"There's Nothing Fancy About It. It Gives You More Of A Gritty Background. It Shows You The Rawness"

With his new Hi-Heels & Low-Lifes album cover stirring a buzz courtesy of model Marisa Miller, rapper Josh Baze recently talked SOHH about snagging the model for his debut LP artwork.

Before delving into Miller's involvement, Baze explained the background of the cover art.

"The album is called Hi-Heels & Low-Lifes and the reason why I named it that is because I wanted to paint the picture of the high life but at the same time show people the low life. The high life is what people want to achieve and what it feels like to make it," Baze told SOHH. "The low life is more where I came from and the struggles I went through to get to that stage. If you check the background of the alleyway, it has a really gritty look to it. There's nothing fancy about it. It gives you more of a gritty background. It shows you the rawness. The background is showing you where I came from." (SOHH)

The New York-bred, California-raised rapper also said he shares a close relationship with the Sports Illustrated model.

"But you also have Marisa Miller up there and she's wearing these pink high heels and she's strutting down, that's the high life right there," Baze added. "That's the high heels right there. So it's showing people how it feels to achieve. That's the female in the high life. It's more about the fancy cars, women and things like that. I think Marisa really came together to get my point across and made the album. I have a good relationship with Marisa. When I was putting together this album, she jumped on it and she basically blessed me with that picture. The photographer is the same person I worked with when I used to model for Versace in my beginning stages. She was something epic. Marisa definitely blessed me with that album cover." (SOHH)

Recently, Baze spoke openly about his rise from being an artist on the grind, to snagging renowned director, Hype Williams, to helm his "We Made It" music video.

"I started off on the desks in my elementary school," Baze told MTV News of his earliest days rapping."I started getting into the studio around 16. After I learned how to do a track, and I just laid down my first 16, it was a wrap. My dad was a DJ, so just having him around and watching music get built inside of my house, it was a blessing, because I got to learn so much, man." (RapFix)

Last week, he spoke to SOHH and gave readers five reasons why they should buy his debut.

"My first reason is because this shows music listeners how real my beginning was and how passionate I am about my music. The things that I did to get to where I am at today, I think it will inspire people to take the same route. Growing up in Brooklyn, that really molded the whole beginning of the album. But then moving out to California, I made it to a destination I never thought I would make it to. You're going to get all of those experiences on the album." (5 Reasons Why You Should Buy)