Eminem’s ‘Shady XX’ Album Cover Art Designer Shares Details Of Scrapped Project

Designer Mike Saputo crafted the logo for Eminem’s Shady XV compilation in 2014 and had anticipated doing some more designs for a potential Shady XX release last year to celebrate Shady Records artists. But according to a recent Instagram post, the idea was ultimately shelved and Saputo was left with multiple unused logos for the project.

“So sometime last year, we started working on some things to celebrate Shady’s 20th,” he explained in the caption. “I worked up a ton of logos and other assets for it. Ended up the project never made it to the light of day unfortunately. So I was left with a whole bunch of stuff I thought came out pretty good, but nowhere to use it. Such is the design life.

“Here’s a first batch of just some of the stuff I did, there was a ton. I am particularly fond of the Deadpool-esque logo done of Skam’s mummy from SSLP, with the bandages forming an XX.”

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So sometime last year, we started working on some things to celebrate Shady’s 20th. I worked up a ton of logos and other assets for it. Ended up the project never made it to the light of day unfortunately. So I was left with a whole bunch of stuff I thought came out pretty good, but nowhere to use it. Such is the design life. Here’s a first batch of just some of the stuff I did, there was a ton. I am particularly fond of the Deadpool-esque logo done of Skam’s mummy from SSLP, with the bandages forming an XX. @shadyrecords @eminem #shadyxx #shady #logo

A post shared by Mike Saputo (@msaputo) on Sep 14, 2020 at 10:24am PDT

Shady Records affiliates Westside Gunn and Boogie were surprised by the idea of a Shady XX project and weighed in on Twitter. Westside wrote, “U learn Something new Everyday,” while Boogie said, “Definitely lol.”

Eminem released Shady XV on November 24, 2014. The double-disc LP featured contributions from Slaughterhouse, Bad Meets Evil, D12, Royce Da 5’9, 50 Cent, Danny Brown and Obie Trice, among others. Singles included “Guts Over Fear” with Sia, “Y’all Ready Know” and “Detroit Vs. Everybody” featuring Trick-Trick, DeJ Loaf, Big Sean, Royce and Brown.

Commercially, the album debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 with roughly 138,000 total sales in its first week and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 2015.