There are so many things wrong with Kevin Federline's flossin', big-bossin' debut, Playing With Fire -- from the dial-a-beat production and inane intros to K-Fed boasting, "I'm a pirate on the sea/ Call me Captain Hook" -- it's amazing he managed to get the album cover so incredibly right.

And to be honest, it's doubtful Federline had much to do with it. But you'd be hard-pressed to find a cover that's a better visual representation of everything he stands for. Judging from the lyrical content of Fire, Fed enjoys drinking, smoking and hitting the tables in Vegas, all of which are represented on the cover in glorious Photoshopped form (we especially love the flaming cocktail sitting tableside). It looks like he's gambling not in the Bellagio or the Palms, but in a padded room -- which is comically perfect.

What's more, the cover of Fire appears to be a direct homage to the digitally enhanced heyday of mid- to late-'90s hip-hop, in which seemingly every album cover was a veritable user's guide to terrible Photoshop Illustration (think the overly blingy, perplexingly detailed fronts to every No Limit or Cash Money release). It would be just as comically perfect if said homage was unintentional.

([article id="1544348"]Click here to see Federline's album cover and its many inspirations[/article]).

Still, Playing With Fire's release gives us a chance to take a look back at some of the best of that heady era, a simpler time when a rapper could share his album cover with cigar-smoking bears, write his name in a giant, diamond-encrusted font or proudly flash his "Ghetto Express" platinum card without fear of being mocked. We'll also take a closer look at K-Fed's gem, 'cause it definitely deserves special attention.

Helping us out are a couple of experts on the subject: Jon Luvelli of Pen and Pixel -- the California design company that perfected the art of the eye-popping, retina-searing album cover back in the '90s -- and Cobra Starship mastermind Gabe Saporta, who, well ... was pretty much waiting on the street outside MTV's headquarters at 1515 Broadway in New York when we sprung this idea on him (though he has been known to rock some impressive bling from time to time).

Kevin Federline's Playing With Fire

Luvelli: "This cover has a 'Justin Timberlake wannabe' feel to it. The small type in the top corner for the overall 'industry standard look' is good, but [the cover] tries to incorporate effects that should not be mixed together. The fire-and-smoke effects aren't realistic enough for the clean photo with text-type design. It would have looked fine if it was realistic and the cover was brighter. ... Looks as if they had a five-minute deadline and used some 15-year-old from Friendster to implement the effects. Could have been a very clean and promising cover."

Saporta: "Oh K-Fed, why? Marrying Britney wasn't bad enough? Who told you that this would be cool? Please fire whoever did this immediately, and make sure you don't torch your cornrows while you're 'playing with fire' there, brah."

Big Bear's Doin' Thangs

Luvelli: "I think this cover shows what the artists wants to portray. [The designers] used a combination of well-blended images, along with the artist's view of his 'wealthy lifestyle' if he was a bear. It has everything any bear would like: fresh food, Morris Day-style clothing, cigars and liquor. Very creative. ... Just lacking text effects that could have topped off the surrealism of the overall design."

Saporta: "I personally love the bear with the sunglasses. I'd roll with him."

Kingpin Skinny Pimp's 2000 Rapdope Game

Luvelli: "[This cover] deals with money and showing the listener what the music is about: money and living large. It incorporates more than one region, which displays that the artist is marketable in more than one city, giving respect to areas of the artist's demographic choice. The font used in 2000 Rapdope Game shows a futuristic, digital look that gives the idea that the album is what's new in the future."

Saporta: "I think I saw this for sale on Canal Street last week for $5."

Hot Boys' Let 'Em Burn

Luvelli: "This is a very nice design. The effects are great, and the photography -- along with the text and artist logo -- all work in sync. It shows exactly what the artists want to be perceived as."

Saporta: "Sometimes you just need an electric chair to get your message across. What that message is, I'm not sure yet. But as soon as I find out, I'll be sure to let you know. The pixilated lightning bolts just give it an extra-classy touch too."

Soulja Slim's Give It 2 'Em Raw

Saporta: "Oh! A collage. With the title Give It 2 'Em Raw, I was expecting something else, maybe the audience was too, and that's why they took this approach with the cover art. Who let Sloth by the computer again? Keep him locked up with some Baby Ruths. This is not his strong suit."

Juvenile's 400 Degreez

Luvelli: "Staying with the diamond look, as do many artists in the South, this cover has a marketable appeal despite the amount of images and effects that may normally make a cover with such depth cluttered."

Saporta: "More like 400 degrees of tackiness. Apparently you can never go wrong with fire and ice. Did you catch the complex symbolism? Fire equals hot, ice equals cold. Juvenile is insinuating that he is both cool and hot at the same time."

Mystikal's Ghetto Fabulous

Saporta: "Because one picture of yourself on your record cover is never enough."

Master P's Ghetto Bill: The Best Hustler in the Game

Luvelli: "A couple of photos and some text. It's clean but looks like a freshman album from an upcoming artist."

Saporta: "The juxtaposition of the shiny new car in the crummy ol' ghetto really lends depth to this cover and hence sets it apart from its contemporaries. Actually, it just looks like it's Photoshopped."

Silkk the Shocker's Charge It 2 Da Game

Luvelli: "The photography is definitely the strength of this cover."

Saporta: "Did anyone notice the Ghetto Express credit card? Whose four-year degree in computer art created that gem? Let us also point out the hand on Andre the Giant, without whose help, the end of Silkk's career could not be possible."

Lil Wayne's Tha Block Is Hot

Luvelli: "This cover is one of the most copied designs for rap covers in the industry by independent artists. 'I want my cover to look like Lil Wayne's,' they say. The choice of images and photography mixed with the effects and the open space with the artist name shows a quality design."

Saporta: "All I can say is that I don't think I'd be who I am today if this cover wasn't in my life. Thank you for showing it to me."