Research: Album Artwork Analysis of Kanye West - Yeezus

Kanye West - Yeezus

Kanye West's polarising 2013 album 'Yeezus' became iconic in hip-hop for its album artwork, or lack thereof. The cover is minimalism at it's most extreme, comparable to The Beatles bold 1968 'White Album' cover. For it's physical release, the Yeezus CD cover consisted exclusively of a single coloured label, along with a parental advisory sticker, and no more, on a clear plastic case. This approach was in sharp contrast to West's five earlier albums, which all featured sprawling, colourful artwork on their covers. The lack of any artwork for Yeezus was symbolic of the direction of the music industry at that time. With streaming services such as Spotify and Tidal becoming increasingly popular, physical CD releases were becoming obsolete, and West acknowledged and embraced this. He described the Yeezus cover as an 'open casket to CDs'. This suggests the artwork for the album was presented as if to give audiences one last look at CD's before they essentially 'die'. Of course, many albums are still released on CD today, however the majority of music is now consumed via internet streaming services. Kanye West's next album, 2016's The Life Of Pablo was, unsurprisingly, released exclusively on streaming services without any physical release. With almost no artwork at all, Yeezus manages to present a cover that is minimal, symbolic and engaging, without the need for a traditional work of art.