Words by Eddie STATS Houghton:::Photos by Martei Korley:::Artwork by Greg Burke—

Jamaica-born, Long Island-raised Greg Burke has designed covers for some of the most notable albums of the last two decades, from Missy Elliott’s Supa Dupa Fly to Jay-Z’s The Blueprint 3—and a whole slew of ’90s underground rap classics, too, like Group Home’s Livin’ Proof. Currently, Burke is the VP creative director at Atlantic Records, where he oversees design packages for LPs by everyone from T.I. to Jason Mraz. In this sitdown interview at Atlantic’s Manhattan office, he shares stories from his days designing for Island, Elektra and Tommy Boy Records in the ’90s (including the particularly amusing tales of his hiring by the latter’s Tom Silverman, and a never-released design for Buju Banton), the dying art of CD booklet illustration and collaborating creatively with T.I. and Jay-Z.