ALBUM ART AWESOMENESS

I originally planned to post something else, which I still shall post, but I got caught up in the awesome display of creativity from the album art of 2 rap artistes, who though known for their lyrical prowess do not strike me as the artistically creative types, but, i have been proven wrong. I mean i should have known better seeing as they both have some entrepreneural accomplishments as record label owners which requires some level of creative capacity as well as above-average acting credits, so it is possible for them to show forth some creativity outside of music to a large extent, but I digress.


First up is Clifford Joseph Harris, Jr. or should I say, T.I , the southern rapper that I greatly respect (even more the NY natives Jay and Nasir). His paper trail album art is truly something else.

Front

Back

You may have thought it was just some 'photoshopped stuff', but it was actually a real collage of T.I's mug. It was done by Legendary image-maker Ian Wright who used  scraps of money and paper to illustrate T.I.'s likeness. Mr.Wright has also done notable work for Givenchy and Issey Miyake, hence the awesomeness.

T.I spoke on the work via e-mail with MTV stating "We didn't want to just do a typical cover, especially for my sixth album, I wanted to try something a little more different. The illustration for Paper Trail pays an obvious homage to my rekindled affinity for writing my lyrics down as well as displays my commitment to keep my art slanted towards the abstract." Quite eloquent isn't he.

Shout out to ferrarimurakami for some of the images and the website of Mr Wright himself.

Next is the critically acclaimed Eminem a.k.a Marshall 'Bruce' Matthers III. The album art for what is coincidentally also his 6th studio album-Relapse, has a similar concept to that of Mr.Harris's(T.I) but without the actual collage. 

FRONT 

BACK

The artwork is a  mosaic of hundreds or thousands of prescription pills and capsules forming a portrait of Eminem on a black background. According to wikipedia, "Gil Kaufman of MTV News described the cover as a reference to the rapper's struggle and addiction to prescription drugs". Eminem has publicly spoken about this addiction which included a well-publicized period in rehab and a later relapse - probably where the title came from ehh?

A sticker on the lower-left hand corner of the cover resembles a prescription drug label, on which the patient is Eminem and the prescribing doctor is Dr. Dre. Though it may be difficult to read in the image above, it says "Mathers, Marshall, 8 Mile Road, Detroit, Michigan," "Refills: 5-19-09," "Prescribed By Dr. Dre." 

The backcover is a dedication to Proof,  following a pill prescription design. The CD itself is meant to represent the lid on a bottle of pills carrying the typical 'Push and turn' inscription you tend to see on the packaging of said prescription pills. 

While Mr.Matthers album art execution may not be as 'ooh' 'aah' as T.I's, the concept is still largely novel. How often do you see an artist display a former personal vice as art and in such a wholistic and well thought out way. One thing I like is the totality of application in the concept, from top to bottom.

Images courtesy amazon and wikipedia.