IT'S ALL IN THE PACKAGING...HIP HOP COVER ART APPRECIATION VOL. 3: THE WHITE SPACE

I've always been a huge fan of white space. People just don't really know how to use it properly. And, to juxtapose the tackiness and business of the pen-and-pixel, over-the-top and obnoxious cover art that continues to flood the market place, the follow pieces remain two of the most iconic images in hip hop, not because they're outstanding images, but because of the white space that isolates them. C'mon folks, less is more. Understand it.

And the commonality between the two covers is quite striking. Artist on the top, title on the bottom. Both make a certain pointed commentary on "birth" and "life." And both could be considered the artist's respective paramount recording. Both are debut records and one's "short" and the other's "big."

First we have Too $hort's Born to Mack. The image of $hort Dog sitting in back of his car like he's ready for a parade is the celebration of the ghetto superstar. And considering that this was $hort's debut record, it's a conceited but clever image that does what it's intended. It says, "I make money," rather than, "I'm gonna make money," and for a debut album in 1988, this concept was not as common as it is today. He even has his name in U.S. Mint green.


Conceptually the same, however, not quite as nice in my personal opinion is Notorious BIG's Ready to Die. This time, though, we find the image of a small baby and the title suggests a completely different notion than $hort's cover. Essentially, instead of being born to do anything, Notorious was just born to die. It makes poignant commentary on the tragedy of ghetto life while $hort's album reflects the rare luxuries of the same lifestyle. Both in the same, though, speak on life as a very simplistic notion thanks, in large part, to the layout of the covers and the white space.

Florida win's the National Championship. Yea. You know, no one wins when a #1 seed wins the Championship. Boring. Especially when it's a repeat.

And Monday saw the Yankees win and the Sox lose in their respective openers. Wow, this is gonna be a great season. We're already down to the Spanks. The fun I'm gonna have! Must listen to Ready to Die in celebration of the 2007 Red Sox today.