Kanye West is no stranger to controversy, especially these days on social media. In the midst of voicing his not-necessarily-popular thoughts on Twitter, West is putting together a bunch of music too, including Pusha T's newest studio album Daytona--__which came out today. Pusha T's latest collection of music is unfortunately earning more notice for his cover art than its tracks, as the album cover is a picture of Whitney Houston's messy bathroom from a 2006 drug binge. Kanye West reportedly spent upwards of $85,000 for the photo to be used and displayed. Naturally, as you'd expect, it's certainly earning a reaction online. First, here's a picture of the new cover art, released (of course) on Kanye West's Twitter page.
The new album -- which, as Kanye West notes above, is one of several that the popular rapper is working on right now -- wasn't originally going to have this photo at the forefront. It was apparently at Kanye's insistence that the image of Whitney Houston's bathroom was used. As Pusha-T told Entertainment Weekly, this new, controversial decision "definitely does match the energy of my new album," although it wasn't what they originally had in mind. Pusha-T admits it was a last-minute change by Kanye West, who felt the original art work didn't fit what they were going for with this newest work. And by last minute, I truly mean last minute; the change happened at 1 AM on Tuesday.
Clearl Kanye West's mind is never at rest-- he's seemingly always tinkering a bit. In any case, Pusha-T described the Whitney Houston picture that is framed in front of his newest album, and why he feels it accurately represents what he hopes to achieve with this newest collection of music.
I feel like the cover represents an organized chaos. The energy of the album is a bit chaotic, but it's all in place. Looking at that cover, I'm sure whoever frequents that bathroom or area knew whatever they wanted to find and knew where it was.
The picture was reportedly taken by one of Whitney Houston's family members, and it was published in the National Enquirer in 2006, as Whitney Houston continued to struggle with her drug addiction. Meanwhile, Whitney Houston is also in the news again for the recently-premiered documentary Whitney, which made its official debut at the Cannes Film Festival last week. It's earning attention, in large part, because the movie claims the famous singer was reportedly molested as a young child. The documentary, directed by Kevin Macdonald, is scheduled to be released on July 7th. Whitney Houston was 48 years old when she passed away on February 11th, 2012.
