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I'm a 90s baby so I remember the days of going to the store to buy actual cassettes and CDs to listen to the music that was played on the radio. I would sneak away from my parents while they shopped just to listen and see the latest and greatest releases. In these days, each album would come with a "personal" letter, photo-story or poster of your favorite artist with the creative direction and arts they were pushing. Whether it was Lil Kim's raunchy poster from the Hardcore album or a photo story from the late Aaliyah's, One In A Million "unboxing" the album and discovering everything it had to offer was part of the overall experience! However, with the transition into digital streams and the decline of cassette and CD distributions, these little gems have become a thing of the past.
Most recently I was listening to Nicki Minaj's 2021 rerelease of her iconic mixtape Beam Me Up Scotty mixtape (iconic, by the way) when I noticed something cool! The flying saucers on the outer space-themed album art were actually moving! After a few moments and the realization that I wasn't seeing things, I realized that the entire cover art was actually animated ... who would've thought!? According to NME, Apple Music added the exclusive feature with the ios 14.3 update back in December of 2020 in order to enhance the listener's experience. This sent me into a frenzy of going through my Apple library to discover who else had an animated cover. To my surprise there's a bunch of them - some better than others! Check out the list below:
Nicki Minaj - Beam Me Up Scotty
Justin Bieber - Justice
Juice WRLD - Legends Never Die
Megan Thee Stallion - Good News
The Weeknd - After Hours
Bad Bunny - YHLQMDLG
Big Sean - Detroit 2
Nas - King Disease 2
K Camp - Float 2
Vince Staples - Vince Staples
Doja Cat - Planet Her
Beyonce - Lemonade
Now I understand, these are tiny features in comparison to actual Lil Kim poster but I like to appreciate these albums all the way through! If you don't know, now you know! What do you think and do you know of any other animated album covers in your Apple library!? Hit me up on IG @BennettKnows!