Illustration for Eminem’s “The Eminem Show” by Stephen Kroninger, July 4, 2002. Kroninger was inspired by the music video for the track “Without Me,” where Eminem parodies Batman pal Robin. “I was a huge Batman fan in the third grade . . . so I think a lot of it came out of that energy,” says Kroninger. “The style also came out of when I went to a lot of hip-hop clubs in the ’70s and ’80s . . . turntabling and sampling, translating that into a visual image.”
Stephan Kroninger
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Illustration for Beck’s “Modern Guilt” by Philip Burke, July 24, 2008. “I remember the music editor saying the album was ’60s psychedelic acid rock in feeling,” says Rolling Stone art director Joseph Hutchinson. “Hearing that immediately made me think of Philip Burke, who uses that trippy kind of approach to his portraiture, where people can be curved and wavy and bright colors are a hallmark.”
Philip Burke
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Illustration for Wyclef Jean’s “The Ecleftic: 2 Sides II a Book” by Edel Rodriguez, Aug. 3, 2000. Miller turned to the Cuban-born illustrator for this likeness of Haitian star Wyclef Jean – whose harmonica is among the items on display at the exhibit.
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Illustration for the Beastie Boys’ “To the Five Boroughs” by John Hendrix, July 8, 2004. Amid Capeci, Rolling Stone’s art director from 2004 to 2007, noted that the album, coming six years after the Beastie Boys’ previous release, felt like a real growing-up moment for the local band. “It [was] a bit of a valentine to New York,” he recalls. “There was this embrace of the city that they brought to the album. I remember [thinking] that this is our New York homegrown band, and they’re still taking over the city.”
