This isn't the first time that Murakami and West have worked together the Japanese artist designed the cover art for West's 2007 album, Graduation, creating the iconic Dropout Bear that was also the focus of the Murakami-designed animated video for West's " Good Morning." The hotly anticipated joint album is set to be released on Friday, June 8. In April, West tweeted a teaser of the art, which featured the same ghost monster, two human drawings, and a Murakami-esque flower he captioned the image, "Murakami vibes." West and Cudi were first spotted at Murakami's studio back in August 2017, when the artist posted a picture with the two rappers with no explanation, leaving fans to speculate about a collaboration. Kanye West, Graduation The cover art for Kanyes 2007 album Graduaton was designed by Japanese contemporary artist Takashi Murakami and sees his mascot. Murakami has become an icon in his own right, famous for his joyous, rainbow-colored flowers, which now cover everything from Vans sneakers to ski lift tickets. On Wednesday morning, Cudi previewed the imagery, which features three ghost-like figures against a yellow, pink, and blue watercolor backdrop with a bonsai tree and Japanese writing. Which is why the Takashi Murakami artwork that will appear on rapper Kid Cudi's upcoming joint album with Kanye West is likely a big hint as to what the themes of the project, entitled Kids See Ghosts, might sound like. West dedicated much of his songwriting towards analyzing himself and conveying an ambivalent outlook on his newfound fame and media scrutiny alongside providing inspirational messages of triumph directed at listeners.The cover art of a new album can set the tone for the music just as much as any lyrics might. Lyrically, the record is introspective in comparison to its predecessors. Medium: Off-Set Lithograph on colored Vinyl Record Cover Cover Dimensions: 12 x 12 inches (30.48 x 30.48 cm) Excellent Condition with the exception of wear to one corner Includes two special edition colored records in like new condition More on Takashi Murakami One of the most acclaimed artists to emerge from. Murakami produced this image exclusively for Kanye West's 'Graduation' record in 2007. It features Kanye’s iconic Dropout Bear being fired from a cannon under a university, marbled with bright colors and Murakami’s iconic motifs.
#Kanye west graduation album cover takashi murakami registration
The album concludes the education theme of West's first two albums The College Dropout (2004) and Late Registration (2005). The colorful, pastel imagery captures Murakami’s fascination with anime and manga (comic books). Although Murakami had already been developing in American pop culture for years, his status blossomed following Kanye West ’s 2007 album Graduation, for which Murakami designed the cover.
Cuteness is a deliberate aesthetic of Murakamis work, being something many Japanese girls chase after.
The cover sees the appearance of Kanye as one of Takashi Murakami’s cute characters being propelled from a university. West incorporated layered synthesizers into his hip-hop production and dabbled with electronics while sampling from a wider spectrum of music genres and altering his approach to rapping. Another very familiar example of Murakami is the cover art for Kanye West’s incredibly successful Graduation album. He musically progressed to a more anthemic style of composing rap songs that would function well when performing in large arenas. Often called 'the Warhol of Japan', Murakami's surrealistic visual art is characterized by cartoonish creatures that appear friendly and cheerful at first glance, but possess dark, twisted undertones. Inspired by stadium tours, house-music and indie rock, Graduation marked a departure from the ornate, soul-based sound of West's previous releases. West collaborated with Japanese contemporary artist Takashi Murakami to oversee the art direction of Graduation as well as design the cover art for the album's accompanying singles. The cover art and its interior artwork were designed by Japanese contemporary artist Takashi Murakami, who would also design the cover art for West's collaborative effort with Kid Cudi, eponymously titled Kids See Ghosts (2018). The album also features guest appearances from recording artists such as Dwele, T-Pain, Lil Wayne, DJ Premier, and Chris Martin of Coldplay. It was primarily produced by West himself, with contributions from various other producers. Recording sessions took place during 2005 to 2007 at Chung King Studios, Sony Music Studios, Chalice Recording Studios, and the Record Plant. Graduation is the third studio album by American rapper Kanye West, released on September 11, 2007, through Def Jam Recordings and Roc-A-Fella Records.