Album Art Analysis 5: J. Cole

Cole World: The Sideline Story is the debut studio album by American rapper J.Cole with the distribution from Sony Music, and designed by Alex Haldi which consists the music genre, Hip Hop. The first thing you notice is the colour scheme of black, gold and red. These colours have opposite connotations. Black can be associated with strength, power and authority, but it is more common for being the symbol of grief. Gold represents wealth and prestige and red signifys love and passion, but can also be betrayal and hatred. All these colours helps us with the true meaning of the album itself.
J. Cole has said that the reason for the title "The Sideline Story" is because he feels that since being signed to Jay-Z, it has been like someone being on the sidelines for their favourite basketball team, and they're just waiting until the coach puts them in. This links to the image of the album as we see the artist in a locker room. One could say that his life has been about hard work just to get off the bench and be in the lime light. He’s in Cole World where he’s trying to get off the bench which is a great metaphor for his ambitions in both basketball and the rap game. 
The artist is positioned in the centre of the frame which immediately draws our attention to him and the use of the medium shot allows the audience to not only see his facial expression, but everything around the artist as well.  
The use of light is significant as it looks as if the artist is in the middle of the light which could symbolise that he has got what it takes to shine.
The artists name- J. Cole- has contrasting images of the devil horns and a halo on the letters 'O' and 'E' which could suggest that the artist is not perfect which is also reflected on his music as there are songs where he has raised issues about abortion and pregnancy for example. The colour of the  artist name and title is white which stands out to the audience as it is contrasted with the dark background. This could suggest that the colour white represents the truth which people can see, and the darkness is the hidden truth which therefore again links to him not being perfect. 
Overall, what I like about this album cover is that it has deep meaning to it as it portrays certain aspects of J.Cole's life.