By now, most Americans have heard of Takashi Murakami, he is considered the ‘Andy Warhol’ of Japan and is credited with bringing the Japanese "J-pop" phenomenon to the rest of the world. So, it is no wonder Kanye West has tapped Murakami to handle all of his promotional artwork from album covers to his upcoming line of Bling. Both Murakami and West have shared the Louis Vuitton Spotlight. Murakami adorned his grinning characters to the signature LV print and Kanye West has become their spokesperson, appearing in print ads and shouting out Louis in his lyrics.

The love affair between happy, innocent Japanese pop and and bold bright hip-hop has been an ongoing lust, with the most memorable of those being the collaboration of rapper Pharell and designer Nigo to create BAPE, another hip-hop clothing line fueled by the limited edition craze.

The album covers are just the beginning of West's latest branding  efforts, he says every album and single from now on will be designed  by Murakami. The upcoming line of jewelry is shrouded in mystery,  we  at Snoops have sniffed out  a few shots of the two doodling an early  design on West's trip to Murakami's Tokyo studio. Later we caught  West wearing the prototype necklace to NY fashion week last season,  though Murakami will not approve the release of any photos until the  product is ready. This mystery collection is a wonderful marketing  technique that is well received in the Urban world, where sleeping outside a store for sneakers and collectable toys is not at all unheard of!