New book celebrates the graphic design of hip-hop mixtapes

Design projects focussed on hip-hop are like London buses in the old saying; you wait ages for one and then two turn up at once. Last week we celebrated Brick magazine and hot on its heels today we’re delving into Damn Son Where Did You Find That? which is described as “the first book ever to focus on the cover art of the modern US hip-hop mixtape.”

It’s been put together by Paris-based designer and art director Michael Thorsby (along with Tobias Hansson) and includes 500 covers, as well as interviews with some of the genre’s most prolific practitioners – people like KidEight, Miami Kaos, Mike Rev, Tansta and Skrilla, who have all designed at least 1,000 covers. “They take us through the creative process, how visual trends have come and gone, moral hazards and how designing mixtape covers changed the trajectories of their lives,” the authors say.

“A visual world that reached unseen levels at the turn of the millennium, uncensored, unregulated and extreme, it is the most anarchic of all genres of graphic design. Freed from major label guidelines, lawyer opinions and moral hindrances, the designers featured in Damn Son Where Did You Find This? are truly unique, something that is hard to come by in today’s global world of intertwined visual tendencies.”

Limited to 400 hand-numbered copies, Michael is super proud of celebrating this often seen, but little-explored corner of the creative world. “It’s really a unique book covering one of the most extreme visual cultures available,” he told us.

You can buy the book through the dedicated microsite but we have one copy to give away to our readers too; we’ll explain how you can enter on our Twitter feed later in the week.