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The 20 Most Controversial and Ill Thought Out Album Sleeves Of All Time
John Doran , July 17th, 2008 14:31

John Doran casts a baleful eye over some of the least well thought out album sleeves to grace record store shelves.

Nas 'untitled' Nigger

It is fourteen years and nine albums since Nas errupted onto the NYC hip hop scene with Illmatic. To the uninitiated the artwork for his new release looks grim enough featuring, as it does, a naked black man's back with scar tissue and welts from a violent whipping raised in the form of a capital N on his back. But the truth is that this is the Wal Mart friendly sleeve, designed not to offend.

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Nas Untitled
It is fourteen years and nine albums since Nas errupted onto the NYC hip hop scene with Illmatic. To the uninitiated the artwork for his new release looks grim enough featuring, as it does, a naked black man's back with scar tissue and welts from a violent whipping raised in the form of a capital N on his back. But the truth is that this is the Wal Mart friendly sleeve, designed not to offend. The original sleeve is much more eyebrow raising, proving that rock and rap still haven't lost their power to shock.