When Kendrick Lamar shared the cover art for his highly-anticipated album DAMN. this week, it caused a flurry of confusion because it didn’t quite fit the mold of what consumers are used to seeing as “quality” cover art.
That was the absolute intention of one of the creators, Vlad Sepetov. He set to go against the grain of what his teachers taught him. “i wanted to make something loud and abrasive,” he explained in a series of tweets on Tuesday (April 11).
Sepetov has a lot to be proud about. He was one of the creative minds behind the artwork of Kendrick’s last album, To Pimp A Butterfly, which was set in a time where the black revolution saw a West Coast-style turn up on the White House lawn. The depiction set against a monochrome, black-and-white vintage Polaroid was artsy enough to spark discussions of meaning and how it went perfectly with the theme of Dot’s 2014 album.
DAMN. brings out a different emotion with the parental advisory sticker as a bold, prominent fixture.
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This doesn’t mean that it was safe from becoming an amusing meme.
Regardless if the people are feeling the DAMN. artwork or not, the project drops on Friday (April 14) with features from U2, Rihanna and Zacari, while production is being handled by Teddy Walton, Mike WiLL Made-It, The Alchemist and 9th Wonder among others.
