While little is really known about the movements of DONDA and their relationship to hip-hop, it is apparent that through a recent string of album art designs that they are fixed on bringing 'art' back to hip-hop music.
You won't find Lil Wayne's album art on their website, but you will find a whole bunch of information about the collective. To introduce them, "Donda’s House, Inc. was designed to provide access to premium arts instruction to youth. Arts and music programs are routinely the first casualty in schools facing budget crises, specifically institutions in at-risk communities that directly benefit from access to safe environments and developmental opportunities."
That's just one aspect of DONDA. The creative agency that is DONDA is a multi-discipline company, they not only design artwork for some of your favorite rappers, they've branched out beyond that to design complete tour sets (the first being the "Watch The Throne" tour with Kanye and Jay Z), and they were also behind the guerilla marketing campaign for "New Slaves" -- and just today Kim Kardashian unveiled the cover of her "Selfish" book which was, you guessed it, helmed by Yeezy and DONDA. Nonetheless, this list focuses on single and album artwork that have been commissioned by DONDA.
Their ambition has become the gold standard for creativity in hip-hop, prompting us to take a look at their input thus far.
2 Chainz - Based on a T.R.U. Story
When 2 Chainz exploded on to the rap scene in 2012, most fans didn't really draw the connection to Tity Boi, the moniker he used for years before scoring all sorts of mainstream success. The 2 Chainz imagery came to a boil with the cover of his debut full-length. With two gold chainz placed on top of a black background, it was simple, modern, direct and gangster. It's become iconic in and of itself, with recent albums covers mimicking the concept- think Nipsey Hussle's Mailbox Money and Rick Ross' Hood Billionaire.
2 Chainz - Based on a T.R.U. Story (Deluxe Edition)
A little extra jacket on top of the chains gives the record just enough distinction from the original, while still letting you know that it's very much the same album. "Countdown," "Like Me," "I Fell Good," and "Riot" were the icing atop a cake that's sold 600,000+ copies.
2 Chainz - B.O.A.T.S. II: Me Time
For the second time around, DONDA got real up close and personal with those two chainz and put them against a white background. Once again it's the minimalism Kanye, and now DONDA, have become known for, while still being visually-arresting and clean.
A$AP Rock- Long.Live.A$AP.
First of all it wouldn't be right if we didn't send an RIP out to Yams. His vision helped propel A$AP Rocky to the mainstream some years ago.
DONDA's vision helped lace Rocky with a debut album cover that was both a nod to his mixtape cover and a commentary on the trendy, VHS-quality that has been blowing up all over the place. Granted, they were early to that party.
G.O.O.D Music - Cruel Summer
Cruel Summer may have been a lacklustre album, but it featured some gorgeous artwork by the DONDA collective. The geometric ornaments were seemingly inspired by the Watch The Throne artwork designed by Riccardo Tisci, but the real winner is the well-endowed woman that's the focal point.
Kanye West - Yeezus
While there isn't exactly 'album art' to talk about here, the packaging was just as eye-popping and unique as the DONDA album covers. And since it's Ye, it's about as minimal as you can get. The red sticker and coverless disc became instantly iconic, pushing the boundaries from a visual standpoint while the music helped to shape the next era of hip-hop to come.
John Legend - Love in the Future
Kanye West executive produced John Legend's fourth album Love in the Future. Featuring ultra-modern cover art, the 20-track effort was ambitious sonically and visually, like most of the projects DONDA has been involved with.
Nicki Minaj - The Pinkprint
Pictured above is the deluxe version of The Pinkprint. It's a full-circle moment for Kanye West to have produced beats on Jay Z's The Blueprint and then have his creative agency create the artwork for Nicki Minaj's album called The Pinkprint.
Pusha T - Numbers on the Boards
Don Cannon and Kanye West laced Pusha T with quite a beat for "Numbers on the Boards." It's obvious they wanted the music to speak for itself, as the 'no artwork' cover is a parody of itself.
Pusha T - My Name Is My Name
The barcode worked as a way to pre-order the album if you scanned it with an Amazon app. Aesthetically it definitely sticks out, and the ultra-minimalist approach worked for Pusha as DONDA did it again. It isn't the most beautiful thing they've ever done, but it definitely is eye-catching.
Pusha T - My Name Is My Name [Clean Version]
Pusha looks like some sort of alien on the clean version of MNIMN. He is completely blacked out with just slivers of his eyes showing. His cap and braids are barely visible, making it both eerie and captivating.
Big Sean - Guap
Taking that VHS-style that we saw on the A$AP Rocky album, DONDA made some stand-out artwork for Big Sean's single off the 2013 album Hall of Fame.
Big Sean - Hall of Fame
And the cover for Hall of Fame was just as tropically-colored and eye-catching as the "Guap" art was. The real winner here is the colors extracted from a photo of Sean, as the neon lights create some sort of alien-like aesthetic.
Lil Wayne featuring Drake & Future - Love Me
This is one of the more intricate, less-minimal outputs by the creative agency. DONDA put the track's title in neon lights, while decorating what looks like black plant leaves (resembling Wayne's hair) with the butterflies that the album art was based around. Mike WiLL's beat sounds royal, and the music video accompanies that vibe. This art was also a GIF, proving DONDA was ahead of the pack, as we've seen more and more artists go the GIF route when releasing art.
Lil Wayne - I Am Not A Human Being II
Weezy's 2013 album had a Silence of the Lambs-esque artwork courtesy of DONDA. An eerie, blood red butterfly with a skull in the center is a fairly jolting image, and the GIF version (also pictured above) was even less settling although more ambitious.
Tyga - The Gold Album: 18th Dynasty
Tyga's upcoming album has some royal art courtesy of DONDA. Featuring a gold-plated Horus the Falcon holding two an ankh in each hand, the 18th Dynasty looks and feels epic and lavish. Look forward to its release, soon.