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Pusha T, Kanye and the $85'000 picture

The amazing story behind the DAYTONA's cover.

Pusha T, Kanye and the $85'000 picture The amazing story behind the DAYTONA's cover.

Pusha T latest work is out! DAYTONA, the new eight-song album entirely produced by Kanye West is available on different platforms.

“for my family…high taste level, luxury, drug raps fans”

 “Literally this is nothing more than the outcome of our musical therapy sessions.”

Pusha said to Angie Martinez, during a radio interview on Thursday. The rapper also talked about the cover art a day before it was revealed and when he talked about how this cover was chosen he said: 

“The [original] artwork was pictures that we all agreed on. He picked this photographer, we took these pictures…We picked the pictures. Great. We love it. Everything is good.”

But the Pusha's phone rang at 1 a.m. in the morning on Thursday, was an unknown number. Was Kanye, disclosing that he liked another photo better.

Let’s talk about this new picture. The photo in question was reportedly taken in 2006, and show a ruined bathroom full of objects, but if we focus on the details we can see that it’s littered with drug paraphernalia, including a crack-smoking pipe and spoons covered in white powder. That bathroom wasn’t a normal bathroom, it’s Whitney Houston’s bathroom. In 2006 Houston filed for divorce from Bobby Brown and she was probably at the peak of her drug addiction. The image was released after Houston's death in 2012, and published by several newspapers. 

“This is what people need to see to go along with this music…I’ma pay for that” Kanye told Pusha. 

The only problem with this picture is the licensing price. Pusha said in the interview that Kanye paid $85’000 for that picture. 

A lot of money but, in Kanye’s opinion this pictures really represent the intense lyrics of Pusha and the deep and heavy beats made by Kanye. An album that goes on the opposite direction of the 2018 Hip Hop, that see the wide diffusion of trap young artist, and it’s able to talk about a society that, even if the music that narrates it is more shiny and light, suffers of big and deep problems.

Now let’s stop to talk and let’s immerse in DAYTONA.