Lil Durk - Almost Healed | ALBUM COVER REVIEW
ENTRY 28: durk's bloody renaissance
Durk’s career renaissance has been one of the biggest in recent memory, and despite his music not fully following suit, this new cover of his shows some artistic evolution.
The Album Cover
Almost Healed is Lil Durk’s eighth studio album, and his career-long visual output has been choppy at best.
When placing this new cover in context, it’s easily his best.
The first two are truly atrocious and completely frozen in their time period. STTS3 from 2018 picks up the slack a bit, I do like this style of rap cover if I’m honest. It’s super simple and dark, and most times compliments the music on the record. His 2020’s visual run is not the best. Despite the nice floating head treatment, JCYW2 ends up looking like a cheap early Instagram filter, and 7220’s extremely lo-res baby photo looks so rushed. There are so many ways to upscale a lo-res photo, ways that even add visual interest in the process. Print it out and scan it back in a few times, add some tasteful grain, etc.
All of those gripes aside, the Almost Healed cover stands out regardless of his past covers’ inconsistent quality.
Thematically, this photo shows a pained and broken Durk, someone who has lost many friends in this life, and hopes to grieve those losses. It ties in with the title and shows that he’s hopefully on his way to a more whole self, looking to heal those scars that this dangerous and violent lifestyle left him.
The cover was shot by Nabil Elderkin, a veteran photographer in the space. His credit list is absolutely stacked, having shot for Kanye, the Weeknd, Bon Iver and Frank Ocean, just to name a few.
Nabil’s photo here for Durk is crazy technically sound, it’s really some great work. If you look very closely, you’ll see the extremely subtle range in depth of field from just his neck and chest area up to the eyes. The eyes and face being in perfect tack-sharp focus, as the main focal point, and his chest being ever so slightly blurry. It’s superbly done on the Nabil’s part, and really draws you in to this intimate and wounded shot.
The choice to have the photo on a white backdrop was great, as it strips back the setting, bringing even more centre focus on Durk’s obstructed expression. Even though we do just see his blood-filled eye, it manages to still be such an expressive portrait, which is even more of a testament to the quality Nabil can pull from his subjects.
Assuming it wasn’t practically done, “ALMOST HEALED” written out in blood across his bandage was a great creative decision on the designer’s part. His name is written out in the same way across his neck bandage, and I’m honestly so glad this is how they rendered the type. For me, it was either doing the type this way, or having none at all.
I do wish the parental sticker was bigger though. I’ve come around on them as a whole, and now loving Griselda’s visual language so much, I wish more artists would recognise their potential as a graphic addition rather than a box to tick.
Now, listening to the album is a whole separate thing. I’m mixed on it, leaning positive as of now, but I have seen some slightly underwhelming reviews across the internet so far. This cover seems to fit the themes of an uplifting track like All My Life (feat. J. Cole), but it seems to stray from those vibes pretty quickly, and devolves back into the violent street stories that he is apparently trying to heal from.
Similarities to Slime Season 4
I’ve seen some people comparing this cover to Slime Season 4 by Young Thug. The colour palette is almost identical, the composition is extremely similar, and of course the bloody bandages paired with the bloody eye focal point is pretty familiar. While it may have been an inspiration, I don’t think this is any kind of rip off. Having a close-up shoulder height portrait is nothing new for album covers, and this composition simply works best for Durk’s get-up.
How are you guys feeling about the cover? It’s definitely Lil Durk’s most professional and seemingly high budget one so far, and feels like it’s taken the most care in execution. Let me know in the comments!
Solid artwork, and I agree about the parental advisory graphic!
Do you think the diamonds in hair could be a subtle juxtaposition to the whole story being told by the photo, or just a flex?
Also, on a petty note, I cannot unsee the other eye on his chest. Especially when his eye is a big part of the artwork.
Agreed - eye catching cover that will still look powerful in the next decades