He had on so much shit -В long leather jackets and wristbandsвЂ¦ K.P. вЂњBefore 8701 came out, he looked like he was in The Matrix. The R&B star, who rocketed to fame after his sophomore album My Way, was experimenting with a new look for his third album, and it was not exactly working out. Usher was another star who DL worked with closely. But creatively they really pushed themselves, and I always thought their shit was dope.вЂќ DLвЂ™s sketch of Goodie MobвЂ™s Still Standing album art They were easy to work with - no egos or anything - but when you have to take four people and make one cover, itвЂ™s a little tough. вЂњVisually, working with those guys, they were drawn to things that were so unique, and it took a bit to make sense.

вЂњThat showed up in every OutKast and Goodie Mob photo shoot, to some degree.вЂќДL says he always had fun balancing the uniqueness of T-Mo, Khujo, Big Gipp and Ceelo, but their individualism made it a challenge on albums like Still Standing and World Party. Newton shot, with the wicker chair,вЂќ he remembers with a laugh. вЂњEverybody always wanted to do the Huey P. He then hired Dungeon Family poet Big Rube to write the story for the comic book.ДЄ post shared by Discover Atlanta fans know, Goodie Mob and OutKast, both members of the venerated Dungeon Family, were similar in nature but very different in approach and style.В And many times there would be crossover from what Goodie Mob liked and wanted to execute, and what OutKast liked. I wouldnвЂ™t say he didnвЂ™t want to be involved in the project, but he was just letting us cook.вЂќДL brought in an outside illustrator who had worked with Spawn creator Todd McFarland to collaborate with members of his team, who handled coloring and other aspects. was more classy and traditional,вЂќ DL says. DL took it to L.A., and suggested a comic book for the CD booklet, and L.A. Big Boi and Andre 3000 walked into their shared office one day having figured out what they wanted the title of the album to be. They might have sketches of concepts, but it wasnвЂ™t usually thematic.вЂќ DLвЂ™s original concept sketch of the ATLiens album coverДL says that he and his staff in the LaFace creative department were reading a lot of comic books around the time OutKast was wrapping up the recording of ATLiens. вЂњItвЂ™s not often an artist has an idea of what they want the cover to be. ReidвЂ™s trust allowed him to visually articulate ideas for certain acts, particularly OutKast, which led to DL sketching what would become the groupвЂ™s award-winning, comic-book-inspired cover for their sophomore album, ATLiens. Some of the labelвЂ™s artists had free-flowing creative expression, he says, so the approval process was easier. That was probably the most challenging aspect.вЂќ Sometimes it was tough to get them on the same page about visual presentation because the label would have its own vision. вЂњA lot of the time I was a middleman between the record label and its artists,вЂќ he says. And being an artist at heart, DL says that many times he was more than just a creative, he was also a negotiator, because unlike the politics of a signed artist dealing with executives, there was no adversity between the creative department and LaFaceвЂ™s stars. The tagline on the package read вЂњHire DL WARFIELD for the job or else.вЂќ People around the LaFace offices at the time saw it and said вЂњDL Warfield is the bomb.вЂќ It was the вЂ90s.Дuring the half-decade that DL ran the creative department at LaFace, he and his team of designers generated visual packaging, styling and other creative ideas that would help make some of the biggest stars in the world shine, and still stand today as classic artistic representations of classic hip-hop and R&B albums.ДЇrom Goodie Mob to OutKast, from Pink to TLC, and for many other superstar musical acts, it was DL who oversaw much of what LaFace wanted the public to see and believe. So he sent his portfolio, but in a package made to look like an explosive. In 1995 he heard about a job opening for a creative director at LaFace, and he wanted to make sure he got the attention of the companyвЂ™s founders, L.A. Louis native was already well on his way to a career as a designer, having worked as a fashion designer for the famous retail store Oak Tree in the late вЂ80s and early вЂ90s, as well as a fashion line for the hip-hop record label Tommy Boy in New York City. At least that was the creative message he wanted to send.

WarfieldвЂ™s career at AtlantaвЂ™s legendary LaFace Records began with a terrorist threat.

Atliens outkast album cover