MM..FOOD

Jeff Jank, then art director at Stones Throw Records, brought painter Jason Jägel onto MM..FOOD. There was no contract, no agreed fee and no guarantee the work would be used. Jägel played a CD-R demo of the album on repeat and made the piece on his own. "I made one pencil sketch and then I made the painting," he said.

The painting shows DOOM in his metal mask sitting at a kitchen table with a bowl of cereal, surrounded by food packaging and the view from a city window, a bright, detailed scene that fits an album built around food. There were no drafts and no revisions. DOOM and his wife Jasmine liked it immediately and commissioned the back cover and the art for the single "Hoe Cakes." The original painting included a blunt, which was later edited out.

At the time, most rap covers were photographs or photo collages, and the commissioned painting is now seen as a turning point for hip-hop album art. "I was pretty excited about it, to be honest with you," Jägel said. The album was released on 16 November 2004. Adam R. Garcia handled the design and layout alongside Jank.