The artwork for Chris Brown's post-beatdown album Graffiti was released earlier this week (pictured above), and it looks like we might have spoken too soon with the Worst Album Covers Of The Year post we did a few months ago.
The cover is kinda reminiscent of something Prince might do, but since the album is entitled Graffiti, and it features Chris Breezy using an aerosol can, it might have behooved him to hire an actual graffiti writer to help illustrate his cover. In fact, big names from the graf world have been designing album art since the dawn of hip-hop. Check out 10 artists who could have helped Chris Brown's Graffiti look less corny...
ARTIST: HAZE
ALBUM: Beastie Boys Check Your Head
• NYC graf icon Eric Haze is well known for creating iconic logos for groups like EPMD and Public Enemy, as well as the often-imitated lettering on the Beastie Boys' third album. Today, his name can be found on everything from furniture and G-Shock Watches to T-shirts and Nike Dunks.
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ARTIST: DOZE
ALBUM: Rock Steady Crew "Uprock" (single)
• This graf legend was an original member of the Rock Steady Crew known for being "The King of Characters." He also did artwork for the b-boy supergroup's early 12" single covers, including 1984's "Uprock" and 1983's "(Hey You) The Rock Steady Crew."
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ARTIST: FUTURA 2000
ALBUM: UNKLE Psyence
• This '70s graf icon first hit the music world when he designed a 7" single cover for The Clash in 1981. In more recent years, he's created a regular partnership with seminal British label Mo' Wax, regularly producing album art, including the haunting 1998 debut from trip-hop outfit UNKLE.
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ARTIST: EWOK
ALBUM: Company Flow, Funcrusher Plus
• This writer, known for his big murals, was just a Pratt student from Upstate, NY when he did this iconic underground rap LP for the early Rawkus Records group. A decade later and he's one of the most respected names in the game, popping up in galleries around the world.
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ARTIST: CEY ADAMS
ALBUM: Method Man and Redman Blackout
• The legendary creative director from Def Jam was originally a graffiti writer in NYC before going corporate. Since then, he (along with his company The Drawing Board) has designed countless ill album covers, including 3rd Bass' The Cactus Album, Public Enemy's Fear of a Black Planet, DMX's It's Dark and Hell Is Hot, and many more.
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ARTIST: REAS
ALBUM: Artifacts Wrong Side of Da Tracks
• Todd "REAS" James has had his hand in tons of dope multi-media projects over the years (including Complex's 2008 Lupe Fiasco cover story!), but one of his early commercial projects was doing the "Artifacts" train piece for the first single from the graf-friendly Jersey rap group.
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ARTIST: KEO
ALBUM: MF Doom Operation Doomsday
• KEO aka Lord Scotch aka Blake Lethem has a storied history in the hip-hop world, which we chronicled in our 2008 feature on his life. In more recent years, he's re-established his rep with some great cover work, including the debut solo album from the kid formerly known as Zev Love X.
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ARTIST: MISTER CARTOON
ALBUM: Snoop Dogg Malice in Wonderland
• You probably know him as the L.A. tattoo artist who's inked up everyone from 50 Cent to Justin Timberlake and Beyoncé, but his roots are in graffiti. After years of doing memorable artwork for Cypress Hill, he recently completed the sexy cover for Snoop's latest album.
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ARTIST: DONDI
ALBUM: Malcolm McLaren Duck Rock
• British music impresario McLaren was alllll over downtown NYC's hip-hop art fusion on his experimental 1984 album, which features the seminal track "Buffalo Gals." In addition to collaborating with The World Famous Supreme Team and artist Keith Haring, he got a real graf O.G. Dondi to do the "Duck Rock" lettering you see on the boom box speakers.
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ARTIST: KAWS
ALBUM: Kanye West 808s & Heartbreak
• You already know we love KAWS, who designed our most recent Clipse cover. In 2007, another one of the iconic artist's fans asked him to create inside artwork and a special iTunes cover for his controversial auto-tune album.
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BONUS ARTIST: BANKSY
ALBUM: Paris Hilton, Paris
• Although he's not exactly a "graffiti writer" by traditional standards, British street artist Banksy has done some album artwork of his own...sort of. In 2006, he slickly inserted his own subversive messages into 500 copies of Paris Hilton's debut album and put them back in UK record stores for unsuspecting consumers to discover.
