If you walked into a record store in 2015 and looked for Tyler, The Creator’s fourth studio album, you might have been genuinely lost. There wasn't just one face staring back at you. Instead, there were five. Five different cherry bomb album covers that made the physical release feel like a scavenger hunt. It was messy. It was loud. Honestly, it was a bit of a nightmare for collectors who didn't want to drop a hundred bucks to own every variation.
Tyler Okonma has always been obsessed with the visual side of things, but Cherry Bomb was different. It was his transition point. He was moving away from the dark, edgy "Goblin" era and heading toward the colorful, sophisticated world of Flower Boy. But in the middle of that shift, we got this jagged, distorted project. The covers perfectly reflected that chaos.
The Mainstream Version: The Piss Pants
Most people recognize the "primary" cover. It’s a low-angle shot of someone wearing pale blue chinos with a massive, dark wet stain right at the crotch. It’s gross. It’s funny. It is incredibly Tyler.
The person in the photo isn’t actually Tyler; it’s his friend and fellow designer, Lucas Vercetti. This choice sparked a lot of debate back then. Why put your friend’s crotch on your album cover? Basically, Tyler wanted to capture a specific feeling of "gross-out" humor that defined early Odd Future. It was a middle finger to the polished, high-fashion aesthetic that was starting to take over hip-hop at the time.
This specific cover was used for the digital release on iTunes and streaming services. If you see it on Spotify today, this is usually the one you're looking at. It captures the DIY, punk-rock spirit of the music—distorted, uncomfortable, and impossible to ignore.
The Hand-Drawn "Chur Bum" Aesthetic
Then there’s the drawing. You know the one—the crude, vibrant sketch of a character with a "Cherry Bomb" head, wearing a striped shirt and a hat. It looks like it was done with a Sharpie and some cheap markers in the back of a high school classroom.
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This wasn't an accident or a lack of budget. Tyler actually drew this himself. It’s often referred to as the "Chur Bum" cover because of the stylized lettering. This version was the "deluxe" or "special edition" cover for many physical retailers. It’s probably the most iconic piece of branding from the era, eventually appearing on a mountain of Golf Wang merchandise.
What’s interesting is how this drawing contrasts with the music. While the tracks are heavy with synthesizers and distorted drums, the drawing is bright and playful. It represents the "childlike wonder" Tyler often talks about in interviews. He isn't trying to be a "serious artist" here; he's just a kid with a marker.
The Photography and the Scraps
Beyond the "Piss Pants" and the drawing, the other cherry bomb album covers leaned heavily into raw photography. One features Tyler himself with a cigarette in his mouth, wearing a Golf Le Fleur hat and those signature thick-rimmed glasses. It’s a tight close-up. It feels personal, almost like a 1970s jazz record cover but filtered through a distorted, modern lens.
Another version shows a grainy, overexposed shot of Tyler’s face partially obscured by a shadow. These weren't just random photos taken on an iPhone. Tyler worked closely with photographers like Phil Toselli to ensure the lighting felt "off." He wanted the visuals to sound like the audio—blown out, saturated, and slightly "wrong."
Why Five Covers?
You might wonder why any artist would bother with five different designs. Usually, that’s a marketing gimmick to boost sales. If fans want the "full set," they have to buy the album five times.
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While that definitely helped the Billboard charts, it felt more like a creative outlet for Tyler. At the time, he was heavily influenced by Pharrell Williams and the N.E.R.D. aesthetic, which often played with different visual identities. By releasing multiple cherry bomb album covers, Tyler was signaling that this album didn't have just one mood.
- It was aggressive.
- It was soulful.
- It was ugly.
- It was beautiful.
The variety reflected the tracklist. You go from the ear-splitting distortion of "Deathcamp" to the lush, orchestral arrangements of "2Seater." One cover couldn't possibly represent both of those sounds.
The Controversy of the "Physical Only" Art
There is a specific segment of the fanbase that obsesses over the "hidden" art. Some of the variants were incredibly hard to find depending on where you lived. For instance, the "Tobacco" cover—the close-up of Tyler—was much more common in independent record stores than in big-box retailers like Target or Best Buy.
This created a tier list of rarity. To this day, collectors on Discogs will pay a premium for specific physical copies of Cherry Bomb just to have the "right" cover. It turned the album into an art object.
Impact on Future Projects
If you look at IGOR or Call Me If You Get Lost, you can see the seeds planted during the Cherry Bomb era. Tyler learned how to use "alternative" covers to tell a story. He realized that the packaging is just as important as the MP3 file.
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The cherry bomb album covers were the first time he really experimented with branding a "character" or a "vibe" rather than just a face. The "Chur Bum" character became a mascot. The "Piss Pants" became a meme before memes were the primary way we consumed music. It was a masterclass in building a visual world that fans wanted to inhabit, even if that world was a little gross and loud.
How to Collect These Today
If you’re looking to get your hands on the various cherry bomb album covers, you have a few options, but none of them are particularly cheap anymore.
- Check Discogs religiously. This is the gold standard for vinyl and CD collectors. You can filter by "version" to see exactly which cover art is being sold.
- Identify the "Chur Bum" Vinyl. When Tyler finally released Cherry Bomb on vinyl for Record Store Day (years after the initial release), he chose the hand-drawn "Chur Bum" art. This is now the most widely available "high-quality" version.
- Look for the CD Digipaks. The original 2015 CD releases are where the most variety exists. They were released as "blind" or specific regional variants.
- Verify the Inner Sleeves. On the vinyl releases, the gatefold and inner sleeves often feature the photography from the other "missed" covers. So, even if you only buy one version, you might get glimpses of the others.
Actionable Advice for Fans and Collectors
When buying, always ask the seller for a photo of the actual item. Because there are five cherry bomb album covers, many sellers accidentally use a generic "stock photo" of the piss-pants cover even if they are selling the drawing or the portrait version. Don't get burned by a lazy listing.
Understand that the "piss pants" cover remains the official digital identity. If you're building a digital library and want it to look "authentic" to the 2015 era, that's your primary image. However, if you're a fan of the "Golf" brand aesthetic, the hand-drawn sketch is the one that aligns most with the clothing line's history.
Ultimately, these covers weren't just marketing. They were a declaration of independence. Tyler was telling the world he didn't care about "industry standards" for how an album should look. He proved that you could put a drawing or a stained pair of pants on a cover and still debut at number four on the Billboard 200. It was a weird time for music, and these covers remain the perfect artifacts of that era.