20 Best Album Covers Of 2021

Artworks should be, as much as possible, visual representations of the album’s music. Madlib, who gets more credible as an aspirant to the title of GOAT producer with each passing year, took that concept to the extreme as on Sound Ancestors, you can literally see the music (through cymatics).

This project was a long time coming. You have to go as far back as 2009 with the fifth and sixth instalment in the Beat Konducta series to find a “classic”, entirely instrumental (i.e. with zero features) album by Madlib. Since then, he dropped collaborative works (with Freddie Gibbs, Oh No or MED and Blu), compilation tapes like Yessir Whatever or instrumental concept albums focused around a particular style or genre, like Beat Konducta in Africa or the Rock Konducta series.

Which is why this cover makes extra sense. Sound Ancestors isn’t about collaborating with other producers, having tens of guest features or experimenting with concept-sampling. This one is pure, raw, unaltered Madlib bangers, and the cover needn’t display anything else.