45. Lupe Fiasco, Food and Liquor
Not your average rapper, Lupe Fiasco is a thinker and creative savant. So imagine the Chicago native staring at this skateboard deck and becoming so inspired by its reference back to Katsuhiro Otomo and his cover for Domu that he says has been turning up in his life for years that he and artists Chuck Anderson and Righteous Kung Fu mapped out the direction of his 2006 album Food And Liquor.
An out of this world sight, you see the artist floating in space with items of Blerdtopia drifting all around him. Domu featured, according to the lyricist, the principal character flying in the darkness while being surrounded by a collection of what seems like random objects. On his cover, the items not only pay homage to the Japanese manga artist’s art but are indicative of the variations of the project, and just by looking at it, fans are simply become engrossed by the technicolor of his mind. These items include a tattered Holy Quran diagonal to his boom box. He has sketches, school folders, devices, a dog tag, pins, a Nintendo DS, a CD, a stuffed doll, and even a Banksy postcard. On top of his head are crooked glasses.
But what was the magic? Green screen and some a really creative graphic designer. Lupe is laying on the green covered floor and the items were hung by a clear wire to give the illusion of suspension.