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Game, Blouses: Ranking T...um Covers

Keith Murphy

Posted August 21, 2013

By now, Prince’s hilariously cheeky cover for his soulful sin...an Wait” has been making the rounds. The image, which shows Dave Chappelle dressed in all of the legendary music icon’s Purple Rain era glory while holding a plate of pancakes—a clip from the laugh-riot 2004 Chappelle’s Show skit, “Charlie Murphy’s True Hollywood Stories”—is brilliant stuff. Yet Prince, who has stormed the Twitter world with a vengeance as of late and is currently tearing up the concert st... Girl band, is no stranger to irreverent record art. VIBE presents Prince’s 15 Best Album Covers. Owww! —Keith Murphy (@murphdogg29).

15. Come (1994)

15. Come (1994)

This ominous cover doubled as a middle finger to longtime home Warner Bros. Back then, the Artist Formerly Known As Prince wanted out of his high profile contract with the behemoth label (Come was viewed as a deliberate attempt to get out of his recording deal) following battles over artistic freedom and masters ownership. And just in case fans didn’t get the message: There’s his Royal Badness standing in front of a Barcelona church with the cryptic words "Prince: 1958–1993.” Nice.

This ominous cover doubled as a middle finger to longtime home Warner Bros. Back then, the Artist Formerly Known As Prince wanted out of his high profile contract with the behemoth label (Come was viewed as a deliberate attempt to get out of his recording deal) following battles over artistic freedom and masters ownership. And just in case fans didn’t get the message: There’s his Royal Badness standing in front of a Barcelona church with the cryptic words "Prince: 1958–1993.” Nice.

13. 3121 (2006)

Simple, yet elegant. The No. 1 Billboard album continued Prince’s high-profile comeback run.

12. For You (1978)

Prince rocks an Afro for his one-man-band debut, a back-to-basics look that he seems quite comfortable with three decades later.

11. The Rainbow Children (2001)

Inspired by painter C’ Babi Bayoc’s work “Reine Keis Quintet,” this colorful statement evokes the jazz-influenced sound of this bold concept album.

10. Diamonds & Pearls (1991)

Prince has an eye for beautiful women. Who knew?

9. Controversy (1981)

The Rudeboy puts on some clothes for arguably his most political statement. Peep the gun control headline.

FTo see where Dirty Mind, Purple Rain, Sign O The Times and Lovesexy rank, go to:

http://www.vibe.com/photo-gallery/game-blouses-ranking-15-edgiest-prince-album-covers

[Edited 8/24/13 7:41am]

i wonder why the captioning stopped halfway through the countdown. glitch?

datdude said:

i wonder why the captioning stopped halfway through the countdown. glitch?

They show up for me?

Nice list, Murph. Don't know about "edgy" though.

TwiliteKid said:

datdude said:

i wonder why the captioning stopped halfway through the countdown. glitch?

They show up for me?

Nice list, Murph. Don't know about "edgy" though.

Thanks, homie...

That's just some editorial stuff...A way to get people to click....I didn't come up with it (basically).....

8. Prince (1979)
7. Parade
6. Sign "☮" The Times
5. Around The World In A Day

4. Purple Rain
3. Dirty Mind
2. 1999
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.
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1. Lovesexy

Se7en said:

How can For You have a "back to basics" cover when it's his debut album? [Edited 8/25/13 3:46am]

Why is water wet?

Bullshit...For You is the first time we see Prince's beautiful face and his talent so it deserves to be number one. total crap list, but it's vibe so that explains it.

nursev said:

Bullshit...For You is the first time we see Prince's beautiful face and his talent so it deserves to be number one. total crap list, but it's vibe so that explains it.

So let me get this straight....LoveSexy, Prince's most infamous, polarizing, talked about album cover goes no. 1 on a list that is more about celebrating the art of the album cover...And you are talking about how beautiful Prince's face is?

I love this place...lol

murph said:

nursev said:

Bullshit...For You is the first time we see Prince's beautiful face and his talent so it deserves to be number one. total crap list, but it's vibe so that explains it.

So let me get this straight....LoveSexy, Prince's most infamous, polarizing, talked about album cover goes no. 1 on a list that is more about celebrating the art of the album cover...And you are talking about how beautiful Prince's face is?

I love this place...lol

I meant that it's the first time we got to see the artistry of Prince's music and yes that includes his face-asshole!

nursev said:

murph said:

So let me get this straight....LoveSexy, Prince's most infamous, polarizing, talked about album cover goes no. 1 on a list that is more about celebrating the art of the album cover...And you are talking about how beautiful Prince's face is?

I love this place...lol

I meant that it's the first time we got to see the artistry of Prince's music and yes that includes his face-asshole!

Again...I love this place...The crazies never let u down here....lol

nursev said:

murph said:

So let me get this straight....LoveSexy, Prince's most infamous, polarizing, talked about album cover goes no. 1 on a list that is more about celebrating the art of the album cover...And you are talking about how beautiful Prince's face is?

I love this place...lol

I meant that it's the first time we got to see the artistry of Prince's music and yes that includes his face-asshole!

It's all a matter of taste so why get so upset?? And it's not Vibe who wrote it but murph, to be more specific. I don't understand how people can get upset over silly things...