I designed this cassette’s ONLY physical copy ever! “Future Memoirs” (2014) is a fantastic hip hop album by Allan Kingdom. Most people know him for his collaboration with Kanye West on the song “All Day”. Which is a fine song. But my favourite release of Allan Kingdom’s is this album right here which was recorded when he was 20-years-old. If you go to this album’s Discogs page, you’ll notice the only physical release was on CD-R: https://www.discogs.com/master/1562453-Allan-Kingdom-Future-Memoirs The last time a copy was sold was in 2019. It’s not expensive but it’s rare. Though Discogs says a copy is for sale, I can’t seem to find it. And being in Canada, I doubt I’ll be able to acquire it anyway. But I don’t think a CD-R really fits the aesthetics of this album anyway. Hearing it, I think this is crying out for a cassette. So since there’s never been an official cassette release, I decided to make my own. After recording this album from Apple Music with Dolby S on my Sony TC-WR901ES—it fit perfectly on a C43.5 cassette—I set out to work. I personally designed the J-card. Then I printed it on card stock with an inkjet. After cutting and folding, I put it in a clear case. The next step was the labels. I ordered Avery 5198-compatible matte sheets off Amazon. Then I designed the artwork for that too, printed it off my inkjet, peeled it, and carefully placed it on the cassette. It is so emotional to see my finished work. I get such a charge out of it. And dare I say it, hearing the music is that much more awesome because the entire thing—from recording to J-card to label—was made by me. But of course, this would be nothing if not for Allan Kingdom’s superb music.