There goes that bad man again!

In light of the recent “banning” of Kanye’s album cover, I thought I’d post a cover that got banned back in the day that didn’t reek of a blatant publicity stunt disguised as “art” in the way that Kanye’s cover does. 

When Jane’s Addiction released “Ritual De Lo Habitual”, this album cover was banned on account of the mixture of nudity and religious overtones.  This cover resonated with fans in the same way that the music did with a very sexual, violent, and controversial integration/reflection of Catholicism that was a constant theme in their music.  From their epic “Three Days” to the band member’s days spent at my alma mater Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, the imagery in this cover was a true representation of what this band was, so when the cover was banned is was a REAL controversy.  It summed up who they were, what they wrote about, and was as much a reflection of the times as it was of them.  And when it got banned I CARED because it felt like censorship in the worst possible way.  I went out of my way to get a copy of the record with the real cover art because it mattered, sparing no expense.  The art mattered.

When Kanye has an album cover banned, it just makes my stomach turn because I KNOW that there is no art behind this. It feels like nothing more than pure manipulation by a master manipulator. It should come as no surprise that the person to let the cat out of the bag that Kanye’s cover was banned was none other than…….Kanye.  Everything he does is so calculated and geared towards album sales that it is truly insulting to have him claim “I wanna sell albums but not at the expense of my true creativity”.   And in classic Kanye’s ego form, he goes on to tell the world just “how much I blew your minds with that cover”.  Hate to break it to you Kanye, but your cover is crap, and so is your facade. 

The record industry has become so increasingly tired with the likes of Kanye.  If this was about art, he would STFU and let the “art” speak for itself.  Kanye will never understand that art is not something you can dictate to people.  Its something people need to feel and experience for themselves, and often times what people are left with is not what the artist intended, but it affected them nonetheless.  That is the beauty of art, and that is why the Jane’s cover was so controversial.  The meaning of that cover was defined in the music, the music defined in the cover art, and was something that didn’t need to be force-fed to the consumer in the way that Kanye is “blowing our minds”.  It encouraged us to explore the music and find deeper meaning in what was being written.

Kanye’s cover does nothing but make me want to take a shower and get back the 5 minutes I just wasted even talking him.