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Respect the Woo: Why Pop Smoke deserves a better album cover

Team Yé has been throwing us some basura lately when it comes to their creative output. The “Wash Us In Blood feat. Travis Scott” video dropped today and we don’t understand why West is tryna wash us in this dookie.

It’s like the work of an amateur editor with two hours to complete a forgettable school assignment that they’re hoping they can pass off as deep or abstract enough to get a passing grade. You’re just not on that level of enlightenment to understand how hot this is -head ass.

Our newsroom was rife with appropriate commentary on the Pop Smoke album cover screw up:

“Tired of the privilege. Not everything they (team Yé) do is hot and it’s clear. Thought you could fool us. HA!”

Respect the woo at all times

Here’s the thing though, you can mess with your own art, but don’t you dare fuck up someone else’s. Virgil Abloh has come under major scrutiny for his cover art for Pop Smoke’s posthumous album Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon.

C’mon Abloh you can’t just phone this in and hope everything attached to your name is gonna be hot. This is the King of New York, you gotta do way better.

Respect the Woo.

While we’re here let’s bring up another time team Ye messed up a chance at working with Pop smoke’s music. The “GATTI” track. You may remember fans violating Scott on Twitter when the song dropped last December.

The collab between JACKBOYS and Pop was an amazing match, but unfortunately Scott is just not the right transition. Smoke is so raw. His energy is Canarsie, the energy is Brooklyn, the energy is hot.

Scott’s auto-tune takes you out of that to a less physically present place. A different world. This is great on other songs, but not with this one. This was a contentious convo within our newsroom.

“It’s such a high-energy popping song and Travis’ tinny auto-tune heavy flow is so unfitting for it”

But let’s get back to today’s artistic blunder.


An album cover only fit for a King

Abloh has since deleted the IG post sharing the album art and is hopefully working on an alternative. However, the community that loves Pop Smoke came armed with amazing album art alternatives worthy of the King of NY.

If Gabrielle’s art is not your style, here’s another version by @studiocreativiti.


Or try something more focused on the album name “Shoot for the stars, Aim for the Moon,” like @godsgiftEM, it’s wallpaper worthy.

So if you need any art inspo Virgil here’s plenty. Or better yet just let one of these fans and artists bless the cover art and call it a day.

You don’t have to be involved in everything.

Why Noname is changing the cover for her debut album ‘Room 25’

Tonight Chicago rapper, Noname, will be making her television debut on the Colbert Late Show. You can say this is sort of a big deal for the 27-year-old poet-turned-rapper.

The national television performance is to promote Noname’s debut solo album, Room 25, and the moment is a win for quality music everywhere.

Having not released anything since her debut mixtape Telefone in 2016, the attention and notoriety she still demands, with a society’s attention span being where it’s at, is noteworthy.

https://twitter.com/noname/status/1052208337549479936

The 11-track EP was a fusion of jazz and neo-soul and showcased one of the most skilled pens in rap today, period. It was a good time for women in rap and for the Chicago emcee scene as well. However, the event has a bit of a dark cast over it amid allegations surrounding the album cover’s artist, Bryant Giles.

 

On Oct. 8, Giles was charged for domestic abuse and rape. The Noname shared on Twitter that her decision to change the art is in light of her support for survivors of abuse.

https://twitter.com/noname/status/1051814332907094017

The woman Noname was referencing who was assaulted by Giles name is Ellie Danisch.

Chicago Police Department website records show that Giles was arrested on Oct. 8 and charged with domestic battery and bodily harm. Allegations came to light when on Oct. 14 on twitter accusations ere tweeted that Giles “punched [her] for asking about him cheating on her with multiple men.”

https://twitter.com/alexisszs/status/1051569314564923392

Noname’s decision to remove his album artwork is on par with our current social climate and a great stance for women in light of Dr. Ford’s public battle against now, Supreme Court Justice Kavanaugh.

How and when Noname will replace her album artwork is still a mystery but the fact that she is willing to make an expeditious decision speaks to her heart for the survivor.

Giles, who appeared in court Oct. 10, did not return requests for comment. His next court date is Nov. 26. Make sure you catch Noname on the Colbert Late Show tonight on CBS.

Marvel recreated classic hip-hop albums as comics and it’s too fire

If you consider your favorite hip-hop artists to play the role of superheroes with their life-changing emcee skills, Marvel’s latest artistic offering will certainly support your vivid imagination.

The comic powerhouse released a series reimagining classic hip-hop album covers as comic book characters.

Totaling six covers, Marvel cooked up Ultimates as Salt ‘N Pepa, Champions as Wu-Tang Clan, Luke Cage as LL Cool J, and Nova as Chance The Rapper, Jessica Jones as Kevin Gates, and Iron Man as Big Daddy Kane.

So, where’d the idea originally stem from to craft such an obscure (but very necessary) work of art? According to Marvel Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso, comic culture and hip hop go hand-in-hand. Alonso stated,

Comics and hip-hop share a common narrative: They’re all about underdogs struggling, striving and persevering against overwhelming odds.

So it’s no surprise that so many rappers have been influenced by the Marvel mythology or embraced the Marvel heroes over the decades.

The hip-hop covers were our way of showing that the love is reciprocal. A lot of the writers, artists, and editors that make Marvel Comics are inspired by hip-hop, and it shows in their work.

Peep the 6 covers below.

Marvel

Iron Man (50 Cent – Get Rich Or Die Tryin’)

Marvel

Luke Cage (LL Cool J – Bigger And Deffer)

Marvel

Nova (Chance The Rapper – Coloring Book)

Marvel

Ant-Man (The Notorious B.I.G. – Ready To Die)

Marvel

Infamous Iron Man (Big Daddy Kane – Long Live The Kane)

Marvel

Captain America (A$AP Rocky – Long.Live.A$AP)

Marvel

Kamala Khan (Lauryn Hill – The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill)

Marvel

Jessica Jones (Kevin Gates – Islah)

Marvel

Dr. Strange (Dr. Dre – The Chronic)

Marvel

X-Men (De La Soul – 3 Feet High and Rising)

Marvel

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl (Tyler, The Creator – Wolf)

Marvel

Ultimates (Salt ‘N Pepa – Hot, Cool & Vicious)

Marvel

Champions (Wu-Tang Clan – Iron Flag)

Marvel

Marvel first unveiled its hip-hop variants back in 2015. Since then, several hip-hop albums were added to the lineup with more to come.

As far as we’re concerned, keep ’em coming.