The album artwork depicts Dr. Dre in an unconventional style for a hip hop album. He is presented in a wealthy, old mansion setting surrounded by a gold-embroidered frame. This contrasts with the dark and explicit content of the songs. The lighting and backdrop emphasize that he has not been fully discovered yet as an artist. Through the ornate style, Dr. Dre presents himself as royalty in the rap world and amplifies his importance, though in an unconventional way for a hip hop album compared to typical depictions highlighting wealth through jewelry.

1. The general style of the image
depicted in the albums artwork is
rather unconventional for a Hip Hop
album. Although the artist, Dr. Dre,
has centered the attention to himself,
amplifying his star image, the way he
has done it is very unconventional.
He has set himself in a very posh,
wealthy mirror, or framework you
would see in an old mansion, or
possibly a wealthy home many years
ago. The style of the imagery strongly
contrasts the content of the album.
The image displayed of the artist
himself, within the frame of the
artwork, has many possible
connotational meanings. For
example, in the image, there is
darkness to one side, and light on the
other. The streaks of light on his face
suggest he is behind something,
emphasizing the idea he has not
been fully discovered yet. In setting
this image, he presents to his
audience that the music within the
album could relate to his more
underground music style, from before
he became the star.
The white color surrounding the frame Dr.
Dre is being presented in contrasts the
themes of the album. In the album, are a
number of very dark and swear heavy
songs. The color white often connotates
innocence, and purity, and it completely
contrasts the content of the album.
Similarly to the artwork on the cover,
the font of the album title and artist
name are rather unconventional to
the genre. He has written the title and
artist name in a very royal font,
amplifying his importance,
emphasizing how he has become
royalty in the rap world. The gold embroidery around the
frame Dr. Dre is presented in
amplifies the importance of the
photo. In other words, it amplifies
Dr. Dre’s personal star image,
presenting him as royalty.
Another feature in the album artwork
presenting a non conventional setting to the
music is the lack of “bling” on Dr. Dre. In a
conventional Hip Hop cover there would
ordinarily be the artist centered, with gold
jewelry amplifying their importance.