Over the Top Hip Hop Album Covers

Crossing the line and then some.

  - Hip Hop has always been unapologetic about it's affinity for line-crossing when it comes to artistic creativity. One of the genre's most mercurial figures, Wu-Tang Clan's ODB, has pulled antics that have warranted him his own page in the history books, beginning with his debut album, 1995's Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version, on the cover of which his face appears on a food stamp card. ODB wasn't alone. Other rappers have released albums just as jaw-dropping. In light of the re-release of ODB's debut album here's a round-up of other equally outlandish covers that might need a re-release as well. (Photo: Elektra Records)

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  - Hip Hop has always been unapologetic about it's affinity for line-crossing when it comes to artistic creativity. One of the genre's most mercurial figures, Wu-Tang Clan's ODB, has pulled antics that have warranted him his own page in the history books, beginning with his debut album, 1995's Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version, on the cover of which his face appears on a food stamp card. ODB wasn't alone. Other rappers have released albums just as jaw-dropping. In light of the re-release of ODB's debut album here's a round-up of other equally outlandish covers that might need a re-release as well. (Photo: Elektra 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)

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Ice Cube Death Certificate - Cube's second studio album, 1991's Death Certificate featured a deceased Uncle Sam draped under an America flag. The album debuted at #2 on Billboard 200 chart and went on to sell more than 1.6 million copies despite it's less than patriotic image. (Photo: Priority/EMI Records)

Trina Da Baddest B***h - Trina showed who was the baddest when she dressed up in a skimpy nurse's outfit and straddled an injured patient for the cover of her debut, 2000's Da Baddest B***h. The gold-selling album remained on the Hip Hop/R&B album chart for 49 weeks straight. (Photo: Slip-N-Slide/Atlantic Records)

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Trina Da Baddest B***h - Trina showed who was the baddest when she dressed up in a skimpy nurse's outfit and straddled an injured patient for the cover of her debut, 2000's Da Baddest B***h. The gold-selling album remained on the Hip Hop/R&B album chart for 49 weeks straight. (Photo: Slip-N-Slide/Atlantic Records)

2 Live Crew Move Somethin'  - While relatively still under the mainstream media's radar, Florida's 2 Live Crew released Move Somethin' in 1987. The album's cover, a view of the crew through the legs of a bikini-clad model, was the predecessor to the follow-up album cover, As Nasty As I Wanna Be, that would spawn one of the largest legal battles in hip hop history. (Photo: Luke Records)

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2 Live Crew Move Somethin' - While relatively still under the mainstream media's radar, Florida's 2 Live Crew released Move Somethin' in 1987. The album's cover, a view of the crew through the legs of a bikini-clad model, was the predecessor to the follow-up album cover, As Nasty As I Wanna Be, that would spawn one of the largest legal battles in hip hop history. (Photo: Luke 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)

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2 Live Crew As Nasty As They Wanna Be - The American Family Association (AFA) argued that 2 Live Crew's 2X platinum As Nasty As They Wanna Be album (1987) was too much for a Parental Advisory sticker alone. Although the ruling was later overturned, the AFA made sure that the album was deemed legally obscene by the District Court for the Southern District of Florida and banned from record stores. (Photo: Luke Records)

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Iceberg aka Ice-T Gangsta Rap - The gilded frame didn't added any class to the cover of Ice-T's (then going by the alias Iceberg) eighth studio album Gangsta Rap (2006) which featured T and his voluptuous wife Coco naked in bed. Record companies wanted the album cover censored but Ice clearly won that battle. (Photo: Melee Records)

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Iceberg aka Ice-T Gangsta Rap - The gilded frame didn't added any class to the cover of Ice-T's (then going by the alias Iceberg) eighth studio album Gangsta Rap (2006) which featured T and his voluptuous wife Coco naked in bed. Record companies wanted the album cover censored but Ice clearly won that battle. (Photo: Melee Records)

Photo By Photo: Melee Records

Master P The Ghettos Tryin to Kill Me! - The all too personal moment shared on cover art for Master P's third studio album The Ghettos Tryin to Kill Me!, was a bit much to say the least. When the album was rereleased as a limited edition under Priority Records in 1997 some of the songs were edited out but miraculously the album cover remained the same.(Photo: No Limit/Solar Records)

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Master P The Ghettos Tryin to Kill Me! - The all too personal moment shared on cover art for Master P's third studio album The Ghettos Tryin to Kill Me!, was a bit much to say the least. When the album was rereleased as a limited edition under Priority Records in 1997 some of the songs were edited out but miraculously the album cover remained the same.(Photo: No Limit/Solar Records)

Lil Kim, Hardcore - When she dropped her debut album, Hardcore, in 1996, Lil Kim shook things up. She was a strong female rapper with equal parts sexuality and lyricism, and surely capable of making a hit. Kim hasn't dropped an album in almost 10 years, though, and what she has put out often suggests her skills have diminished over time. Trying to peg a sequel onto this celebrated debut wouldn't help anyone. (Photo: Courtesy of Big Beat Records)

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Lil Kim Hardcore  - Lil Kim's album cover for her 1996 debut Hardcore which featured her laid out on a bear skin rug was just a teaser for the hyper-sexualized lyrics on the album. Civil Rights activitst C. Delores Tucker, noted for spearheadeding a campaign against gangsta rap, labeled the album's content "gangsta porno rap." (Photo: Undeas/Big Beat Records)

Pooh Man (MC Pooh) Funky As I Wanna Be - An apparent nod to 2 Live Crew's As Nasty As I Wanna Be cover, Pooh-Man otherwise known as MC Pooh upped the cringe-worthy factor with the raunchy cover of his 1992 album Funky As I Wanna Be. Even if the image itself didn't bother you, the possibility of a double entendre between it and the title of the album should.(Photo: Jive Records)

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Pooh Man (MC Pooh) Funky As I Wanna Be - An apparent nod to 2 Live Crew's As Nasty As I Wanna Be cover, Pooh-Man otherwise known as MC Pooh upped the cringe-worthy factor with the raunchy cover of his 1992 album Funky As I Wanna Be. Even if the image itself didn't bother you, the possibility of a double entendre between it and the title of the album should.(Photo: Jive Records)

Master P – Only God Can Judge Me (1999) - So after Master P decided not to retire, he returned with this 23 track album titled like a 2Pac song. This was one of the few No Limit album covers in which the artist didn't have their face or body on the cover.   (Photo: No Limit Records)

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Master P Only God Can Judge Me - Arguably Master P and the whole No Limit Crew had plenty of gaudy and gilded album covers to choose from, but when P went religious for his 1999 album Only God Can Judge, the results were borderline blasphemous.(Photo: No Limit Records)

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Hot Boys Let 'Em Burn - Cash Money Records' Hot Boys were never very political in their music, but their decision to depict themselves in electric chairs on their third studio album, Let 'Em Burn (2003) was enough to raise some eyebrows. Their goal might not have been to glorify capital punishment but they succeeded.(Photo: Cash Money Records)

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Hot Boys Let 'Em Burn - Cash Money Records' Hot Boys were never very political in their music, but their decision to depict themselves in electric chairs on their third studio album, Let 'Em Burn (2003) was enough to raise some eyebrows. Their goal might not have been to glorify capital punishment but they succeeded.(Photo: Cash Money Records)

Snoop Dogg – Da Game Is to Be Sold, Not to Be Told (1998) - The significance behind this album is that it was Snoop's first post-Death Row album. The very public fallout between Snoop and Suge Knight led the Cali emcee to search out a new record label, eventually signing with No Limit, who were at the top of their game at the time. It was also Master P's first veteran signing and one of the few acts not from New Orleans to arrive on the label. Fans should note that this was the first album that Snoop released as Snoop Dogg and not Snoop Doggy Dogg, as he was initially known.   (Photo: No Limit Records)

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Snoop Dogg Da Game is to be Sold, Not to be Told - By the late 90s hip hop fans nationwide were used to the South's ostentatious album cover aesthetic coming most notably from the No Limit and Cash Money camps but they didn't really expect west coast legend Snoop Dogg to adopt it when he linked up with No Limit for his 1998 album Da Game Is to Be Sold, Not to Be Sold. (Photo: No Limit/Priority Records)

Pastor Troy Troy - Inspired by the 2004 movie of the same name, Pastor Troy fancied himself as a Trojan warrior on he cover of his 14th studio album Troy in 2008. (Photo: Madd Society Records)

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Pastor Troy Troy - Inspired by the 2004 movie of the same name, Pastor Troy fancied himself as a Trojan warrior on he cover of his 14th studio album Troy in 2008. (Photo: Madd Society Records)

Ludacris Chicken-n-Beer - Luda dined on legs and thighs literally on the cover of his third studio album Chicken-n-Beer (2003). The album sold more than 2.7 million copies to date. (Photo: DTP/Def Jam Records)

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Ludacris Chicken-n-Beer - Luda dined on legs and thighs literally on the cover of his third studio album Chicken-n-Beer (2003). The album sold more than 2.7 million copies to date. (Photo: DTP/Def Jam Records)

Smooth Operator - Kane consolidated his success with 1989's It's a Big Daddy Thing, which spawned arguably his most effective love-man song in "Smooth Operator" and also found him working with new jack producer Teddy Riley on "I Get the Job Done". 1990's A Taste of Chocolate was a wide-ranging effort, highlighted by Kane's duets with Barry White and comedian Rudy Ray Moore, aka Dolemite.(Photo: Cold Chillin/Warner Brothers Records)

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Big Daddy Kane Long Live the Kane  - Asserting his position as one of the forerunner's of hip hop's early years, Big Daddy Kane characterized himself as a king on a throne for his regal debut album Long Live the Kane (1988). (Photo: Cold Chillin'/Warner Bros. Records)