DAMN.

Vlad Sepetov, who also designed To Pimp a Butterfly, called the DAMN. cover "loud and abrasive." Kendrick Lamar stands against a brick wall in a plain white T-shirt, his expression weary, while the title runs across the top in huge red capital letters.

Sepetov said the cover is less overtly political than To Pimp a Butterfly but just as energetic. Even the Parental Advisory label was placed with care: it sits off-centre, towards the right of the frame, so that it works as part of the design and does not look like an "afterthought."

Lamar unveiled the cover on 11 April 2017, three days before the album's release. Billboard included it among the best covers of 2017, praising it as both memorable and easy to turn into a meme. Vladimir Sepetov designed the cover, Roberto Reyes and Dave Free took the photographs, and creative direction is credited to Kendrick Lamar, Sepetov and Free.