Let’s face it: the artwork that goes with music is a very important part of hip hop as an artform. Just imagine listening to all of your favorite songs/albums without the cover art there to represent what you’re hearing. It’s a bit hard isn’t it? I know it is for me. I couldn’t imagine listening to Kid Cudi’s Man On The Moon: The End of Day, Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, or a number of other classic albums without their amazing artwork.

Every year sees so much music released with some more memorable than others as you can read in my previous post from this series. Even if the music isn’t the greatest, it is important for us to look at all aspects of a project. That’s why I wrote this piece, to give you more insight into the power of artwork. Here are some of my favorite song/EP/album artworks of 2019 and why they’re so dope.

2019’s best artwork

So Much Fun – Young Thug

Yet another conversation about Young Thug, don’t worry I know. But I can’t ignore how iconic the So Much Fun album cover is especially while writing about artwork. This cover is literally Thug’s face made up of a bunch of small Young Thugs. It’s absolutely hilarious but also sets the vibe for the album quite well. The deluxe cover is also dope, it’s the same thing but in a shade of red.  

IGOR – Tyler The Creator

You had to know this was coming, right? Yes it’s true, we love IGOR and Tyler The Creator here at K-UTE. But besides the great music, the cover art and overall aesthetics of the album are dope too. I really like Tyler’s use of pink on this cover as well as its simplicity. Tyler has a history of good cover art and he kept it up in 2019. As far as “simple” covers go, this one is definitely up there for the last few years. 

A Love Letter To You 4 – Trippie Redd

If you haven’t listened to Trippie Redd’s A Love Letter To You series, the artwork for each installment is very memorable. Here’s a look at each cover art for your viewing pleasure.

Gallery • 4 Photos

As you can see, ALLTY4 stays in the same vein as the previous tapes but also looks unique. Trippie had a bit of a misstep with the ! album cover, but he’s right back on track with his latest project. 

“Futsal Shuffle 2020” – Lil Uzi Vert

One of my favorite things about hip hop, besides the music, is cover art for singles. We’ve received plenty of gems over the years, especially from Lil Uzi Vert. The artwork for his latest single is no exception. The single artwork depicts Uzi doing his futsal shuffle dance with some anime characters behind him. I love the playful style of this one and the fact that it teases the release of his long-awaited Eternal Atake album. 2020 is sure to be a big year for Uzi with even more dope music and aesthetics to go with it.  

“Old Town Road (Remix)” – Lil Nas X ft. Billy Ray Cyrus, Young Thug, & Mason Ramsey

This was 2019’s biggest song for many reasons. It was super catchy, very meme worthy, and had a plethora of remixes released. My personal favorite version of the artwork is the one for this particular remix. The artwork depicts each of the artists on the song as horses. Lil Nas X is the black horse in the lead while Young Thug comes in as the slatt green horse. I love that this art is simple but also keeps the memes alive.

Honorable Mentions

• Confessions of a Dangerous Mind – Logic
• Bandana – Freddie Gibbs & Madlib
• Ventura – Anderson .Paak
• Mirrorland – EarthGang
• The Lost Boy – YBN Cordae

Other dope artwork

That’s all I have for you on this list. I know I’ve undoubtedly missed out on some amazing artwork, so let me know in the comments or on Instagram @youngthuggamanekyle. Keep it locked on our blog as we continue to recap 2019 and set up 2020 in hip hop!