Gucci Mane: Ice Cream Man (design by KidEight)

In their book Damn Son, Where Did You Find This?, Tobias Hansson and Michael Thorsby celebrate the kitsch world of hip-hop mixtape artwork. The pair explain some of the best efforts, beginning with this from Gucci Mane: ‘We love KidEight’s ability to make a mixtape cover pop, with colours turned up, type that mixes seamlessly with the image, and a big dose of humour. This cover was made soon after Gucci Mane got that ice cream cone tattoo. Long before #gucciclone.’ Damn Son, Where Did You Find This? is out now, published by Walther König

Lil’ Wayne: No Ceilings No Walls 2, Most Wanted, The Get Away (design by KidEight)

‘Thematically classic, as the title implies. Here we see Lil’ Wayne in a bullet-ridden getaway scene running from the police. If you look past the slightly generic concept, you’ll find a complete masterpiece. The composition, the layers, the colouring, the reflections, and the sense of movement and action, condensed into one single frozen frame’

Meek Mill: Dreamchasers 2 (design by Mike Rev)

‘Mike Rev, the designer of this cover, is a reflective individual. And in this masterpiece he perfectly visualises the frailty of dreams and success. The fantastic type design, a fleeing moment of smoke shaping the letters, is a reminder of the gloomy state of the American dream’

Hevehitta presents Gucci Mane: Burrock Obama (design by KidEight)

‘Since the days when mixtapes were sold on blankets in the street, it has been common to reflect current events on the cover. As New Orleans was flooded in 2005, the streets were flooded by hurricane Katrina mixtape artwork. When President Obama was elected, politics and mixtapes crossed paths again. This cover shows Gucci Mane on the south lawn of the White House; another highlight in the same vein was DJ Drama’s temporary alias “Barack ODrama”’

Future - Freeband World Order (design by Miami Kaos)

‘A happy Future is standing on the south lawn in front of a White House engulfed in an inferno. A Star-Spangled Banner burns while Future’s own black and white flag flies in the wind. When Obama was elected, optimism and joy weren’t only visible in the streets of the US but also in all the times rappers were depicted as politicians on their mixtapes, like Gucci, above. But as congressional deadlock sabotaged Obama’s second term in office, the country grew disillusioned, and this disillusionment was reflected on the covers of mixtapes’

Plies and DJ Fletch: Top Goon (design by KidEight)

‘Copying movie posters is one of the oldest themes of mixtape covers. Since the 90s, an endless number of covers have featured twisted and witty versions of blockbusters. All the designers featured in the book dream of one day designing real movie posters’

DJ Drama and OJ Da Juiceman: Orange (design by KidEight)

‘Another great example of how a movie can cross-breed with a mixtape. A Clockwork Orange spliced with OJ Da Juiceman: one of the cleanest and strongest covers of the past decade’

DJ Chuck T and Wiz Hoffa: Push Ya Shit Back – Def Jam Divided (design by Miami Kaos)

‘Miami Kaos in his most brutal mood. While interviewing him we discovered his deep Christian faith – to our surprise, given his explicit imagery. In this one a bare-bellied Rick Ross smashes Young Jeezy’s heart out through his back. The level of detail is stunning: the light, the tattoos, the composition. A great example of why Miami Kaos is the legend that he is’

Gorilla Zoe and DJ Holiday: Feeding Time (design by Tansta)

‘In our book, Tansta describes how he refuses do “unrealistic” stuff like putting hundreds of thousands of dollars in the street. However, he doesn’t seem to have any issues with mixing a greasy turkey and shrimps in with it. In Miami 100% of dollar bills have traces of cocaine on them (the national average is 90%). No statistics are available on how many are stained by turkeys’

Tity Boi aka 2Chainz: Southside Music (design by Mike Rev)

‘Out of the five designers featured in the book, Mike Rev is the most cinematic of them all. He’s imagining himself as a cameraman when he’s sketching up a cover’

Gotham Gang presents Wiz Khalifa, 2 Chainz and Shiest Millini: Doe or Die Vol 3 – Game Of Thrones (design by Skrilla)

‘If, like us, you love hip-hop and Game of Thrones, this cover is as good as it gets. 2 Chainz as Ned Stark and Wiz Kalifa and Shiest Millini as the Stark brothers. A great example of how mixtapes align themselves with other pop culture phenomena to get pulling power’

DJ Trigga: Gucci Mane vs Young Jeezy (design by Miami Kaos)

‘Miami Kaos is the only one of these designers who illustrates his covers, allowing him to fully control the image. In this one we see Young Jeezy battering Gucci Mane and stealing his 1017 Brick Squad chain, reflecting real life, after Jeezy issued a bounty of $10,000 for Gucci’s jewellery amid beef between the pair.’