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The cover art Kanye West chose for Pusha T’s DAYTONA album isn’t sitting well with Whitney Houston’s family.
The image, which is a 2012 photo of Houston’s drug laden bathroom, has reportedly infuriated Houston’s cousin Damon Elliott. He told People Magazine he wasn’t aware of the album art until he got a call from his daughter.
“[She was] frantic,” Elliott said. “She sent me this picture from the album cover and I immediately got sick to my stomach because it took me right back to six years ago.”
The late pop icon passed away in 2012. According to the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office, Houston’s death was caused by drowning and the “effects of atherosclerotic heart disease and cocaine use.”
The image was a brutal reminder of the pain they felt finding out Houston was gone.
“I was actually in shock because I’m in the music business,” he said. “I’ve watched the train wreck happening, but I didn’t think he’d [West] go this far in invading someone’s family privacy. To do something for a publicity stunt to sell records, it’s absolutely disgusting. It hurt my family and my daughter. It’s petty. It’s tacky.”
“I just want him to tell me why he did it,” he added. “What is the creative side of this? What’s the point? It shows no creativity.”
Elliott said he reached out to his mother, legendary singer Dionne Warwick, to warn her before she stumble on it herself. He said he has yet to hear from Houston’s mother Cissy Houston.
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Elliott is demanding an apology from West and wants the cover art to be replaced by something else. If he gets a call from ‘Ye, he’s prepared with questions.
“What were you thinking?” he said. “Did you think this through? And if you did, why did you do this? Because you’re hurting people. It knocked the wind out of me last night. When someone passes, you try to mourn and move on and remember the good times.
“Why are you going to pay $85,000 to bring something to the forefront?”
In an interview with Angie Martinez, Pusha explained that West called him in the middle of the night and said he wanted to change the cover art. But the G.O.O.D. Music president didn’t want to pay the $85,000 it would cost to buy the photo. West then agreed to foot the bill.
Since DAYTONA’s Friday (May 25) release, the album has already stirred up plenty of controversy and sparked a seething diss track from Drake.
Source: Hip Hop DX
