'Metro Boomin & 21 Savage Unveil 'Savage Mode 2' Cover'.

^ Findlay, Mitch (September 29, 2020).

'Shoutout Pen & Pixel for coming out of retirement to do 1 more cover #legendary' (Tweet).

^ Metro Boomin (confirmed account) (September 30, 2020).

^ Jenkins, Sacha Wilson, Elliot Mao, Jeff Alvarez, Gabe Rollins, Brent (March 25, 2014).

'Strictly abiding by a 'more-is-more' philosophy, the Brauch brothers shaped the visual aesthetic of Southern hip-hop's flashiest era'. 'Defining the Visual Style of Southern Hip Hop - Noisey Design (Episode 1)'. The artwork is in their signature design, 'heavily' inspired by those of Cash Money and No Limit and is a nod to the 'bling rap' album covers of the 1990s. In 2020, Pen & Pixel came out of retirement to design the cover art for 21 Savage and Metro Boomin's Savage Mode II. Pen & Pixel apparently refused to produce possibly political covers. Photos would then be taken of these items from different angles, so the same item could be reused in the future. These sketches would then be scanned by a computer, which would generate a list of items needed for the cover, such as cars and diamonds. Pen & Pixel would fulfill client requests for custom album covers, with sketches of the album cover being drawn based on the concepts requested.

Common themes included bullets, cars, drugs, fire, gems, money, women, and other examples of wealth and riches. The album covers Pen & Pixel produced have been described as 'gaudy' and 'outrageous'. The brothers cited peer-to-peer file sharing website Napster and the September 11 attacks as reasons for the close artists were reluctant to fly to Houston to view artwork that listeners would be unlikely to see.

The Brauch brothers and their staff worked with over 8,000 clients and completed 19,180 album covers before the company closed its doors in 2003. The company was started in 1992 by brothers Aaron and Shawn Brauch. For a long time, it was the house design firm for No Limit Records, Cash Money Records, and Suave House Records. Pen & Pixel Graphics, Inc is a Houston, Texas-based graphics design firm that specializes in musical album covers, especially for gangsta rap artists in the Southern United States.

Cover of Big Bear's 1998 album Doin Thangs

Rap album covers