EXCLUSIVE: DJ Mars Talks About His New Book ‘The Art Behind The Tape’

On his favorite mixtape cover artists:
I think Mr. H, he’s responsible for early Clue covers and a lot of other people’s covers, he definitely rocked on with Clue and made some memorable covers. I would say Miami Chaos because he infused some cartoon imagery into his artwork, it’s extremely dope. This kid named W from Atlanta, his artwork is incredible. This kid, Kid Eight, he’s from the UK and his artwork is incredible too. He’s another guy that when you look at some of his pieces — wow. He did Drama’s tape with OJ Da Juiceman “Clockwork” and that’s definitely better than OJ’s album cover. Kid Eight designed that piece. I guess it depends on who you’re asking when you say mixtape designers are overlooked. They don’t get overlooked from the DJs. We need them to bring our energy to life. So maybe to the fans they’re overlooked, but the DJs that are paying their bills — they’re front and center to us. We respect them 1000%, but I wouldn’t necessarily expect the casual fans to know who they are though. With fans, after they get the tape — they’re really only concerned with the music. Overall, I would say DJs pay homage to these guys by continually working with them.
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