Five year ago, Young Thug released his debut commercial mixtape, Barter 6. The cover art which showed Young Thug standing fully naked with a red background caused a lot of controversy at the time. According to Sandy Kim, the LA-based photographer who shot the cover photo, she had to show Young Thug her vision for him to commit to it.
“I asked him if he would be down to get naked and he was like, ‘Fuck no, I’m not getting naked, you get naked!’ Artists should totally be down to commit to the vision they’re asking for, so I got naked and then we shot it.” Sandy Kim told Complex in an April 2015 interview on Young Thug’s initial response.
Barter 6 was Sandy Kim’s first rap album cover shoot. She has since worked with Travis Scott, Childish Gambino, late Mobb Deep MC Prodigy, Kali Uchis and many more.