We tend to judge a book by its cover when it comes to albums. Whether we want to admit it or not, an ugly album cover will disincentivize us from listening to a record. But if the right visuals speak to us, we’re more inclined to see what the full record sounds like. That’s part of why music videos maintained such a strong grip on society during the peak of MTV, VH1, and BET’s 106 & Park. Great album covers capture that same visual magic to aid our imagination with a piece of art.
There have been some iconic album covers across hip-hop’s rich history. Noisey has selected four of the best to come out of the genre and culture to date.
4 of the Greatest Album Covers in Hip-Hop History
‘Illmatic’ by Nas
A timeless New York coming-of-age album depicted simply with Nas as a little kid and his upbringing in Queens, New York. With each song, you can get a vivid depiction of what his early life was like, how the kid on the cover could come to learn the hard lessons of life early on.
‘Life After Death’ by The Notorious B.I.G.
Biggie had always been transfixed on the idea of his death. In a lot of ways, he mirrored Tupac Shakur, paranoid and ominously prophesying their imminent demises through their art. By the time Life After Death came out, he had already passed away. Consequently, Biggie standing by a hearse ends up feeling especially chilling.
‘To Pimp A Butterfly’ by Kendrick Lamar
A powerful depiction of how people who grew up in Compton, like Kendrick Lamar, could still make it to the White House. It’s a powerful piece of imagery and reflective of how Barack Obama becoming president altered the state of the country. Kendrick himself depicted it as “just taking a group of the homies who haven’t seen the world and putting them in these places that they haven’t necessarily seen, or only on TV and showing them something different other than the neighborhood and them being excited about it. That’s why they have them wild faces on there.”
‘Monster’ by Future
For an album all about moral and emotional decay, the album cover to Monster captures the rotten core of Future in 2014. He had just broken up with Ciara at that point, and it was clear he was a mess in his mind. Records like “Codeine Crazy” and “Throw Away” depict Future at rock bottom, restless and coping with drugs, alcohol, and women. Still, it wasn’t helping him shed the grief. In many ways, he was turning into the raging zombie he depicted on the mixtape cover.
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