Album Art Appreciate: F.A.M.E.

Art Direction and Design:

Courtney Walter & Team Breezy

Cover Painting:

Ron English

Note: There is a good possibility this album will be reviewed down the road, but that’s a different post for a different time.

Chris Brown is one of my favorite R&B artists.  He has charm and creativity with the vocal chops to back it all up.  Sure, he may not be a very nice, erm, human being...

... ah.

But I still like him as an artist and “F.A.M.E.” really cements his status as one of the biggest names in mainstream music.  Along with featuring some of the biggest hits of his career (“Yeah 3x, “Deuces”, “Look At Me Now”), the differing variations of genres featured on the album (pop, contemporary R&B, house, hip hop) make for an interesting and entertaining listen each and everytime.  My personal favorites off the album are “No B.S. (feat. Kevin McCall)”, “Should’ve Kissed You”, “Beautiful People (feat. Benny Benassi)” and the beautifully composed “All Back”, an overlooked ballad on the album that every Chris Brown fan needs to listen to (think “Crawl” from “Graffiti”, only better).

The album cover for “F.A.M.E.” is one of my favorites of all-time.  In an era when album art is glanced over as an afterthough (especially in hip-hop/R&B), it’s refreshing to see so much effort put in to “F.A.M.E.”’s cover.  It’s very colorful and active; it gives off a great vibe and pop feel.

POP.

The artwork of C. Breezy and his multiple counterparts is absolutely awesome.  Credit “F.A.M.E.”‘s artwork to contemporary artist Ron English, who does a phenomenal job on the cover, especially on Brown, who appears very realistic and eye-catching.  The expression on Brown’s face is my favorite part of the painting.  A stoic stare graces Brown’s shadow ridden face, trying to hide the pain the media has given him over the years thanks to...

... ah.

Brown tries to look past his past and get on with his career.  Looking at this picture with “Deuces” playing makes for a chilling moment.

The fabulous artwork blends well with the rainbow-esque background, complete with unusual pictures of Brown and random objects and the phrase “Forgiving All My Enemies” weaved through it all (gee, I wonder if that’s what F.A.M.E. means?) (actually, Breezy has mentioned that F.A.M.E. could also stand for Fans Are My Everything).  For more of Ron English’s work, check out his website here.  Also, here’s a video of Brown going more in depth about the art work, it's meaning and English’s influence on the singer.

Overall, this album cover gives a great hint at what’s to come when you play the CD... maximum fun and POP.