Cypress Hill: Skull & Bones has 2 discs so the CD compartment folds out within the case, revealing the black and white version of the illustration. Both CD's contain images on them along with the track listing in the album font. The booklet folds out as completely black and white on one side, with all four members of the band each given their own square where they each look sinister and are covered in shadows and see through skulls. The other side of the booklet is in full colour (same side as the cover) and has the group shot of the band which is similar to the back of the CD, there is also more photographs and illustrations of skulls. The amount of artwork in the booklet and on the CD's shows a high budget and a lot of it put into the packaging.
Jay-Z: The Blueprint CD is bright blue, has the logo printed on the front and also contains a small image of Jay-Z. The booklet contains various photos of Jay-Z and money, but also contains the logo and various blue print style drawings printed on see through paper and makes the booklet stand out from the typical gangsta rap album artwork, it is also nice to flick through a booklet and get a few different textures. The back of the CD has the track listing super-imposed over an extreme close up of Jay-Z from the cover. Again this CD shows a high budget, which you would expect from Jay-Z as he is a multi millionaire and is all about image.
The album artwork for Eminem: The Marshall Mathers LP is similar to the cover, there is a lot of shots of him looking moody and aggressive, there is also some shots of him dressed like a super market worker and messing around to link to his more comical side. The photo's aren't all in black and white, there is quite a lot of colour and there is also some nice artistic photography that doesn't have Eminem in it but adds an atmosphere to the booklet. Compared to Eminem's first album the artwork is a lot more interesting and looks like it has cost a fair bit more, showing that success adds to the improvement of the album packaging.
Mos Def: Black on Both Sides has a lot of photography for the album art, which is not what you would expect from such a minimalist cover. The photography is of Mos Def and also New York City where he is from. There are various colourful shots that are a bit more ambiguous, but there is also a nice image of Mos Def looking at the New York skyline, where all the buildings are covered in shadow but the sky is bright. His name, album title, track listing and credits are printed over the top. Compared to the Jay-Z, Cypress Hill and Eminem albums, Mos Def obviously doesn't have a large budget for the packaging, but there is still a sufficient amount and it gives an insight into what the artist and the album are all about.
People Under The Stairs: Question In The Form Of An Answer has a fold out booklet, but again is not exactly high budget as they are signed to an independent record company. There are a couple of shots of them preforming live, and a shot of both members, one is looking through old records and the other is just having a break in his bedroom, which I really like because it shows they are real people and making the music to make a living and because they enjoy it, not to become superstars, so in a way the low budget art is necessary because it shows how real they are.
KRS One: The Sneak Attack has some shots of him reading with loads of books piled up, a close up of him in the middle of the book, which folds out from the middle of his face, and some blurry shots of him playing live. These images are very different to the soldier image on the front but that is because they show what the album is really about "Hip Hop knowledge" and the sneak attack is on the minds of Hip Hop listeners fooled by poor imitations in the genre. The artwork isn't really high budget, but at the same time is of good quality and shows that KRS One doesn't rely on over the top album imagery, but at the same time knows that it is an important factor of the album and provides it to help his music stand out.
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