The Best Rap Album Cover designs are not overly complicated. Actually, according to this list of the 50 best Hip Hop Album cover designs, most of the designs communicate simple concepts without too many graphic elements used.
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Shaheengraphic has thge best cartoon style Album cover design . If on a budget then Srdesign4u or Ronald are good professional options to work with. Below are other worthy mentions.
- Gigzlogo: Modern Effects
- Srdesign4u: Best under $15
- Toing Graphics: Top-Rated Cover Designer
- Hisham: Best Rap Pop, Edm album cover
- Degeha
What is the most Iconic Rap Album cover of all time?
Design is very subjective. Therefore, different people have different opinions on the very best one of all time. However, as we researched, there were some common album covers that were consistently mentioned as top or atleast aming the top 4 for different people.
Below are the 4 of them in no particular order. Although we had a list of 10, we will only discuss the 4 and the other 6 will be mentioned at the end of the article.
Nas – Illmatic (1994)
The style and ideia on this design makes it iconic. It featuures a photo of Nas as a child superimposed on a backdrop of Queensbridge. The story aspect of this is clearly brought out where he comes from and his roots and the story told in the music in the album.
His childhood photo depicts a state of nostalgia and vulnarability while the urban back ground that looks gritty positions it into his environment.
The positioning of the elements and art is used to express innocence and harsh reality of life a depiction of the tough survival reality of younG people in New York City at that period in time.
Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010)
Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy design is a little different from regular rap and hip hop album aspects. It is a shift from the norm bringing to life the new discussion of art in Music. Designed by George Condo
From the first look the abstract nude painting like challenges and provokes viewers expectations and challenges them to interprate it in their way. It is one of the original intersections between Fine art and music.
Many new artists still borrow a lot from this concept in modern albums. Its unapologetic approach depicts the albums experiment to challenge the norms and stretch the art and music boundary.
Wu-Tang Clan – Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (1993)
The cover design has the group in masks blending to anonimity with the environmen’s dark areas. The overall tone is dark and chaotic to represent the raw nature of the sound in the album.
Mystery and a menancing effect is brought out and the collective identity as a unified force. This matches the rebellious character of rap music at the time
Each of the designs has a main base concept that is further supplemented by various graphic elements such as color, imagery, or illustrations.
The Notorious B.I.G. – Ready to Die (1994)
This on efeatures a minimalist approach with a child and heavy white back ground. This can depict life begining and innocence.
However, this is a stark contrast to the dark themes in the music such as the struggle wit mortality and song titles like ready to die. This contrast creates intrigue and emphasises the transition of the artist from childhood innocence to adulthood in brutal honest.
All these concepts are however subject to interpratation and can communicate different things to different people. Despite this fact, they all have an undeerlying message or concept the artist wishes to communicate.
What makes a Good Album Cover Design?
From the 4 iconic albums above we notice a common trait on all of them. They try to connect whether as a contrast or similar concepts with the aesthetics of the cover design. This makes the album as a part of the communication tool and imager by the artist as a compliment to the sound or song.
Each of them has a unique and bold symbolism striking interest or provoking consideration from anyone who sees it. They use different ways to evoke viewer emotion. For example, Illmatic, 36 Chambers uses raw imagery, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy emplys provocative artistry while Ready to die uses stark minimalism .
As you create your album and song, it is important to consider the cover not just as a selling element but an imagery tool to help the artist to both communicate and capture attention.
To get your audience captivated by your album artwork before they even listen to the music, you will need to engage a professional album cover designer, to work with them to bring the idea to life. Below is a list of the Best Rap Album Cover Designers available for Hire today.
Ronald: Cheapest Option
Ronald is the newest addition to this list. He is a full-time Professional freelance graphic designer who specializes in creating perfect hip-hop music, and rap cover artwork for your album, mixtape, or single cover
When you work with Ronald you will get the design source Files in PSD even on the cheap basic package. A free 3D Album cover Mockup.
A clean and professionally designed 3000x3000px size album cover design in 300 dpi print quality resolution. If you need changes done, Ronald will offer unlimited revisions until you are content.
On completion, you will get full commercial rights on the design. Unfortunately, he does not offer cartoon album designs. If you want a cartoon design in your cover art check out our gig or Shaheen Graphics below.
Shaheen Graphics – Best cartoon Rap Album Cover Designer
Shaheen has a great sense of the possibilities for your rap album cover and is very open to any suggestions you have. Shaheen will work with you to create an elegant, sophisticated, and professional cover or design. Below are more of his designs.
Dilshanfx: Editors Choice
Dilshanfx has a unique style that will set your album apart from the rest. He is also very creative and open to suggestions. provides you with amazing designs on both CD and rap album covers and has a wide variety of genres to choose from.
He will make sure that you are completely satisfied with your product before buying it as well. 7 years of experience with a 4.9 rating and 1000+ reviews prove Dilshanfx to be a pro with a great record of satisfied clients.
Gigzlogo: Modern Effects
Gigzlogo is a talented artist who creates modern Hip Hop Album cover designs. He is constantly learning and studying Hip Hop trends thus evolving to deliver designs that transcend boundaries and expectations.
Their dedication to maintaining top-tier design quality sets Gihan apart as a trailblazer in the realm of album cover artistry.
Toinggraphics and MAAZ: Best Under $20
Milan is a great designer who will work with you on your vision and make an album or mixtape cover that will envy anyone in your genre. He is unique and brings a fresh, new look to your album cover.
Milan has 4 years of experience in designing albums, singles, and even mixtape covers and has 5-star ratings and 1k+ reviews. Originality, Quick Turnaround, and creating some of the best cover art for the price of $20
If you are looking for a creative rap album cover that is modern and stands out, then MAAZ is your guy! He is very good at taking your ideas and transforming them into an amazing design that will set your album apart from the rest.
He also has a variety of different styles to choose from. MAAZ has over 5 years of experience and has worked on over 2K+ professional artworks in his career. With a level rating of 4.9 MAAZ, delivers premium work promptly for under $20.
Srdesign4u
Srdesign4u is a very talented rap album cover designer who creates classy and sophisticated designs and edits. He is great at providing you with proof of concepts for your design as well!
I would recommend him to anyone in need of a great rap album cover designer at a cheaper price of $10. He is a level 2 seller who has 1k+ reviews with the fastest turnaround time of 24 hours.
A professional artist with 10 years of experience in making single covers, album covers, and mixtape covers with Adobe Photoshop. Money-back guarantee and friendly and flexible service.
Hisham – Best Rap Pop EDM album cover
Hisham is incredibly talented! He is an extremely original designer who will create a first-of-its-kind cover or design for you (from scratch) that will be the envy of any artist in your genre.
He is professional, quick, and flexible. His designs pop and stand out. He creates very classy work. He is a level 1 seller and Fiverr’s choice, with a 5-star rating for $50.
Degeha Top-Rated Seller: Full Hip-Hop Album Cover Music Illustration
You can get a great cover or design that will stand out from the rest while still being classy and professional. Degeha is incredibly talented and has a great personality.
He is a professional graphic designer with more than 5 years of experience, and he is open to making his covers unique or blending them with an existing cover! He is a 5-star-rated designer who intends to offer you high-quality artwork for $50.
- Great personality, originality, and skillfulness
- Very flexible
- Flawless execution of his work.
How can you design an album cover that makes an impact?
Just like a package or a logo, your album cover is the face of your product that consumers interact with before deciding whether to choose your product or not.
You need it well done and attractive. You can choose to create it yourself, but for a successful career, we recommend you hire a specialist to design it for you.
Best Online Hip-Hop Album Cover Makers
If you still choose to do it yourself, here are some album cover makers you can use to develop your design. There are a lot of options, but we recommend only two to avoid wasting your time.
- Poster on my wall
- Canva
If you prefer hiring a specialist to create it for you, below are the best ones available.
In this article, we will review some famous rap album covers that have come up over the years. If you are looking to hire a good artist or designer to develop your concept, we have reviewed two of the best at the end.
The East Coast and West Coast Hip-hop and rap music dominated the 90s music scene. Together with the music, a culture developed based on the music and art to be depicted then and later on on covers and merchandise such as t-shirts. The album covers mattered equally as much as the music to form one complete set of works of art.
What is the size of an album cover? If you are a graphic designer or music promoter, you understand that size and proportion are important when it comes to album covers. You need the right size and proportions to share your album cover to different platforms without problems.
What is the standard size of an album cover?
The standard size of an album cover is 4098 pixels by 4098 pixels. These sizes are perfect for YouTube and most digital platforms. However, most designers on Fiverr will also share a backup size of 3000 by 3000 pixels just in case the 2 fail on any platform.
If you prefer the measurement in inches it is 57 by 57 inches, 19 by 19 inches, and 42 by 42 inches for the backup size. What to make sure of is that the size you use has a 1:1 square ratio. The resolution has to be 300 dpi for clear viewing.
If you know how to use a graphic design software like Adobe Illustrator, setting the size of your design is not very complicated.
Famous Rap Album Cover Designs
Under this category, the designers have applied different kinds of styles to come up with iconic album covers that have withstood the test of time to remain outstanding and unique.
A good example is the minimal style used on the below albums. We have previously done a review for the best cartoon rap album cover designers you can hire. The last 6 album covers above have applied the style to create iconic covers.
- Notorious B.I.G.’s Ready to Die Album
- Kanye West, ‘808s & Heartbreak’
- Dr. Dre: Chronic
- Drake: Nothing Was the Same
We do not own rights to any of the images, but we have borrowed them as a fair use policy. Our collection is not ordered from 1 and so on but was inspired by an organized list of the 33 best hip-hop albums.
Related Posts: Best Logo Designers for Hire
Which rapper has the best album cover design?
Kanye West, ‘808s & Heartbreak’
Drake, ‘Nothing Was The Same
Beastie Boys, ‘Paul’s Boutique
The Fugees, ‘The Score’
Dr. Dre, ‘The Chronic’What size is an Album cover?
The standard size of an album cover is 4098 pixels by 4098 pixels. If you use CD album covers, most will be 4.75″ x 4.75″ inches. For an LP cover, the size is around 12.375″x12. 375″ inches.
When reviewing qw noticed that most designers on Fiverr will share a backup size of around 3000 by 3000 pixels just in case the other 2 LP and standard sizes fail to upload on any platform.