American rap built its imagery album after album. Ten covers that left a lasting mark on the genre, and what they show.
The 1990s, the portrait and the neighbourhood
Nas · Illmatic (1994) lays a portrait of the artist as a child over the towers of the Queensbridge Houses in New York, where he grew up. The cover states the subject of the record before the first bar.
The Notorious B.I.G. · Ready to Die (1994) comes down to an image of an infant on a white background, against everything the title announces.
2Pac · All Eyez On Me (1996) is rap's first major double studio album, certified ten times platinum in the United States.
Wu-Tang Clan · Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (1993) put a drawn logo where others put a photograph, and that logo outlived the record.
A Tribe Called Quest · Midnight Marauders (1993) covers its sleeve with dozens of faces from the rap scene of the time, a family photograph of the genre.
The 2000s, the album as an object
Dr. Dre · 2001 (1999) and Eminem · The Marshall Mathers LP (2000) established the head-on portrait as the standard. The latter is certified diamond in the United States.
Kanye West · Graduation (2007) handed its cover to the Japanese artist Takashi Murakami, who brought his animation world to it. That is the moment rap started commissioning its art direction from visual artists.
The 2010s, painting and photography
Kanye West · My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010) is illustrated with paintings by George Condo, several different versions of which accompanied the record.
Kendrick Lamar · good kid, m.A.A.d city (2012) uses an ordinary-looking family photograph, eyes blacked out, which places the record in a specific childhood in Compton.
Kendrick Lamar · To Pimp A Butterfly (2015) gathers a group of men in black and white in front of the White House. The cover was discussed far beyond the music pages.