This Is the Painting That Inspired Drake's "Nothing Was The Same" Album Cover

At last night's CRWN with Elliott Wilson, Drake revealed what it was like to work with Kadir Nelson and how the piece "Cleaned Cotton" moved him.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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Last night, Drake took the stage at NYU's Skirball Center to talk with Elliott Wilson about his new album Nothing Was The Same. Afterward, one fan asked Drake what it was like to work with Kadir Nelson, the painter who created both the regular and deluxe versions of the cover (we interviewed him about it), and part of the response revealed the painting that inspired his cover. The piece is titled Cleaned Cotton, and it's from 2011.

I was working at the studio Marvin's Room. There was all this incredible art up on the wall, and one piece was of Michael Jackson. It’s one of the best pieces I have ever seen. It’s humongous, and you can see the detail. I fell in love with this piece, so I asked someone who did it, and he told me it was this guy Kadir Nelson.

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