Being an Islamic Republic, they do things pretty conservatively in Iran. For instance, if a woman is out in public, she is required to wear a hajib to cover her head and neck. The strict rules on a woman’s appearance is obviously also applied to advertisements and media. Want to listen to Western pop music? The government is surprisingly tolerant about it. However, they go to great lengths to ensure that the public’s minds aren’t, like, poisoned or whatever by women looking like, you know, women. Case in point: Melovaz, a music streaming service in Iran, photoshops women out of digital album covers. Well, except for the women who vanished from the Iranian version of their album covers, of course. So without further ado, let’s take a look-see at these covers, shall we?
1.Dua Lipa – Dua Lipa
In the original: you see the attractive British vocalist Dua Lipa. Has she just finished washing her hair? It’s possible!
In the new and definitely not improved version: the folks at Melovaz got a bit lazy by simply blurring the photo while still making it super obvious what the picture depicts.
2.Ariana Grande – Imagine
In the original: This one is sort of self-explanatory…or is it? You’ve got a pair of juicy lips that are about to snack on some Chinese characters.
In the new and definitely not improved version: A dark, cloudy sky.
3.Kygo and Whitney Houston – Higher Love
In the original:You’ve got the late, great Whitney Houston with her shiny smile on the left, a pensive (thoughtful? chill?) Kygo on the right.
In the new and definitely not improved version:Kygo is still there, but Houston is with us no more. She has gone to join the angel choir in the sky. The asymmetry is a bit unnerving, isn’t it?
4.Beyoncé – Homecoming
In the original:Check out Beyoncé’s fashionable hat!
In the new and definitely not improved version:Inspired by the Beatle’s White Album? We can only assume.
5.Lizzo feat. Dababy – Truth Hurts
In the original:Lizzo is getting to walk down the aisle, presumably on a nice spring afternoon.
In the new and definitely not improved version:Lizzo is getting ready to walk down the aisle, presumably on a heavy California smog day.
6.Lady Gaga – A Star is Born
In the original:Dude attempting to play the guitar while an admiring/slightly crazy woman invades his personal bubble.
In the new and definitely not improved version: Dude attempting to play the guitar while an admiring/slightly crazy smoke cloud invades his personal bubble. To be fair, this one isn’t any less logical.
7.Lana Del Ray – Nfr!
In the original:Hey, they’re on a boat!
In the new and definitely not improved version:The girl is gone, leaving the guy to awkwardly stand there by himself. Oh, and somebody apparently burned the…um…Great Satan flag.
8. Taylor Swift – Lover
In the original:Taylor Swift taking comfort in the vanilla sky. Nothing at all weird about that.
In the new and definitely not improved version:Taylor Swift got airbrushed out of the photo for having the audacity to be a woman! We totally can’t get it.
9.Mxmtoon – The Masquerade
In the original:Chick in a white dress standing in front of a wall full of drawings of cartoony faces.
In the new and definitely not improved version:To their credit, they didn’t transform Mxmtoon into a misty blob. On the other hand, the replacement faces that they chose leave a lot to be desired. A partially deformed face and twins in the second row? Then you look at the fourth row and discover that the twins are actually triplets!
10.Beyoncé – Spirit
In the original:Queen Bey is posing with a lioness.
In the new and definitely not improved version:The female human is gone, but oops! they forgot about the female lion. So the joke’s on them!
11.Pnb Rock, Nicki Minaj, Murda Beatz – Fendi
In the original: We see a drawing of the trio. If this were art class I’d give the illustrator a solid B- for their efforts.
In the new and definitely not improved version: No more Nicki Minaj and her cartoon boobies. :( Just a couple of dudes and the empty buffer space in between.
12.Billie Eilish – When I Was Older
In the original:A girl is splashing through water on a beach. Some good old fashion summer fun!
In the new and definitely not improved version:The same girl doesn’t notice the sudden 10-foot drop and plunges into the sea.
