Two things you should know about me: 1.) I love fashion and 2.) I love rap music. So when I can get both of those things in one, I fall in love with whoever is feeding my obsession. Enter the fashion rappers. You all know them. They have designer friends, they model for major fashion magazines and occasionally collaborate with designers on fashion lines.
What I love about fashion rappers is that they love the two things -fashion and rap- that I love too. Of course a lot of celebrities have stylists but you can identify who actually has personal style and are not just a product of a good styling team.Not only do they wear designer garments and party with designer friends but they also share those moments in their music. When you spend all of your time reading fashion magazines and perusing fashion blogs daily like I do, you feel like you can relate when Kanye says “spending everything on Alexander Wang“. You feel connected to Ye’ when he raps about the models in”Christian Dior Denim Flow”. Pusha T makes me believe that we would be best friends when I hear him rap “haha knock it off. Neiman’s, shop it off.“
Kanye West or as I like to say, Yeezus, is the best out there. He’s my favorite rapper because of how creative and multifaceted he is. He refuses to be put into a box and I love that. I like to dabble in a lot of different things so I understand where he’s coming from. Kanye has had a lot of looks throughout his musical career and it keeps people interesting in what he will do next.
One of my favorite posts from Lateboots.com show casing all of Yeezi’s looks.
Some other favorites in the fashion rap world are: A$AP Rocky, who has a supermodel girlfriend. Pusha T, who raps about street life, mixed with lines about Italian Vogue styling him. And a new discovery, Dominic Lord, whose mixtape Over World is being released soon and models in Teen Vogue’s May Issue.
I tend to listen to my fashion rapper favorites when I’m creating anything new and when I’m getting dressed, of course. They inspire me because they are rapping about the world that I’m entering and I know that they understand my need to create and inspire. They are the ones who inspire my work and I hope to inspire them in one way or another some day soon.
(All photos are via Tumblr.)