Dave's Celeb News: Kanye West Says Twisted Fantasy Will Have Five Different Covers

Wednesday 20 October 2010

Kanye West Says Twisted Fantasy Will Have Five Different Covers

Rapper says first cover image of a winged woman straddling him represents artist's 'truest vision.'
By James Montgomery, with reporting by Kara Warner

Kanye West at the "Runaway" premiere
Photo: Kevin Winter/ Getty Images

Kanye West has such clout that he was able to create an industry-wide kerfuffle with one image: the supposedly "banned" cover art of his My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy album. But the controversy over that cover is just the tip of the iceberg. Because, as he told MTV News on Monday night at the Los Angeles premiere of his "Runaway" film, he's not planning to stop with just one cover.

"Well, actually, it's five covers," West said. "And you get all five of them when you buy the album."

West wouldn't reveal what the other covers would look like, or if artist (and frequent collaborator) George Condo would be creating them. But he did discuss the process behind the now-infamous Fantasy artwork, which portrays the rapper being straddled on a couch by a naked, armless, winged woman with a polka-dot tail. According to West, he wasn't aiming to create a controversy with the image; rather, he just went to Condo with a basic idea and was blown away by the result.

"I told [Condo] I wanted a phoenix, and that's what he came up with. And what I love about it is, both me and George express ourselves with our truest vision, not based on what society or culture feels is right, but what's truly in our heart," West said. "And I just know if George was in my class back when I was in kindergarten, and he came up with something like that, I would've been envious, like, 'Man, how did you come up with that character with no arms and the wings, man? That's cool!' ... And it's simply like that. I just really love the colors. I thought the colors were just amazing, and the imagery was amazing. I thought it was a cool, awesome cover."

What do you think of Kanye's take on the album cover? Let us know in the comments!

Kanye West's "Runaway" will premiere on Saturday at 8 p.m. ET on MTV, MTV2 and BET, and will also stream live on MTV.com, BET.com and VH1.com, followed by a live Q&A session on MTV.

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