Kanye West's Latest 'Dark Twisted Fantasy' Cover Revealed

One of Kanye West's five album covers for his forthcoming My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy LP was revealed after it was posted to a pre-order page on Amazon.com, and if the image — A George Condo painting of a ballerina dressed in a black tutu holding a martini glass — seems familiar, it's because the image was initially used as the artwork for the "Runaway" single before West instead chose an image of an actual ballerina.

Kanye West's Surprise Visit to Rolling Stone

West revealed that Dark Twisted Fantasy would include five different covers after his original cover — another Condo painting featuring a grotesque Kanye with a nude winged woman — was "banned" by powers unknown, or so Kanye claimed (a Wal-Mart rep said the company hadn’t seen the artwork). Kanye said that all five covers will be included within the copies of the album when it hits shelves on November 22nd.

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Song Stories

“1999”

Prince | 1982

“I don’t consider myself a great poet,” Prince told Rolling Stone. “I just know I’m here to say what’s on my mind.” In the case of the apocalyptic party anthem “1999,” he was worried about then-president Ronald Reagan’s foreign policies. The song’s melody is based on a riff borrowed from the Mamas and Papas’ “Monday, Monday,” and Prince originally envisioned the first verse with three-part harmony but later split the vocals between himself and members of the Revolution. Because Warner Bros., with whom Prince was locked in a contractual battle, owned the original’s masters, Prince rerecorded the song and appropriately released that version in 1999.

More Song Stories entries »

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