Controversial Album Covers

Musicians stir the spot with shocking artwork.

Ice-T - Home Invasion (March 23, 1993) - Ice-T ended his relationship with Sire Records over the Home Invasion cover, which showed a young white boy in headphones listening to rap music and surrounded by menacing black figures. After the label insisted on a change, T got out of his deal and took the album over to Priority Records, where it was released with album art as originally conceived.
The Coup, Party Music - This album from The Coup featured the Bay Area conscious-rap vets blowing up the World Trade Center, and was coincidentally set to be dropped in early September 2001. After 9/11, the album was postponed to November, when it was released with less incendiary artwork.  (Photo: Tommy Boy Records)
Ice Cube, Death Certificate - No stranger to controversy, Ice Cube stirred up a firestorm once again with his 1991 sophomore solo album, Death Certificate, which featured Cube standing over a corpse draped in an American flag and toe-tagged "Uncle Sam." The state of Oregon banned the use of Ice Cube's image in response.  (Photo: EMI Records)
2 Live Crew, As Nasty as They Wanna Be - The racy, pre-"Thong Song" artwork for 2 Live Crew's 1989 double-play blockbuster matched its explicit content, which prompted a Florida judge to label the album obscene and attempt to ban it.  (Photo: Fresh Beat Records)Makaveli (2Pac), The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory - The cover to this posthumous 1996 classic, which depicted Tupac getting crucified, included a disclaimer: "In no way is this portrait an expression of disrespect for Jesus Christ." The image not only offended some Christians, however — it also helped fuel persistent rumors that Pac was still alive.  (Photo: Interscope Records)

Next Gallery

The Best Black Celebrity Looks From NYFW That Shut Down the Runway and the Streets

9 Photos

5 / 11

The Coup, Party Music - This album from The Coup featured the Bay Area conscious-rap vets blowing up the World Trade Center, and was coincidentally set to be dropped in early September 2001. After 9/11, the album was postponed to November, when it was released with less incendiary artwork. (Photo: Tommy Boy Records)

ADVERTISEMENT