It’s been said that when it comes to first impressions, presentation is everything. Across movie trailers to snippets of leaked tracks, we often make our minds up long before the finished product ever reaches us. And when it comes to the long and storied tradition of the hip-hop album, the same rules apply.
But in the recent past, particularly during the dawn of the streaming era, more and more rappers have seemed to start phoning it in with their album artwork. As a result, album covers are no longer receiving the emphasis that they’ve not only traditionally received but rightfully deserve.
#drake #donda #kanyewest #hiphopmadness
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Narrated by: Spencer Pearman
Written by: Robert Blair
Edited by: Roman Bill
Music by: Josh Petruccio
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Does album cover really matter as longs as the music is good? Just asking
New rappers don’t care about anything. They don’t care about album cover, freestylin,lyrics, being original, none of that.
That NBA Birdman in the cover in the Thumbnail 🤣
Yatchy is honestly one of the coolest dudes in the game right now. He seems very chill and happy. In the now.
People don't listen to hiphop recently.. More people don't care about covers…
Everything the south touches always turns to shit
I think a lot of it lies in whether album are created as if they can stand on its own as a piece of art or if it exists in a supplementary role. A lot of Pen and Pixel's work would fall into that supplementary role because it is very clear what it is advertising on the cover and it wouldn't necessarily be able to stand on its own without the music, but despite this, they are some of the best to do it and are good examples of pushing limits of what you can do in that kind of design space. Then there are the album covers like photographs that can speak on its own and convey story individually while also pertaining to the contents of the album. There's a lot of shitty work put on album covers though since some people try to go for a nocel idea or try to force bad or anti design.
You control the mind by what you see and hear
The album covers you showed as examples like Madvillainy fit the standard black & white cover aesthetic u critized. It’s just the other artists themselves don’t have a recognizable visual gimmick like Doom. The cartoon look is also based in hiphop cover art like Dogpound and KMD. Even a lot of the “bad” photoshop covers we see nowadays are based in the trap mixtape era. It’s still just based on what the musician values and if they choose to collab with visual artists who care (and if the investment into cover art is worth it when really no one goes to pick CD cases out at stores anymore)
Nobody's gonna talk about gucci mane's album covers i can't stop laughing over the trap story album cover 😂😂😂
I miss the era of DatPiff DJ-hosted mixtape colors with crazy photoshops and colors
It's a bit sad that you only look at Rap Album Covers from US Artists….
There are some legendary Hiphop Albumcovers from Europe. For Example the SSC Album Artworks. Or IAM. The Four Owls….Drapht….the List goes on and on
3:48 how on earth is she attempting to turn drake's shitty album cover into a racial issue.. this is why people are so divided
To anyone who doesn’t understand the importance of the cover. It is literally the first thing you’ll experience from the album most of the time. I would’ve never clicked on Travis Scott’s Days before the Rodeo if the cover wasn’t dope. The cover peaked my interest in giving the artist a chance.
Whenever I see the black and white cover I think of Madvillain
this why i do what i do💯 i make cover arts, self taught, and all done by me. trynna be different and not like all this same shit we got now
this is why its kinda fye that i make my own music and do all my own coverarts. i still got a whole bunch of shit to learn cuz im self taught but with time🤝shiiiiii.
Why does it show the black Sabbath album with all those modern rappers?
I don’t like boring album art either. But it’s not really a recent trend, there’s always been hip hop albums with generic art. Lots of classics we still listen to didn’t have iconic art back when it was released
I always loved the art for Chance’s mixtapes
No one Cares for the FN Cover, cause U literally See it one time when you start the Song
They mean nothing
gotta vouch with the guy in the first clip, that expensive pain album cover is hot garbage 😂
Just like modern day hiphop music itself, it's hot trash.
cough cough donda album
I liked the album cover for teenage emotions. It shows all kinds of people who are usually forgotten in media or bullied for being themselves.
Can the Southern art from 90s get some love lol!
Yes I remember 36 covers back in the day.
sometimes I feel like good album covers for bad albums get shit on because the music is bad even if the cover's kinda sick
Bro ain’t mention the Death Race For Love cover
Man on the moon 2 cover is so good.
So basically I grew up on these pen and pixel album images everywhere mostly on friends bedroom walls
Why was that dude yelling at black women? Wrong people to blame.
What happened? We dont buy cd's no more so they're a lot less important
*Murakami, Murakami, Murakami……
phonl covers are 🐐
Album covers matter. It’s like book covers. If you want a horror book you want something that pops and captivates your imagination. If the horror book is just a bridge on a cloudy day it can just be mistaken for a sad book or a book relating to anything dramatic rather than horror. If I want to listen to a gangster rap album I want something that screams that. Straight Outta Compton perfectly screams gangster rap with the members looking down on the camera with Eazy E pointing a gun at the camera. It catches your attention and you know damn well it’ll be a gangster rap album.
Thumbnail = Ypc Bird Boa
This was information I didn’t know that I needed to know. Great vid.
"new york city skyline" lmfaoo
Nothing will beat Gucci light-year
if i see a cheap ugly album cover i don’t even consider listening to that
Covers matter, easy to see when y'all search for songs
Hip Hop is dying
You should almost Never ever put you stupid mug on an album cover! Only exception should be is when it reflects trials you’ve gone through. ie ghetto boys ambulance scene
Ye wins this. Next question