Reviewing The Arts

Review of Emek's Album artwork for New Amerykah Part II *revised*

Deserted at birth, Emek has overcome many triumphs in his unfortunate life. Luckily he won a scholarship to attend an art school. According to http://www.emek.net/, this helped him to be able to escape being forced to work in a plutonium mine. Little had he known, there wasn’t a good future for the artists that attended the school. If he had known, he probably would have reconsidered attending it in the first place. The alumni seemed to live a life of crime or were never heard from again, thus being unsuccessful in their careers. To escape the fate of his fellow classmates, he decided to take a risk and become a rock ‘n’ roll artist.

Emek’s artwork for Erykah Badu’s “New Amerykah: Part II (Return of the Ankn)” overtly emphasizes Badu herself as being reborn from wisdom. It shows vines sprouting out of the tree of knowledge. Noticeably, there is a level of symbolism that seems to be characterized with the number three; three moons, three hidden babies, three trees, and three ankhs. Closer inspection reveals that there are many objects surrounding the Mecca Badu’s shoulders. The objects are very political. For example, there are things like a foreclosed home, cigarettes, and a military tank, just to name a few. According to many, purple was the color of choice mainly because it represents the wisdom and raised consciousness of the crown Chakra. Purple is also the color of royalty as well. At the top of the metallic head, one may notice that there is a mini Badu coming out. She emerges out of the metal, armored body of her previous self, holding a tuning fork. Emek states, “She is wearing armor to protect her from the harsh realities of life. Her lyrics “out my mind, just in time,” inspired the concept of her climbing out of the old shell, fresh and innocent and powerful, and the tree of life is also growing from there.” He was inspired to draw her quite large because of the first track of the album, Twenty Feet Tall.

Looking at the cover from a graphic designer’s standpoint leaves one with a “what the hell?” kind of feeling. How could Emek even come up with something like this? The imagery is beautiful, colorful, psychedelic, and a little peculiar, but has the same vibe as her songs. It is an album that one may pick up at a CD store and gaze at for a long time. There is so much to take in when one looks at it. The meaning can be easily misinterpreted. Emek makes this collision of the organic vs. the mechanical world. He also adds wit, social commentary and fantasy in his works. All of his posters and CD covers are hand drawn and then painted or digitally painted. In this new digital age, album covers are becoming an lost art. However, this artwork would make one want to buy the album based on this interesting imagery. Before Emek comes up with his drawings, he listens to the album intensely. Listening to the Badu album, he drew this cover to be more personal then political. Even the smallest details contain messages. Emek states, “Both Erykah and I were raised without a TV in our house, we grew up on record cover art.” An artist as bold as Erykah who is willing to take the risks she does definitely needs the armor Emek has drawn for her.

posted by Sara Hunt @ 10:51 AM