{"id":19835,"date":"2024-06-20T13:51:19","date_gmt":"2024-06-20T03:51:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/shore-weekly-record\/?post_type=article&p=19835"},"modified":"2024-06-21T11:34:52","modified_gmt":"2024-06-21T01:34:52","slug":"the-cover-canvas-pt-2","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/shore-weekly-record\/article\/the-cover-canvas-pt-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The Cover-Canvas Pt.2"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Best from K. West Part Three<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

J. K. Tang<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

SAYONARA, DROPOUT BEAR!!! HELLO TO THE OMNIPOTENT, OMNIPRESENT \u201cJEEN-YUHS\u201d OF \u2018YEEZUS\u2019.<\/strong> As depicted in Netflix\u2019s jeen-hus: A Kanye Trilogy<\/em>, the tragic passing of his mother, Donda West, pivoted his creative vision into spirals of unexpected controversies and untapped passion. Through his immense loss and grief, he found a new Ye, a persona detached from the innocence and naivety of Dropout Bear <\/em>and wholesome church melodies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Tribute<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kanye and Mum. Source: Google<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n


808s & HEARTBREAK (2008)<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A melancholic product of his mother\u2019s death and a breakup with his then-fianc\u00e9e ignites into another genre-breaking spectacular. By its aggressive grey hues, the cover engulfs the fluorescent remnants of the Dropout Bear <\/em>Trilogy, visible left on its frame. Holding the semantic glue is a deflated heart-shaped balloon that encapsulates West\u2019s emotional struggle with heartache. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This symphonic ensemble of colour and semantics are the talented work of the late Virgil Abloh. Specifically, the white gloves prying the hyperreal \u2018heartbreak\u2019 belong to the artistic vision of New York\u2019s Kaws. Beyond the cover both Abloh and Kaws\u2019 designs have gone on to shape the character and style of early 21st century pop-culture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"WEST,KANYE<\/p>\n\n\n\n

808s & Heartbreak Source: Google<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MY BEAUTIFUL DARK TWISTED FANTASY (2010)<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Akin to his collaborative works with Murakami on Graduation<\/em>, Ye finds the artistic manifestations of his music in contemporary artist, George Condo. With his hunger set on the provocative and outrageous, West and Condo intended the face of the fifth album to be banned and NSFW, breaking the constraints of what is the normative. Over five alternate covers were created to be visual expressions of Ye\u2019s ongoing battle with publicity and creative growth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"My<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The variant covers of MBDTF. Source: Google<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without all the time in the world, let\u2019s delve into the major three.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. \u201cThe Phoenix\u201d was the ultimate cover used for the album. To continue West\u2019s provocative ethos, the image depicts himself gripping a beer on a blue couch with a chimera-like woman, taking features of both bestial and angelic creatures. The dichotomous nature of the \u2018phoenix-woman\u2019 manifests his allurement of profane imagery in contemporary art forms. Due to the excessive sexual imagery, the cover was banned by music platforms in the pixelated frame we know and love. <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
      \n
    1. \u201cThe Ballerina\u201d continues the norm-defying aesthetic of the album. This image portrays the conventionally petite ballerina raising a glass of wine, perpetuating Epicurean contrast with the ballerina. Reminds me of Nietzsche\u2019s \u2018Apollonian and Dionysian\u2019. Moreover, the ballerina\u2019s moustache speaks for West\u2019s critique on society\u2019s beauty standards.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
        \n
      1. \u201cThe Portrait\u201d is a mirage of Ye\u2019s inner chaos of thoughts. As one of the most widely outspoken musicians, this cover self-actualises his own reputation as a radically-expressive celebrity, known for ongoing scandal and controversy. The fragmented mouths emphasise the distortion of Ye\u2019s words throughout his prevalence in mainstream media.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

        The \u2018royal red\u2019 backdrop of all MBDTF covers symbolises the expense of passion, love, anger and blood that was necessary in the album\u2019s composition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        YEEZUS (2013)<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

        To mark the death of the disc, the Yeezus<\/em> cover displays a \u2018radical-minimalist\u2019 image of a CD and its case. The bright-crimson tape serves both as a metaphorical and literal closure and a focal point on the listening format. Under, once again, the designs of Virgil Abloh, he states that the cover \u201cwould be the last time people would see it or use it\u201d<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \"Yeezus<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Yeezus. Source: Google<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

        In the promotional efforts for the album, Abloh\u2019s \u2018radical-minimalist\u2019 design acted as a clean-canvas on GQ posters for Ye\u2019s fans to customise their own covers; via the suggestive caption, \u201cplease add graffiti\u201d<\/em>.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Evidently, West\u2019s \u201ccover-canvas\u201d are more than seek-peeks into the album\u2019s aesthetics. Instead, they are visual compliments to his sonic mastery.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        J. K. Tang<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":19836,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","article_category":[10],"article_tag":[],"class_list":["post-19835","article","type-article","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","article_category-student-journalism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/shore-weekly-record\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/19835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/shore-weekly-record\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/shore-weekly-record\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/article"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/shore-weekly-record\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19835"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/shore-weekly-record\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/shore-weekly-record\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"article_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/shore-weekly-record\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_category?post=19835"},{"taxonomy":"article_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/shore-weekly-record\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_tag?post=19835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}