spirit of Oakland Cemetery,” releasing his new capsule collection, The Retired Rappers Association on Oct. 16, and preparing to exhibit in “Overflow,” opening Nov. 1 at C Brooks Gallery in Chosewood Park.
Among those projects, The Retired Rappers Association has drawn the most attention. It’s a playful but personal, limited-edition merchandise collection that, as Fahie explains, began with an inside joke.
A love letter wrapped in humor
“It started as a joke between myself and a friend,” he says. “She likes to ask sarcastically from time to time if I’m ever going to rap again, and the idea of the retired rapper ‘archetype’ came out from that. But after diving into the design of it, I realized that this is, lowkey, my love letter to hip-hop.”
That mix of humor and heart runs through all of Fahie’s creative work. Born in St. Croix and raised in Augusta, he moved to Atlanta after studying graphic design and illustration in Savannah. Now in his forties, he’s built a creative life that spans visual art, storytelling, and sound. His books — Things About Women & Other Short Stories I Seem to Forget (2013), Letters to Lovers Who Love to Hate Me (2014), Chocolate Covered Honey Buns (2018), and Last Year’s Most Interesting Negro (2021) — read like field notes documenting what it means, as Fahie once put it, to “be alive in the opening years of the 21st century, as a man, as an African American, as an Atlanta transplant and as an artist.”
” … after diving into the design of it, I realized that this is, lowkey, my love letter to hip-hop.”
Artist Sean Fahie
Designing joy — and balance
Fahie’s designs are also where those observations take form. Through Sean Fahie Studio, he’s created work for WABE, Oakland Cemetery, The Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs, Atlanta Contemporary, and Atlanta Downtown’s Art & Activation program, building a reputation for fusing illustration, typography, and narrative. His creative process, Fahie says, doesn’t change much whether he’s designing for a client or for himself. “I have to set reasonable parameters for the project and reign in my ideas from time to time,” he says. “I very much have to give myself a deadline, because like most creatives, I could keep going with the ideas or get to a point where I don’t think the idea will be as good/fun for everyone as it is for me.”
That sense of discipline gives way to something lighter in the work itself. “No cheap thrills, just good work and good times. If I’m not having fun or not being challenged, then I’m probably going to be bored,” Fahie says of his creative approach and philosophy. “For anyone that knows me I like to laugh, loudly and often. This is just my way of sharing some of my joy around.”
His new merch line captures some of that joy. Fahie is especially proud of one standout item — The Retired Rappers Journal. “A lot of us grew up writing poetry or raps, or freestyled in the shower at least once,” Fahie says. “I mean we are all ‘retired rappers’ … You are always going to need that paper and pen at some point.”
Across all of it — books, murals, branding, drops — Fahie chases balance. “To get a good balance of rawness and polish you can’t be too greedy with either one,” he explains. “You have to know when you have to pull back and keep it clean, or go in and give it some gully as I like to call it.”
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This week, Fahie’s next chapter unfolds with “Overflow,” a group show featuring fellow Atlanta artists such as Jamal Barber, Haniyah Aianna, Eugene Byrd and Vivan “Toots” Chavez— presenting watercolors, sculpture, mixed media, and textiles. The exhibit opens with a reception Nov. 1, a fitting capstone to a month that’s been as layered as the city he calls home.
Fahie closes the conversation about his month of movement, an idea for a campaign/capsule comes to mind. “But I gotta see how that develops,” he says.
If October proved anything, it’s that his ideas often do.
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