Ice Spice hasn’t taken a lot of losses, but if you let the internet tell it, the album cover for her debut LP, Y2K!, is one of them. Since its reveal in early June, the artwork has been subjected to a month-long roasting session, with folks accusing the Bronx rapper of using AI and being generally lazy and unimaginative. She hasn’t backed down from the cover; in fact, she later unloaded a similarly 2000s-coded alternative. If the alt was a concession, it wasn’t exactly a successful one: fans have bashed that cover, too. But Ice Spice shouldn’t say sorry for a job well-done. After all, by honing in on a garish aesthetic, she’s continued an authentic hip-hop tradition while generating attention for her new project. Being tacky wasn't an accident here—it was the goal.
A part of the whole deal is that, unfortunately, for many of us who grew up in the aughts, tackiness was a way of life. Just think about the frosted tips, and those damn Ed Hardy shirts and Von Dutch hats. For all the complaints about Ice Spice’s first Y2K! album cover, her biggest mistake might be that she pulled off 2000s-chic too well. The image sees the Bronx artist dripped out like she’s 24 years late for a Nelly show. She’s clad in lime-green boots, a Christian Dior saddle bag that debuted around the same time as Slim Shady and jean shorts that would inspire a T-Pain and Flo-Rida song. Posting her hand against a silverish brick wall that’s got her name graffitied throwback style, she looks back at the camera lens, which also captures an Ice Spice-themed subway and a trash can with the Y2K emblazoned in neon pink. There’s even an Ice Spice Metrocard lying on the ground in front of her.
Stylish and heavy handed, it’s a neonic slab of 2000s pop culture indulgence—an era Ice Spice herself wasn’t even around to experience. If it looks like a clumsy recreation of the past, it’s because it’s meant to be. It’s like an elementary school art project Ice Spice would’ve made 15 years ago. Literally speaking, it’s the work of legendary photographer David LaChapelle, who’s shot indelible images of everyone from Tupac Shakur to Britney Spears. All it takes is a quick glance at Travis Scott’s Astroworld cover or the art for Megan Thee Stallion's just-released self-titled album to see LaChapelle’s M.O. in effect. He specializes in surreality, and his playground is an artist’s imagination. With its precise, yet cartoonish details, both of Ice Spice’s covers mirror this approach. If the goal was to conjure the spirit of the era, her cover was a seance.
More diagonally, her first cover connects to an earlier era of rap album promotion. Back in the ’90s and ’00s, album art looked more like shitty superhero movie posters than anything resembling high art. Remember the Pen & Pixel era? Covers—from mostly Southern rappers—featured exaggerated symbols, blinged out fonts, and random objects stitched together like rough collages. And then there was the mixtape era of the 2000s, often showcasing zany, crude, and literal illustrations. (One of my personal favorites is Max B’s Public Domain 2 - Rise Of The Silver Surfer, which features the Harlem rapper riding a board like the Silver Surfer.) These covers aren’t what you’d call, “tasteful”—at least in a conventional sense. But what’s more hip-hop than some gaudy album art? It’s as American as SMACK DVDs. Embedded with a layer of her own nostalgic whimsy, Y2K! is at once a tribute to the past and an art piece that’s uniquely Ice Spice. It’s simultaneously futuristic and retro.
There’s the functional element to consider, too. With today’s technology, people are no longer trying to make imagery that makes 12-year-olds want to buy their album in a Sam Goody. No, they’re trying to create a moment. You know the phrase, “there’s no such thing as bad publicity.” It’s the same kind of deal here. Through all of the criticisms, Ice Spice’s album cover has been memed, reposted and otherwise reimagined by countless corners of the social media community. There have been tweets about the cover. There have been TikToks about the cover. People say it was trash—some say they themselves could do a better job designing it. And yet getting folks to talk about the cover is the most important job of all. A lot of people don’t like the cover, but even their jokes about it will keep it relevant ahead of her July 26th album release date.
But even if they don’t rock with it at the moment, there’s a chance that will change in the future. At the time of its 2013 release, Drake’s Nothing Was The Same was perfect meme fodder, and critics were definitely a little hard on Lil Wayne’s Carter III artwork in 2008. Soon, though, the overwhelming quality of the music itself eclipsed any opinions people had about what was on the front of the CD. It’s not hard to envision Y2K! being on a similar trajectory. If her album is good, folks who didn’t like the cover won’t remember. If it’s bad—well, Ice Spice will have more important things to worry about.
