【Arouse (2025)】

You'd think album art would have Arouse (2025)died with the rise of music streaming platforms.

Holding an album in your hands today doesn't feel as huge a moment as it once was, the front cover calling to you and your hard earned pocket money across a then-crowded physical record store.

Having said that, album art hasn't diminished. In fact, this year we've seen more than our fair share of album covers that stopped us dead in our tracks.

Here's a smattering of these jaw-dropping album covers, the artwork that made us wake up and pay attention. Yes, one is YE.

Janelle Monae — Dirty Computer

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Buildings in your neighbourhood were damn lucky to see a paste-up of Janelle Monae's Dirty Computer adorning their external walls with the album's April release.

The design concept for one of the best pop albums of the year so far was handled by Rhode Island-based designer Joe Perez, who's worked for Kanye West's creative team DONDA. Monae sits wearing the bejewelled headpiece donned for the album's lead single "Make Me Feel." Stunning.

Kanye West — YE

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It's been a busyyear for Kanye West. The June release of YE was just one piece of a pretty complicated, polarising pie. The album cover instantly spurred memes, largely thanks to a dedicated generator which allowed people to make their own YEinterpretation.

West's wife Kim Kardashian West tweeted that Kanye made the album cover on their way to the listening party in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, taking a photo of the Teton mountains with his iPhone. If nothing else, it was a penny-pinching win. And despite Kanye's own battle with mental health, the album cover's offhand comment about bipolar disorder is pretty insensitive.

Sophie — Oil Of Every Pearl's Un-Insides

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If you haven't listened to SOPHIE yet, drop "It's Okay To Cry" into Google and watch the video. We'll wait. Go on. You done? RIGHT? You're a puddle of goo on the floor too? Now go back and gaze dreamily at the futuristic pop artist's debut album art, photographed by British photographer Charlotte Wales whose work for magazines like Popand Dazedis evident here.

Before dropping this stunner of a first album, Sophie was producing for the likes of Madonna, Charli XCX and Vince Staples, but this time it's the mermaid queen's time to shine.

Pusha T — DAYTONA

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Well now, wasn't this a controversial one. Pusha T's latest album DAYTONApushed quite a few buttons, namely those of Whitney Houston's family. Why? That image you're looking at is a 2006 photo of the late singer's drug-filled bathroom.

But the controversy didn't just rest on the image itself. Apparently Kanye West, who produced the record, paid $85,000 for the image license, and used it as a last-minute cover for Pusha T's album.

"I feel like the cover represents an organized chaos," Pusha told Entertainment Weekly. "The energy of the album is a bit chaotic, but it’s all in place. Looks at that cover, I’m sure whoever frequents that bathroom or area knew whatever they wanted to find and knew where it was."

Kendrick Lamar — Black Panther soundtrack

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Kendrick Lamar's highly anticipated soundtrack was on high rotation literally everywhere when the film opened in January 2018. Seriously, what a ride we had.

The minimalist cover features T'Challa's necklace, his sister Shuri’s design that activates the Black Panther suit, created for the film by costume designer Ruth Carter. But it was fan art illustrator Nikolas A. Draper-Ivey who created Lamar's album cover after being approached by Interscope Records and Disney. Keep posting fan art, guys.

Troye Sivan — Bloom

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Okay, this one may be fuelled by our complete and utter obsession with Troye Sivan's highly arousing single "Bloom,". Photographed by elegant French photographer Hedi Slimane, once creative director for Yves Saint Laurent, Sivan's album art is what stunning black and white portraits are made of.

Out August 31,Bloomwill be one of the biggest releases of the year. And how did this 23-year-old South African-Australian gem herald it? WITH THE BACK OF HIS HEAD. All fire.

Nicki Minaj — Queen

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Heck yeah! Miss Nicki Minaj. The hip hop superstar posted the cover of her upcoming album Queenon Instagram in June, posing as the Queen of the Nile herself, Cleopatra.

Queenis Minaj's "greatest work to date" according to her own caption, and will drop on August 10. The cover art was shot by the "legendary" fashion photographers Mert and Marcus.  

J.Cole - KOD

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"This album is in no way intended to glorify addiction," reads J.Cole's fifth album cover. Look, we're not going to doubt you, Cole, but is that you wearing a crown? And under your cape, is that a group of children snorting coke, dropping acid, and casually smoking? There's a lotgoing on here. Created by 22-year-old Detroit artist Kamau Haroon, a.k.a. Sixmau, the KODcover was crafted collaboratively with the North Carolina rapper.

"I can’t talk much about his vision," Sixmau told Vibe. "You’re going to have to listen to the album. It all ties in together. It was definitely a collaboration. It was a marriage of art and music. He told me what direction he was going in and then he gave me freedom to portray it how I wanted."

Ah heck, frame it.