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15 Best Marvel Hip Hop Variant Album Covers
3.8kshares
Hip-hop and comic books have long coincided in pop culture. Both have characters who conceal their identities with monikers, sport superhuman abilities (on the mic or otherwise), and, of course, result in some truly killer artwork. It’s a perfect well of iconography to pull from, so it’s no surprise that rappers and producers have taken direct influence from the pages of DC, Marvel, and anywhere else for decades. Marvel editor-in-chief Axel Alonso, says comics and hip hop “share a common narrative: they’re all about the underdogs struggling, striving and persevering against overwhelming odds.”
In an effort to codify this artistic kinship, Alonso and the studio have officially meshed the two worlds into one. Currently in the midst of its second wave, Marvel has re-imagined over 80 heroes with their own classic hip-hop album covers. “It’s about two creative art forms shouting out to each other,” Alonso told Fuse, “Hip hop is the backbeat for any number of people who are writing, drawing, and editing these comic books.” In addition to the vital role that music will play in the Luke Cage series, it’s safe to say Marvel is returning the favor tenfold.
Here are Screen Rant’s 15 Best Marvel Hip Hop Variant Album Covers.
SCREENRANT VIDEOSHOW IT WAS SHOT: 10 SHOCKING BEHIND THE SCENES SECRETSWATCH MORE ORIGINAL VIDEOS
VIEW ARTICLE ON ONE PAGE
15. LUKE CAGE – HARD
For Luke Cage showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker, the addition of hip hop elements was a no-brainer. The unbreakable brawler lent himself perfectly to the aura of rap culture, from his street-styled Carhartt and Timberlands to sharing the genre’s hometown: New York City. Coker also said that each of the Cage episodes would be titled after tracks from famed duo Gang Starr, while cameos from Raphael Saadiq, Faith Evans, and Method Man would further add street cred to the proceedings.
Given that Cage is an East Coast cat, and tracks from luminaries like Nas (“Made You Look”) and Ol’ Dirty b*stard (“Shimmy Shimmy Ya”) have popped up in the first two trailers, it seemed only fitting his Marvel cover be modeled after another NYC icon: LL Cool J. Perched atop a car to emulate LL’s 1987 album Bigger And Deffer, Cage sports his vintage attire while the word Bad becomes a far more menacing Hard. The cherry on top of artist Marco D’Alfonso’s cover, however, is the fact that Cage is bending the metal fence under his vice grip– a feat that even LL couldn’t match in his Kangol heyday.
14. BLACK WIDOW – BLACK WIDOW
Missy Elliott is not to be trifled with. From her earliest days in the group Sista to writing songs for Aaliyah, the rubber-mouthed MC has been in step with her male peers since day one. With that in mind, it’s no wonder Black Widow was selected to assume Missy’s mantle of Supa Dupa Fly. The 1997 album was a breakthrough for Elliott, as warped samples and outlandish music videos made it impossible to pin her musical identity down. Tracks like “The Rain” and “Friendly Skies” had little in common besides a laid-back sheen and high quality– and the ability to adapt, of course, which has always been one of Widow’s strengths.
As a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, Widow, born Natasha Romanova (or Romanoff), can manipulate and dupe nearly any of her peers regardless of strength or physical limitations. Even then,Widow couldn’t look more relaxed in Phil Noto’s cover art, and the titular fly in Supa Dupahas been replaced, fittingly, with a black widow spider. If we had to guess a favorite track for the constantly on-call crime fighter, we’d say “Beep Me 911.”
13. DEADPOOL – PSYCHO
Deadpool has been a particular favorite of the Marvel Variant Series. He’s been Ill with an homage to Bun B’s Trill (2005) album, and turned Pimp C’s The Naked Soul of Sweet Jones(2010) into The Deep Pockets of Wade Wilson. All UGK antics aside, however, the Merc with a Mouth cracks this list with a brilliant take on Wale’s 2009 debut Attention Deficit. The original cover, depicting a kid in front of a TV-ridden store, captures the scattered, hi-definition insanity that comes with its titular affliction. For Deadpool, of course, the revised cover takes on a deeper, decidedly less stable context.
Rocking headphones and a pack that swaps pens and pencils for grenades and rifles, Wade (as he’s credited) is overloaded with screens of his own masked image. The word Psycho fills out the frame, as artist Kaare Andrews blends the cynicism and naiveté that makes this anti-hero tick. Whether Deadpool would dig Wale’s entire album remains to be seen, but he’d probably vibe to “Chillin” during a workout or the next time he’s coloring.
12. WOLVERINE – OLD MAN LOGAN
Old Man Logan (2008-09) shoots readers fifty years into a future where villains have taken over the United States. Heroes have been long-erased, while the few that remain, like Logan, live in hiding with their families. Money is scarce, landlords are brutal, and the only choice Logan gets thrown his way is of the illegal variety– the downside of repressing his Wolverine persona. The storyline is a bleak account of a society gone savage, and author Mark Millar’s vision serves as the comic book equivalent to Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven (1992).
Fittingly, the salty aggressor also gets saddled with one of rap’s most notorious verbal brawlers: Ice Cube. The former N.W.A. rapper, a stint comparable to Wolverine and his X-Men days, went right for the throat with Death Certificate (1991)– an album that attacked the desperate measures one must take to survive in the ghetto. In Tim Bradstreet’s Marvel re-imagining, Logan stands above a toe-tagged corpse. However, the corpse is not Uncle Sam, as is the case with Cube’s cover, but his own, as he embraces the savagery of Wolverine and never looks back.
11. SPIDER-MAN – MILES
Reaction may have been mixed in 2011, but Miles Morales has proven to be a success among modern Marvel fans. The Brooklyn native came from a wildly varied background than his predecessor, with an African-American father, a Puerto Rican mother, and an initial ambivalence towards crime fighting. In the wake of Peter Parker’s death, however, Morales answered the call and took over the Spider-Man mantle for the studio’s Ultimate Marvel imprint. This webslinger distinction was furthered by writer Brian Michael Bendis, who gave Morales a criminal complex that spawned from his jailbird uncle Aaron.
The same internal struggles are front-and-center on Nas’ 1994 masterpiece Illmatic. Raised across the bridge in Queens, the MC born Nasir Jones was an old soul in teen form; spitting his experiences through intimate details and multi-syllabic displays. Like Morales, Nas came from a childhood of shady role models, and the disillusion that peppers tracks like “One Love” and “Memory Lane” splashes both album covers with the authenticity of a bumpy subway ride. Marvel’s interpretation of Illmatic was created by Adi Granov.
10. ANT-MAN – THE ASTONISHING A.N.T.
Even before his untimely demise, The Notorious B.I.G. was larger than life. From record sales and critical acclaim to hits like “Juicy” and “Big Poppa”, the Brooklyn baritone was a Swiss Army MC– able to destroy any opponent (or beat) in his path. This is a skillset, funnily enough, that Biggie shares with his appointed Marvel counterpart, Ant-Man. The sizable superhero may be a polar opposite in name, but his unique abilities enable him to take on foes towering in presence and minuscule in molecules. And like Biggie, Ant-Man, AKA Scott Lang, rose to prominence after a lengthy criminal career.
Biggie’s debut Ready to Die (1994) was a startling account of such a lifestyle, while a naive, afro-ed infant sat iconically in the center of the cover art. In Mark Brooks’ version for Marvel, of course, the small B.I.G. is transformed into a tiny Ant-Man, complete with the tongue-in-cheek title Ready to Shrink perched beneath him. Complete with ‘The Astonishing A.N.T.’ moniker to drive things home, this witty remake works on so many levels that we hope to get a Life After Pym follow-up sooner than later.
- By Danilo Castro
- 09.30.2016
- 5 Comments
3.8kshares
Hip-hop and comic books have long coincided in pop culture. Both have characters who conceal their identities with monikers, sport superhuman abilities (on the mic or otherwise), and, of course, result in some truly killer artwork. It’s a perfect well of iconography to pull from, so it’s no surprise that rappers and producers have taken direct influence from the pages of DC, Marvel, and anywhere else for decades. Marvel editor-in-chief Axel Alonso, says comics and hip hop “share a common narrative: they’re all about the underdogs struggling, striving and persevering against overwhelming odds.”
In an effort to codify this artistic kinship, Alonso and the studio have officially meshed the two worlds into one. Currently in the midst of its second wave, Marvel has re-imagined over 80 heroes with their own classic hip-hop album covers. “It’s about two creative art forms shouting out to each other,” Alonso told Fuse, “Hip hop is the backbeat for any number of people who are writing, drawing, and editing these comic books.” In addition to the vital role that music will play in the Luke Cage series, it’s safe to say Marvel is returning the favor tenfold.
Here are Screen Rant’s 15 Best Marvel Hip Hop Variant Album Covers.
SCREENRANT VIDEOSHOW IT WAS SHOT: 10 SHOCKING BEHIND THE SCENES SECRETSWATCH MORE ORIGINAL VIDEOS
VIEW ARTICLE ON ONE PAGE
15. LUKE CAGE – HARD
For Luke Cage showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker, the addition of hip hop elements was a no-brainer. The unbreakable brawler lent himself perfectly to the aura of rap culture, from his street-styled Carhartt and Timberlands to sharing the genre’s hometown: New York City. Coker also said that each of the Cage episodes would be titled after tracks from famed duo Gang Starr, while cameos from Raphael Saadiq, Faith Evans, and Method Man would further add street cred to the proceedings.
Given that Cage is an East Coast cat, and tracks from luminaries like Nas (“Made You Look”) and Ol’ Dirty b*stard (“Shimmy Shimmy Ya”) have popped up in the first two trailers, it seemed only fitting his Marvel cover be modeled after another NYC icon: LL Cool J. Perched atop a car to emulate LL’s 1987 album Bigger And Deffer, Cage sports his vintage attire while the word Bad becomes a far more menacing Hard. The cherry on top of artist Marco D’Alfonso’s cover, however, is the fact that Cage is bending the metal fence under his vice grip– a feat that even LL couldn’t match in his Kangol heyday.
14. BLACK WIDOW – BLACK WIDOW
Missy Elliott is not to be trifled with. From her earliest days in the group Sista to writing songs for Aaliyah, the rubber-mouthed MC has been in step with her male peers since day one. With that in mind, it’s no wonder Black Widow was selected to assume Missy’s mantle of Supa Dupa Fly. The 1997 album was a breakthrough for Elliott, as warped samples and outlandish music videos made it impossible to pin her musical identity down. Tracks like “The Rain” and “Friendly Skies” had little in common besides a laid-back sheen and high quality– and the ability to adapt, of course, which has always been one of Widow’s strengths.
As a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, Widow, born Natasha Romanova (or Romanoff), can manipulate and dupe nearly any of her peers regardless of strength or physical limitations. Even then,Widow couldn’t look more relaxed in Phil Noto’s cover art, and the titular fly in Supa Dupahas been replaced, fittingly, with a black widow spider. If we had to guess a favorite track for the constantly on-call crime fighter, we’d say “Beep Me 911.”
13. DEADPOOL – PSYCHO
Deadpool has been a particular favorite of the Marvel Variant Series. He’s been Ill with an homage to Bun B’s Trill (2005) album, and turned Pimp C’s The Naked Soul of Sweet Jones(2010) into The Deep Pockets of Wade Wilson. All UGK antics aside, however, the Merc with a Mouth cracks this list with a brilliant take on Wale’s 2009 debut Attention Deficit. The original cover, depicting a kid in front of a TV-ridden store, captures the scattered, hi-definition insanity that comes with its titular affliction. For Deadpool, of course, the revised cover takes on a deeper, decidedly less stable context.
Rocking headphones and a pack that swaps pens and pencils for grenades and rifles, Wade (as he’s credited) is overloaded with screens of his own masked image. The word Psycho fills out the frame, as artist Kaare Andrews blends the cynicism and naiveté that makes this anti-hero tick. Whether Deadpool would dig Wale’s entire album remains to be seen, but he’d probably vibe to “Chillin” during a workout or the next time he’s coloring.
12. WOLVERINE – OLD MAN LOGAN
Old Man Logan (2008-09) shoots readers fifty years into a future where villains have taken over the United States. Heroes have been long-erased, while the few that remain, like Logan, live in hiding with their families. Money is scarce, landlords are brutal, and the only choice Logan gets thrown his way is of the illegal variety– the downside of repressing his Wolverine persona. The storyline is a bleak account of a society gone savage, and author Mark Millar’s vision serves as the comic book equivalent to Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven (1992).
Fittingly, the salty aggressor also gets saddled with one of rap’s most notorious verbal brawlers: Ice Cube. The former N.W.A. rapper, a stint comparable to Wolverine and his X-Men days, went right for the throat with Death Certificate (1991)– an album that attacked the desperate measures one must take to survive in the ghetto. In Tim Bradstreet’s Marvel re-imagining, Logan stands above a toe-tagged corpse. However, the corpse is not Uncle Sam, as is the case with Cube’s cover, but his own, as he embraces the savagery of Wolverine and never looks back.
11. SPIDER-MAN – MILES
Reaction may have been mixed in 2011, but Miles Morales has proven to be a success among modern Marvel fans. The Brooklyn native came from a wildly varied background than his predecessor, with an African-American father, a Puerto Rican mother, and an initial ambivalence towards crime fighting. In the wake of Peter Parker’s death, however, Morales answered the call and took over the Spider-Man mantle for the studio’s Ultimate Marvel imprint. This webslinger distinction was furthered by writer Brian Michael Bendis, who gave Morales a criminal complex that spawned from his jailbird uncle Aaron.
The same internal struggles are front-and-center on Nas’ 1994 masterpiece Illmatic. Raised across the bridge in Queens, the MC born Nasir Jones was an old soul in teen form; spitting his experiences through intimate details and multi-syllabic displays. Like Morales, Nas came from a childhood of shady role models, and the disillusion that peppers tracks like “One Love” and “Memory Lane” splashes both album covers with the authenticity of a bumpy subway ride. Marvel’s interpretation of Illmatic was created by Adi Granov.
10. ANT-MAN – THE ASTONISHING A.N.T.
Even before his untimely demise, The Notorious B.I.G. was larger than life. From record sales and critical acclaim to hits like “Juicy” and “Big Poppa”, the Brooklyn baritone was a Swiss Army MC– able to destroy any opponent (or beat) in his path. This is a skillset, funnily enough, that Biggie shares with his appointed Marvel counterpart, Ant-Man. The sizable superhero may be a polar opposite in name, but his unique abilities enable him to take on foes towering in presence and minuscule in molecules. And like Biggie, Ant-Man, AKA Scott Lang, rose to prominence after a lengthy criminal career.
Biggie’s debut Ready to Die (1994) was a startling account of such a lifestyle, while a naive, afro-ed infant sat iconically in the center of the cover art. In Mark Brooks’ version for Marvel, of course, the small B.I.G. is transformed into a tiny Ant-Man, complete with the tongue-in-cheek title Ready to Shrink perched beneath him. Complete with ‘The Astonishing A.N.T.’ moniker to drive things home, this witty remake works on so many levels that we hope to get a Life After Pym follow-up sooner than later.
