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| Denzel Curry and Kenny Beats. Unlocked, Loma Vista Recordings, 2020. Apple Music, https://music.apple.com/us/album/unlocked/1496298197. |
Album covers are like movie previews, they give you a glimpse of what to expect and they either persuade you or fail to persuade you to go any further. Some albums are so beautiful that I can not resist pressing play even if I have never heard of the artist. I am not sure how I was introduced to Denzel Curry. But when I searched his name, I immediately fell in love with his album covers.
My favorite album art is on the album titled Unlocked by Denzel Curry and Kenny Beats. The album art reminds me of a superhero comic book cover. In the foreground of the image is what can be assumed to be Curry himself squatting on top of a piece of broken bright green concrete in a villain-esque pose with one hand positioned down on the concrete and the other hand in a fist with green and yellow flame-like design radiating from it. His costume is a dark gray jumpsuit with shading techniques seen in comics that give his outfit volume and texture. The top of his head is covered by the jumpsuit’s hood and his face is concealed by a mask with green illuminated eye and nose holes that reminds me of a Friday the 13th mask without the multitude of small holes. There is a man with a cigarette in his mouth behind and to the right of Curry’s character which can be assumed to be Kenny Beats. He is sitting down, leaning in front of a computer. Interestingly, the hoodie he is wearing is hooked up to several wires that seemingly lead to nowhere.
The background of the image is a city that appears apocalyptic with an orange sky with yellow streaks, burning, smoking, and boarded-up buildings with a purple ground that resembles a bubbling stew. The “stew” contains many small details, but a few that I would like to point out is the parental advisory image, pictured on explicit albums, that is bent and surrounded by red and blue bricks. Another fun detail is a bent sign pole with a sign reading “danger” with a crack resembling a windshield crack and a spider web formed on the pole of the sign.
Just from the album cover alone, you can clue yourself in on what you think the album might be about. Where Curry is positioned, on a broken piece of concrete, suggests that his album is breaking ground. And looking at the about section of the artist on Apple music this is also something he believes in it says, “Once married to a particular type of rap, Curry has since emerged as the genre’s hardest-working chameleon, telling Apple Music: ‘I always have to feel like what I am working on is the best thing I’ve ever made’” (Apple Music). The bright color scheme with the fire, smoke, and destruction (ie. broken danger sign and bent parental advisory sign) in the background clues you in that the album is going to be a dynamic, noisy, chaotic, and rebellious type of album and from listening to the album this is the truth with lines like, “After dark, the riot starts, way uglier / than Bubba Sparxxx'' and “Shoebox came with the doowop / One billion and two cops can’t find 2Pac” (Curry and Beats). If you are already a Denzel fan there’s a detail that can get you even more excited about the album. On Denzel's character's hood, it says “ULT” which is a nod to the name of a previous song from the artist.
Baugher, the writer of The Ekphrastic Writer, brings up an interesting writing invitation that fits nicely with this album art. It says, “Writing Invitation: Settle on an artwork that depicts one or more characters and imagine panning out beyond the edges of the piece. What do you see? Perhaps you see more of the character’s life? Is that character the villain, the hero, the victim? Latch onto one character and see that character’s full story beyond the frame” (Baugher). At first glance, it looks like Curry’s character is the villain of the image, and Kenny’s character is some sort of sidekick. But, if we were to zoom out what would we see? Are there undamaged buildings that haven’t yet faced the character’s destruction? Is there another character preparing to attack? Is there a crowd of people cowering in fear or are they cheering Curry’s character on? There are so many possibilities, it is hard to latch onto a single one. His seemingly evil character can be perceived completely differently based on what the rest of the scene reveals. The artwork's impression of endless possibility is what makes the piece so interesting.
This album cover does an excellent job of grabbing people's attention. Its attractive color scheme and rich details have the world-building qualities of a comic book. The album sets the tone for the music in the album as well as creates questions. I listened to this album because of the cover alone. This idea shows how visual and audio art can work together and create a fun and insightful experience.
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