Hip Hop
Now updated.
This striking cover from hip-hop maestro Jay-Z immediately caught our eye and we featured it yesterday. However our readers were quick to point out that we’d only scratched the surface in our review. So thanks to our learned, intrepid and (let’s face it) sexy readers, here’s an updated feature.
The most notable thing about Mos Def’s fourth solo album is that it’s available as a t-shirt. He’s become the first artist to endorse The Original Music Tee™, a concept that’s pretty damn clever. Basically, you buy the t-shirt with the cover art on the front and the tracklist on the back and it comes [...]
The cover for hip hop classic Illmatic was originally going to have a picture of Nas holding Jesus Christ in a headlock. I’m not sure why that didn’t go ahead (although you would think the label might have had some concerns) but the ultimate cover is a far more reflective and subtle effort.
Live album artwork is a tough call… How does a designer create a striking and original concept when they’re usually provided with a stock-standard single (probably grey-scale or sepia) photograph of an artist on stage in front a legion of adoring fans?
Here’s a predictable photo+brief. Go forth, unleash your genius!
The Cat Empire’s first live album, [...]
It’s been a while since Oscar & Ewan have emailed us and I was pleased to see they hadn’t forgotten us when they sent through Roots Manuva’s latest album “Slime and Reason”. Probably the only thing I dislike about the album is the title :)
As a huge fan of the original, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that Stones Throw have just released a reworking of the classic hip-hop album Madvillainy (2004) with a special box of goodies, or as they much more eloquently put it:
“a big ass box full of cool ass shit that you won’t [...]
While it’s certainly not his best album, I think the cover has a lot going for it. With DJ Shadow touring next month I thought it best to look at his album from 2006.
I’m a sucker for an illustrated cover, especially one so intricate and sexy as this one. I’m not sure what the brief was but microscopic underwater fantasy is what they ended up with. How that fits into the theme of the album is anyone’s guess but does it really matter? I need to retract my [...]
Although M.I.A.’s music can easily stand on it’s own, it’s the artwork which really completes the picture. A collage of bright colours, retro patterns and heavily pixelated type can be found in a variety of media, from her music videos, website and fashion to the visuals at her live performances.
I had to do a second take when I saw this. It hits you after a few seconds how smart this cover is.
10 years of Big Dada records and paraphernalia were layed it out in a museum/gallery space to give it a tongue-in-cheek artifact like presence. The art direction is spot on and as [...]
