Image via Complex Original
In 2016, album covers still play an important role in giving listeners a preview of the music to come—whether it be the mood, the energy, or the intention of the artist. What an artist decides to do with their album cover can be as simple as a portrait or as complex as a political message. One thing that cannot be disputed is the power of album art to transcend its original use, becoming a greater tool for artists to share their work with the world. Here is The Best Album Art of 2016 (So Far).
Santigold, 99¢
Release date: Feb. 26, 2016
Photography: Haruhiko Kawaguchi
Art direction: Santigold
Designer: Haruhiko Kawaguchi
Label: Atlantic
Santigold’s 99¢ album cover takes a firm stance on the perceived value of contemporary music, showing her shrink-wrapped with other items and a low price tag. Of its meaning, Santigold told Complex, “I represented my life in a bag, which was the idea. All my hard work and my life on sale for 99¢—which we all know is not true, and you can get the record for less than 99¢, for free! People don’t f***ng pay for music, so it’s not even 99¢.” Choosing items from around her house, Santigold made the cover much more personal than it originally looks, and makes a bold statement about what it represents in today’s music landscape.
Kanye West, The Life of Pablo
Release date: Feb. 14, 2016
Photography: Unknown
Art direction: DONDA
Designer: Peter De Potter
Label: GOOD / Def Jam / Roc-A-Fella
On Feb. 11, Kanye West tweeted the first version of his The Life of Pablo album cover by Peter De Potter, who many know from his collaborations with fashion designer Raf Simons. Later Kanye shared another cover with a second photo—the first of a wedding and the latter of a woman’s backside (apparently chosen by Kim Kardashian). Unsurprisingly, people turned the TLOP cover into a meme, giving it their own varied, humorous interpretations that spread like wildfire.
Rihanna, ANTI
Release date: Jan. 27, 2016
Art direction: Rihanna and Roy Nachum
Painter: Roy Nachum
Label: Westbury Road / Roc Nation
Though Rihanna’s ANTI album was delayed for many months, she debuted its cover art all the way back in October at an event in Los Angeles. She introduced the artist, Roy Nachum, who later explained to Vanity Fair that the title of the artwork is If They Let Us, Part I, and that the image is meant to depict Rihanna as a young girl with a crown covering her eyes. The cover also has braille on it, following the single covers for "FourFiveSeconds" and "BBHMM," and Nachum says that he spent a week blindfolded to achieve the total artistic vision for the cover. Nachum says, “Sometimes we’re running in the world of today, but we’re running after achievement, after achievement. The crown is oversized and covering what we’re supposed to see. We can’t see the success.”
Beyoncé, Lemonade
Release date: May 1, 2016
Photography: Unknown
Art direction: Unknown
Designer: Unknown
Label: Parkwood Entertainment
Beyoncé surprised the world yet again with Lemonade, a “visual album” unveiled via a one-hour film on HBO. The Lemonade cover is striking for a few reasons. First, it hides her face, which has been on Beyoncé’s past album covers, excluding 2013’s BEYONCÉ (which was just her name in pink on a black background). Second, it’s a still from the film, making the music and video inseparable. And third, it’s extremely simple and sad; she has her head down. In many ways, the cover is as much a surprise as the album release itself.
Skepta, Konnichiwa
Release date: May 6, 2016
Photography: Unknown
Art direction: Unknown
Designer: Unknown
Label: Boy Better Know
Skepta has had fans waiting for his Konnichiwa album for a long time, and in early April, he finally shared the album cover and May release date. With his face on a first class postage stamp (in the colors of the Japanese flag, no less—a nod to the album’s title), Skepta references his hometown of London and puts himself in the space of revered individuals who get their faces plastered on envelopes years after they pass. Though the cover itself has a more polished, minimal design, the back cover is relatably handwritten with the tracklist. Perhaps one day we’ll be lucky enough to see Skepta’s face on postage stamps.
Anderson .Paak, Malibu
Release date: Jan. 15, 2016
Photography: Erik Ian
Creative direction: Cory Gomberg
Designer: Dewey Saunders
Label: Steel Wool / OBE / Art Club / EMPIRE
Anderson .Paak’sMalibu has a vintage aesthetic with objects including a record player and a typewriter surrounding him as he plays music in the ocean at sunset. For whatever reason, .Paak is in his boxers and a large tophat. Speaking with REVOLT on the cover design, graphic designer Dewey Saunders says, “The approach was to look back at classic records from the ’60s and ’70s as inspiration for the aesthetic.... The mood of the cover has a lush oil painting-like tone to match the musical richness of Malibu and the lone figure of Anderson reflects the ultra-personal content of the lyrics.”
Sia, This Is Acting
Release date: Jan. 29, 2016
Photography: Sia, Erik Lang
Art direction: Sia
Design: Michelle Holme & Sia
Label: Inertia / Monkey Puzzle / RCA
Sia’s This Is Acting, and all of the single covers from the album, make a point to hide or distort her face, or offer the faces of other unknown characters in split black/blonde wigs. It’s effective in continuing her evolving aesthetic, carried over from 1000 Forms of Fear, and driving the theme of “acting” home further; on the album, Sia gathered songs she wrote that were rejected by big pop names to piece together something new.
Wolfgang Gartner, 10 Ways to Steal Home Plate
Release date: Jan. 29, 2016
Art direction: Gabriel Eng-Goetz
Designer: Gabriel Eng-Goetz
Label: Kindergarten Recordings
Though we’re accustomed to seeing kids and adults alike attached to their phones and computers, Wolfgang Gartner’s simple, illustrated cover shows the alternative. Is this young boy about to smash his laptop with a hammer? It’s unclear but thought-provoking, nonetheless.
Chairlift, MOTH
Release date: Jan. 22, 2016
Art direction: Unknown
Designer: Unknown
Label: Columbia
For their 2016 album MOTH, Chairlift had an unexpected muse: a moth. And they had one painted onto their album cover above a city skyline. When speaking to Pitchfork, the band’s Caroline Polachek says, “Moths aren't something you really see in New York City. You don't see them very often, at least, but we liked the idea of the moth as a metaphor for vulnerability, for something that’s fragile but relentless at the same time.” Using the simultaneously beautiful and honest moth as their inspiration for the album, Chairlift made a cover that brings viewers into the soundscape before they even hear a note.
Wiz Khalifa, Khalifa
Release date: Feb. 5, 2016
Photography: Unknown
Art direction: Unknown
Label: Taylor Gang / Rostrum / Atlantic
Wiz Khalifa took a direct approach for his Khalifa album cover, showing just his back and large “KHALIFA” tattoo spread across it. Though Khalifa has previously been on all of his album covers, so far, this is the first time he’s not facing the camera, instead focusing on just his name and the ink that continually defines his image.
A$AP Ferg, Always Strive and Prosper
Release date: April 22, 2016
Photography: Renell Medrano
Additional Photography: Thuan Tran
Art direction: A$AP Ferg, Jeff Gilligan, and Taylor Diglio
Designer: Taylor Diglio
Label: ASAP Worldwide / Polo Grounds Music / RCA Records
An artist himself, A$AP Ferg took a bold approach with the album cover for Always Strive and Prosper, where he covers his face with ring-clad hands. It’s a stark image that doesn’t necessarily echo the album’s encouraging title, yet seems to suggest that Ferg has a deeper message about pushing forward despite the difficulties your eyes have seen.