"Watch the Throne" Cover Artist Speaks

Ricardo Tisci, designer for fashion house Givenchy, designed the distinctive album cover for Jay-Z and Kanye West's Watch the Throne; and he shared his gratitude at being tapped for the high-profile project. He also revealed some of the inspiration behind his work on the cover.

The artwork throughout the album is striking, and Tisci utilized several shapes, religious symbols and animal faces for the artwork.

"I am honored to have been asked to be part of this incredible music moment with such amazing artists," Riccardo Tisci told AllHipHop. "I am impressed by the amount of respect they have for music and art. We share the same way of working : like a family."

Tisci also stated that he wanted the artwork to symbolize the “masculinity of two of the most iconic rap figures of our time."

"Watch the Throne" Cover Art Revealed

The cover art for the highly-anticipated Jay-Z/Kanye West collaborative album Watch the Throne has been revealed. The sleeve was designed by Riccardo Tisci, the creative director at Givenchy.

The album's official release date has also been announced. Watch the Throne is due to hit stores on August 2nd.

The standard album package will feature 10 songs and the deluxe will include an additional four. The production will be handled by Kanye, Swizz Beatz, No I.D and Jay-Z himself.

Beyonce On Beyonce

Beyonce recently opened up about...well...herself...in a series of short interviews asked by designers Tom Ford, Riccardo Tisci, Stefano Pilati and Gareth Pugh. She shared quite a bit about her mindset and view of herself.

"I used to be very shy. I don’t think I’m shy any more," Beyonce told Tom Ford. "I get really uncomfortable when I’m not performing on the stage or on a photo shoot and have too many people looking at me expecting a performance. It make me kind of shut down and become shy. I’m happier to talk to people and try to learn something from them. I’m better at one-on-one conversations. I do become shy and a bit intimidated when it’s a large group of people, I definitely retreat. At a big dinner I just hope that no one expects anything from me. I wish I’d disappear."