Bad Meets Evil Photographer Talks 'Atomic' EP Cover Inspiration

When bad meets evil, there's sure to be a catastrophe, at least that's what photographer/filmmaker Danny Hastings envisioned when he was tapped to shoot the album cover for Eminem and Royce Da 5'9"'s new collabo EP, Hell: The Sequel.

"I interpreted hell not being a satanic place, I interpreted hell as, 'OK, this is what I've been through — you're coming in next.' In the sense like, 'Prepare for the sequel,' " said Hastings, who famously shot the cover for Wu-Tang Clan's debut album, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), as well as albums for Big Pun, Gang Starr and Nas.

Hastings also lent his lens to the inside art for Em's 1998 debut, The Slim Shady LP. During a meeting with Shady Records, the photog was able to listen to the new Bad Meets Evil material and was "blown away."

"The [Bad Meets Evil] project is really special because I was a part of [Eminem's] first album. I shot the entire inside of The Slim Shady LP, which was the first record that put him where he is at today," Hastings told. "So everything came full circle. Em, with this record, was in a very special time in his life when he said, 'I'm gonna go back and I'm gonna work with Royce.' "

Hastings was most inspired by the duo's lyrical superiority and used the EP's rhymes as inspiration for the shoot, which took place in Detroit in April.

"The album is phenomenal lyrically. When I was done, when they played me those 10, 11 tracks, I felt like it's a wrap for everybody. It's over, nuclear explosion; it's over," Hastings said. "But I didn't want to do the obvious nuclear explosion. I wanted to do the after-effect of these two brothers meeting, and creatively bring that atomic energy."

Sounds like a hell of a look.

What do you think of Eminem and Royce's album cover? Tell us in the comments!