The Artists Awarded Best Album Cover Before Tyler, the Creator
Looking back on the reinstated Grammy category and its earliest winners dating back to 1959
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Last night, Tyler, the Creator won the 16th Grammy Award for Best Album Cover for Chromakopia. Many outlets have overlooked the prize's early history, dubbing Tyler the first artist to ever win the prize. The award actually dates back to 1959, the first year of the ceremony, when Frank Sinatra first won for his cover of Only The Lonely. I’ll admit, it’s a bit confusing. Where has Best Album Cover been all this time? On hiatus, as I wrote for It’s Nice That.
Over the next 15 years, the prize was oddly separated into various sections. The first go around: Best Album Cover (Other Than Classical) and Best Album Cover (Classical). In its eighth year: Best Album Cover (Photography) and Best Album Cover (Graphic Arts). In 1973, the trophy was officially rebranded as Best Album Package. A means to do away with the categorical indecisiveness? Or perhaps a sign of the times that technology had progressed to allow more elaborate vinyl designs beyond the album cover.
On an episode of The New York Times’ Popcast, writers Jon Caramanica and Joe Coscarelli walked through this year’s contenders. Caramanica commented, “I think this is a silly category. But I also think at the same time they could’ve done this 30 years ago. Album covers have been good for a really long time. Or bad!” Coscarelli named Bad Bunny’s Debí Tirar Más Fotos his choice (whom I was also in alliance with) while Caramanica selected Chromakopia, jokingly stating, “I’m heavily into German expressionism.”
In an interview with Artnet, longtime collaborator Luis Perez revealed that “a series of black-and-white studio headshots from 1930s and ’40s Hollywood, including a screen test for an Alfred Hitchcock movie,“ was the original point of inspiration, continuing the practice of Tyler pulling from history. On the cover of 2019’s Igor, his jagged cut-out portrait is reminiscent of Grace Jones’ 1982 Living My Life. On 2021’s Call Me If You Get Lost, he paid homage to Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s 1995 debut with a faux photo ID.
While the rebellious nature of German Expressionism is present in Tyler, the Creator’s artistic identity, Surrealism is a more accurate pinpoint for Chromakopia. Perez mentioned that Tyler was adamant about creating a very unsettling experience. This nature extends far beyond the cover, into the accompanying music videos, live tour, and even his Grammy performance, where the set exploded onstage.
While Chromakopia may not have been my choice for the return of Best Album Cover, what matters most is that this highly contested art form and its visual artists are finally being celebrated (again). Now that the Grammys are over, I hope album art will continue to receive the same level of coverage. Yes to Rolling Stone asking more musicians who has the most iconic album cover of all time, and 6lack answering with all three of his. That is the motivation I want to see!
See a few of the album covers Tyler is joining below. You can view the full list of winners and nominees archived at Grammy.com.
It’s Nice That commissioned me to write about the return of Best Album Cover and who, in my opinion, would’ve won over the past 10 years if the award had existed prior. Think Solange Knowles, Weyes Blood, and Turnstile, among others. You can read the full article here. Tell me in the comments below who you would’ve liked to see recognized.
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With a few exceptions, I wanted to highlight some all-timers that might be otherwise overlooked...
The Mothers of Invention - Weasels Ripped My Flesh - for a cover that married technique and dissonance just like the music on the disc.
The Dwarves - Blood, Guts, and Pussy - for bumping up the punk from Roger Daltry in the baked beans.
P.J. Harvey - 4 Track Demos - for a cover as raw as the record.
Ol' Dirty Bastard - Return to the 36 Chambers - referenced above, but that cover image was planting a flag that the Wu was something more than crime rap and kung fu movies.
The Clash - London Calling - for the best live photo cover for one of the best albums ever.
Born Against - 9 Patriotic Battle Hymns For Children - For a cover that took me months to determine was ironic and that must have limited the success of the record in their scene.
Fugazi - Instrument - Because somehow that cover sounds like the record
Handsome Boy Modeling School - So How's Your Girl - For a photo that finds the very specific tone of a very specific sense of humor that is poured all over a bravura record
Janelle Monae - Dirty Computer - For the best head and shoulders cover since Medulla that whispers toward the afro futurism of the earlier records but embraces the ultra modern sounds within.
Lightning Bolt - Hypermagic Mountain - There are plenty of good covers by the musicians on the record, but few great ones. This might be the greatest (except for the one you just thought of that I forgot about).
The Replacements - Let It Be - While the album bores me (heresy, I know) every time I see the cover I want to listen again to hang out with these dopes
Jets To Brazil - Orange Rhyming Dictionary - When the lyrics are this important to you, just start the lyric sheet on the cover, whydontcha?
Lifetime Achievement Award- Rick Froberg - Drive Like Jehu, Hot Snakes, Plosivs, Obits - If he was on the record he probably did the cover. R.I.P. last year.
And one that should have won. I love to think of all the people who allowed their teenager to play this in the car because of the cover and then were horrified.
Herb Alpert - Whipped Cream and Other Delights - How is this not on the wins list from the early noms? That Paul Horne cover is pretty nice, but come on...
No particular order…and I’m sure I have missed so many brilliant pieces of art.
Alice Cooper - Billion Dollar Babies, King Crimson - IN THE COURT OF THE CRIMSON KING, Pink Floyd - Animals, Lou Reed - Blue Mask, The Velvet Underground and Nico - The banana album (still haven’t removed my peel)