A Conversation With Rome Fortune Through Album Artwork

Rome Fortune, usually as prolific as anyone in his home city of Atlanta, slowed down in preparation for the release of his debut album, Jerome Raheem Fortune, which arrived today on Fool's Gold Records, the Brooklyn-based independent label that has long mitigated the divide between genres, especially hip-hop and electronic. 

Jerome Raheem Fortune is both of those and much more. Each of the three singles he unveiled, beginning with October's "Dance," has revealed a new layer to his artistic vision. "Blicka Blicka," which premiered on Beats 1 earlier this week, finds Rome rapping boastfully -- though about his ability to withstand industry pigeonholing and to achieve success whilst remaining himself, his blue (or green, depending on the season) beard and red cowboy boots in tact. 

For years now, Rome has been known for his visual aesthetic, and not just for the fashion on his person. The artwork he's put out alongside his music has always been immediately striking and thought-provoking. Viewing each of his mixtape and EP covers alongside each other, they also reveal a progression on how Rome has grown as an artist. 

We decided to use the artwork associated with Rome as a starting point to have him recall his journey through the Beautiful Pimp series, which earned him name recognition, to Jerome Raheem Fortune, the release he feels presents him most fully and honestly as a subject. 

Purchase Jerome Raheem Fortune here. 

Beautiful Pimp was the tape that really got Rome's naming buzzing outside of Atlanta. He was already hot in his hometown thanks to his first few releases, including a joint tape with Ceej of Two-9, and he was thus able to recruit an exciting group of producers to appear on Beautiful Pimp, including Dun Deal, DJ Spinz, Childish Major, and C4. 

Recorded at a time when Rome was transitioning from a life of hustling to one of music, much of Beautiful Pimp is focused on the trap. It's immediately clear that Rome's artistry, as well as his sound, is much different than that of most trap artists, though there are many similarities content-wise. Rome was still spending time in the trap as well as the strip club -- now because that's where his records were being broken. 

The cover art shows Rome sitting in front of a set of lockers, presumably within a strip club, as right behind him stands a stripper with her back to the camera. In Rome's lap is his then-newborn son, Carter. "At the time I was doing what I had to do, and I was doing that for my sons," said Rome. "So that's pretty much what it was: a representation of, like, you gotta do dirt to protect the purity."  

The cover to Beautiful Pimp II also features a stripper, and, again, it shows Rome with his son Carter in his lap. The background, as well as Rome's attire, is all white, and the entire shot goes for a modern, sterile aesthetic. The layout is similar to the cover of the first Beautiful Pimp, though this time, it's as though Rome has immersed himself in the "purity" that he described as being the end goal of BP1. 

"It's like I was still around and involved in the things I was involved with with on BP1, but it was just like things were becoming better. The progression was getting better, and I was starting to live a better life," said Rome of the BPII artwork. "It's still a little bit gritty, but it's coming up a little bit." 

Notice on this cover one can actually see the woman's face, instead of just her backside. Rome was still frequenting strip clubs at this point in his music career, when the future was beginning to look bright, but he would go in with a different outlook than he had during the time of BP1. "I would go to like Strokers, Pin-Ups, and Kamal's. You know, the places where you can really chill with a stripper and play pool with her...So I felt like I had to go get one [for BP2], so I got her from Kamal's. The other one was from Magic City on Beautiful Pimp 1."  

Drive, Thighs & Lies, which dropped two months after Beautiful Pimp II, is entirely produced by Dun Deal, the man behind Atlanta smashes like "Stoner" and "Hannah Montana." Rome felt some of his fans were disappointed that Beautiful Pimp II didn't have the same club accessibility as its predecessor. Thus, he put together a quick 6-song EP to prove he still had his finger right on the pulse of the Atlanta trap sound. 

"People were expecting an exact replica of the first Beautiful Pimp," said Rome of BP2. "So it was like people didn't understand...So I was like, 'Fuck! Alright. Let me release something and let people know that I know what's up.' In hindsight it did good things for me too, but we could have rode the wave of Beautiful Pimp 2 longer...that shit is good ass music." 

Drive, Thighs & Lies is the first of Rome's releases that didn't include photographic cover art, though its artwork does put a picture of a voluptuous naked woman through a black-and-white kaleidoscope. Her lower half appears in a box at the center of the cover, and to the right and left of the figure are two eyes, presumably belonging to Rome. The abstract art suggests that though Drive, Thighs & Lies will be something familiar -- something fans will gobble up, it's still going to be a product of the unique imagination of Rome Fortune. 

Small VVorld, Rome's third project of 2014, boasts the most visually arresting artwork of all his releases. Indeed, there were few album covers in 2014 that garnered more attention than that of Small VVorld. Rome is shown lying in a cramped bathtub with his right index finger to his temple and his left arm wrapped around the chest of a naked woman, whom Rome happened to be dating at the time of the shoot. 

The shot is lit up with a portentous red glow, which happened to come from the same neon "II" sign shown on the BP2 cover. Seeing the deadpan gaze the nude couple directs at the camera, one might not notice the immediate foreground -- an extended black-sleeved arm holding a pistol, aimed right between Rome's eyes. 

"Pretty much what the cover represents is a small proximity between success and downfall, you know what I’m saying? That's just me enjoying the life, not even noticing [the gun]." 

The title also refers to the "small world" between the different genres that are seamlessly bridged by Rome on Small VVorld. There are a variety of different producers on the album, though almost none of them traditionally make rap beats. Instead, Small VVorld finds Rome collaborating with Blood Diamonds (frequent producer for Grimes) and Four Tet, a U.K. legend of indie-electronica. 

Whether introspective ("One Time For") or unabashedly X-rated ("5 Second Rule"), the whole project rings with a visceral energy. He's sounding more inspired than ever before, though part of that is because he's come to terms with the unpredictable and often evanescent nature of a career in music, and of life in general. 

Two years after his breakout mixtape, Rome Fortune is finally ready to release his debut album, the title of which is simply his full name: Jerome Raheem Fortune. The album isn't intended to be a celebration of himself -- or maybe it is, but only because it provides a full, oftentimes painful portrait of its subject, warts and all. 

The lead single is the Kaytranada-produced "Dance," on which Rome, with some gentle auto-tune, sings, "I just wanna dance, so I don't have to think about, the things I think about." It's a light, house-y record that absolutely lives up to its title. The song immerses the listener in Rome's artistry, though it remains on the surface of his persona -- which has been the case for much of his previous material. Fans know he has a unique style and that he brings a wide range of emotions to his music. Now it's time for Rome to show them why -- to explore, sometimes against his own intuition, those things he thinks about. 

Accordingly, Rome begins the soul-bearing process on "Love," the second single, produced by the New York-based, North Carolina-hailing artist known as Cubby, the executive producer of Jerome Raheem Fortune, whom Rome hopes to give significant exposure with his new album. "It's about my sons," Rome says of "Love." "It's like all the perceptions people think you are as a rapper." 

Rome has never been shy about his imperfections, and nor is he here. Though, his shortcomings end up being eclipsed by the pure love he expresses to his sons, even if he's still not sure if he's deserving of the love that's reciprocated. That love, which he's still amazed by, is the reason he keeps going: "Because I wanna end it all sometimes / My career and even ending my life / I could never when I look in your eyes and see your..." Fans have long known the artist; they now, finally, get to meet the man. 

The Jerome Raheem Fortune cover shows an eye-catching yellow portrait of Rome in the process of covering his face and upper-body with an emergency fire blanket. It's no accident he's draped in "reflective" material. On his debut album, Rome brings his whole being into the spotlight, and through his music, he's able to reflect that light back at many different angles -- detailed and painful, but, ultimately, bright and brilliant. 

"Everybody is going to be so surprised in a pleasant way. I'm so happy for people to hear it man. I haven't been this confident in anything I've ever done."