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Mixtapes Still Work Without the Music
Hip-hop artists put extra effort into mixtape album art, and now we have the coffee table book to prove it.
Tobias Hansson and Michael Thorsby
From the bootleg recordings of Kool Herc in the 1970s to Drake’s latest opus, If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late,mixtapes have been and continue to be an essential part of hip-hop culture.To make their music stand apart from the dozens of mixtapes regularly released on sites likedatpiff.com, hip-hop artists rely on cover art to catch listeners’ eyes. The arms race for attention-grabbing covers led mixtapes to adopt a lurid, movie poster aesthetic: flashy and explosive. Now, two artists (and mixtape aficionados),Tobias Hansson and Michael Thorsb,are celebrating this distinct art form with a book:Damn Son Where Did You Find This?
The book, although perfect for your coffee table, is currently sold out. But feel free to drop Hansson and Thorsby an email demanding a reprint. Or, in the spirit of mixtapes themselves, justenjoy it for freeonline.