Good Album Art Isn’t Lost Where Stalley Is Concerned

We’ve often bemoaned the lack of interest in good album art at TRU, especially at major labels, and celebrated the ones that did get their act right. With the reveal of Stalley’s album art he certainly proves to fall into the latter category.

Stalley doesn’t really seem like the archetypical Maybach Music Group artist. He has a penchant for much more organic, soulful or even jazzy sounding beats and focuses less on the bombast than most of his label mates. As for as his lyrics go, sure, there are trap tales, but there’s more focus on the grit of the hustle and everyday life fromthe bottom of society than there is on kingpin fantasies. While his peers deal mostly in escapism, Stalley seems to rather portray what he sees. It leads to less clubby material but does provide songs for which the interest lasts longer and is ultimately more rewarding.

Maybe Rozay is building up a far more diverse roster with MMG than he’s given credit for, Stalley’s ‘Savage Journey to the American Dream’ at least, is the first album on the label I’m genuinely looking forward to. The song up top by the way, is not included but is the final chapter in his recent ‘Songs By Me, Stalley’ series. What the album sounds like we’ll know when it drops March 30th (well, lets be honest, we’ll probably know a week or two prior). What we do know already is that the artwork for is done with care, has a philosophy behind it and simply looks dope. If the sounds it represents are of equal merit where in for a good one and artist Patrick Martinez says the album directly inspired him:

Previously a skeptic of the current state of hip-hop, artist Patrick Martinez was tapped to curate the cover art using his current affinity for traditional painting techniques and neon aesthetics. Resonating with the identity of his own artistic expression, Martinez found himself inspired by the progressive album title as he immersed himself into the sounds to develop a truly collaborative fusion for the full length’s cover.

Below are some pictures depicting the creative process. Hat tip to Arrested Motion for putting ‘em up.

[Show as slideshow]

J.Monkey

1982 was when Jaap van der Doelen aka J.Monkey shot his way out his mom dukes. A mere two years later he was already battling Big Brother and The Illuminati. Whenever he has time to spare from those efforts he writes (about music, mostly), hosts a radio show and designs graphics for a living. He lives in The Netherlands where he continues to be winning.

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