Streaming Era
2010-2024. The square thumbnail is the only canvas anyone sees. Frank Ocean's blond — yes, no e — and the post-record cover. Beyoncé, Kendrick, brat.
Part of Album Cover
28 moments in this segment.
- — Kanye West — My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. · Year: 2010 · Designer: George Condo · Kanye West Painted by George Condo specifically for the album — actually five separate Condo paintings, one for each of five regional releases. Banned by Walmart for the original "phoenix and Kanye" panel.
- — Dark Fantasy. · 00:04:41
- — Kendrick Lamar — good kid, m.A.A.d city. · Year: 2012 · Designer: Vlad Sepetov · photo by Kendrick Lamar A Polaroid of baby Kendrick with his uncles, with the faces of two strikethrough-redacted. The cover that announced Lamar's biographical-album mode.
- — m.A.A.d city. · 00:05:50
- — Daft Punk — Random Access Memories. · Year: 2013 · Designer: Cédric Hervet · Warren Fu The helmets, gilded, against a black square. Their last studio album cover; the duo would split in 2021.
- — Daft Punk (feat. Julian Casablancas) - Instant Crush [Random Access Memories]. ] · 00:05:37
- — Kendrick Lamar — To Pimp a Butterfly. · Year: 2015 · Designer: Vlad Sepetov · Denis Rouvre Group portrait of Black men, women, children outside the White House, gold-toothed and unsmiling, holding a baby and a judge's gavel. Designed to be banned.
- — i. · 00:05:36
- — Beyoncé — Lemonade. · Year: 2016 · Designer: Robert Schober · Awol Erizku Beyoncé in cornrows resting her head against a stadium-bleacher fence. The visual album's cover; Erizku's photograph became the touchstone for a new wave of Black portrait photography.
- — Hold Up. · 00:03:41
- — Frank Ocean — Blonde. · Year: 2016 · Designer: Wolfgang Tillmans Tillmans' photograph of Ocean in green sweatshirt, hand over face — released as Blond (no E) on streaming, Blonde on the (hardcover-book + magazine + CD) physical. The misspelling is the cover.
- — Frank Ocean - Pink + White. · 00:03:05
- — Janelle Monáe — Dirty Computer. · Year: 2018 · Designer: Janelle Monáe · Carlota Guerrero Profile portrait of Monáe in red turtleneck and the album's rainbow circuit-board crown. The album-as-emotion-picture's defining still.
- — Janelle Monáe - Dirty Computer (feat. Brian Wilson). ) · 00:02:00
- — Billie Eilish — When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?. ? · Year: 2019 · Designer: Kenneth Cappello Eilish in white tank top sitting on a bed with all-white eyes — the cover that became the year's most-cosplayed image.
- — WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?. ? · 00:00:31
- — Taylor Swift — folklore. · Year: 2020 · Designer: Beth Garrabrant Black-and-white photograph of Swift in a forest, taken in 35mm on her own with no production team during lockdown. The cover that announced Swift's indie-folk pivot.
- — Taylor Swift - the last great american dynasty (Official Lyric Video). ) · 00:03:52
- — Olivia Rodrigo — SOUR. · Year: 2021 · Designer: photo by Erica Hernandez Polaroid-style photograph of Rodrigo covered in stickers — half-Disney-Channel scrapbook, half-Y2K aesthetic. The cover for the album that defined post-2020 teenpop.
- — Sour by Olivia Rodrigo Full Album Playlist. · 00:25:54
- — Kendrick Lamar — Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers. · Year: 2022 · Designer: Renell Medrano · Mike Carson Kendrick wearing a thorned crown holding a baby. Photograph by Renell Medrano; the crown was a Tiffany & Co. custom that took six weeks to make.
- — Kendrick Lamar - Mr. Morale ft. Tanna Leone (Official Audio). ) · 00:03:31
- — Beyoncé — Renaissance. · Year: 2022 · Designer: Carlijn Jacobs Beyoncé in chrome metal bikini on a crystal horse — Helmut Newton-coded high-glamour photography by Carlijn Jacobs. The cover that returned the album-cover-as-event format.
- — Beyoncé - SUMMER RENAISSANCE (Official Lyric Video). ) · 00:04:41
- — Beyoncé — Cowboy Carter. · Year: 2024 · Designer: Mason Poole Beyoncé on a white horse in a red-white-and-blue cowgirl costume, side-saddle, holding the American flag. The country-album rollout pivots to Mt. Rushmore-coded imagery.
- — Beyoncé - COWBOY CARTER | OFFICIAL VINYL. · 00:00:23
- — Charli xcx — brat. · Year: 2024 · Designer: Imogene Strauss · Brent David Freaney Low-res Arial Bold "brat" in green-on-green — designed to be as deliberately ugly as possible. The image dominated 2024 cultural discourse for six months.
- — Charli xcx - Von dutch (official lyric video). ) · 00:02:55
