Image via Complex Original
With 17 mixtapes under his belt, and a new joint tape with Wiz Khalifa on the way, Curren$y could easily slack on the packaging. Instead, he has shown a true appreciation for art and an unmatched knack for finding and using obscure vintage images. Last June, the New Orleans rapper even held a contest for designers to submit their best artwork for an alternative album cover for his Stoned Immaculate album.
After nearly a decade of making independent music, we look at the extensive and (sometimes) puzzling cover art for Curren$y's mixtapes in order to rank his 10 best covers.
Written by Lauren Nostro (@LAURENcynthia)
10. Curren$y & Harry Fraud, "Cigarette Boats"
Release Date: July 10, 2012
Within a month of the Stoned Immaculate's drop, Curren$y linked up with Harry Fraud to drop this five track EP with featurs from Styles P and Smoke DZA. A relaxed vibe, and (perhaps) some high-speed smuggling is the idea here.
9. Curren$y, "Here..."
Release Date: Feb. 5, 2012
Curren$y dropped this 5-track EP on Superbowl Sunday of last year. According to Spitta, he was introduced to the photo from Jean Lephare of Monsta Beatz. For the rest of the album art, he says he just typed in '1975 airport' into Google. Lesson here: A quality search and a deft eye will yield some hidden gems on this here Internet.
8. Curren$y, "Higher Than 30,000 Feet"
Release Date: Apr. 3, 2008
Curren$y successfully photoshops himself into this photo of the Rat Pack—and chills in the background rolling up a blunt. How can that fail as a cover?
7. Curren$y, "Welcome to the Winner's Circle"
Release Date: May 4, 2008
The cover of Welcome to the Winner's Circle is another great example of Curren$y putting himself into a defined scene. This time, it's from the Indy Japan 300 presented by Bridgestone at Twin Ring Motegi in Motegi, Japan. That year, was the first ever win for a woman driver when Danica Patrick took the checkered flag.
6. Curren$y, "Fear and Loathing in New Orleans"
Release Date: Jun. 19, 2008
With slight alteration of the original Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas movie poster, Curren$y puts himself in one reflection and New Orleans in the other.
5. Curren$y & Wiz Khalifa, "How Fly"
Release Date: Aug. 9, 2009
It's no surprise that for How Fly, Curren$y took the reference to weed straight to his cover art, designed by 3rd ID Clothing, picturing a woman rolling up a joint. It's also no surprise he and Wiz flipped the classic Cheech and Chong Up in Smoke poster perfectly.
4. Curren$y, "Verde Terrace"
Release Date: Aug. 23, 2011
Curren$y put Brazlian singer, composer, and poet Angenor de Oliveira, known as Cartola (Portuguese for top hat) sipping a green espresso-sized cup on the cover of his Verde Terrace mixtape. The image works perfectly with the green title.
3. Curren$y, "Return to the Winner's Circle"
Release Date: Jan. 1, 2011
Another quick knock on Google for "Victory, race and glory" led Curren$y to this photo-based cover for his first mixtape of 2011. More proof that Spitta is the king of Google image search.
2. Curren$y, "Priest Andretti"
Release Date: Oct. 31, 2012
For his Priest Andretti mixtape, Curren$y took the title theme and cover art to a new level immortalizing Ron O'Neal's character, Youngblood Priest, from the 1972 film, Super Fly. Audio clips from the movie are featured throughout the mixtape.
1. Curren$y & Wiz Khalifa, "Live in Concert"
Release Date: TBA
Due to issues with sample clearances, Curren$y's joint project with Wiz Khalifa is still on hold. However, Spitta dropped CJ Wallis-designed cover art, in all its throwback glory, back in August.
