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The Most Stylish Album Covers Of 2021

November 9, 2021 by newhiphopnews

Most Stylish Album Covers 2021 — Getty Image/Ralph Ordaz

We’ve all been told not to judge a book by its cover, and while the same thought can be applied to album covers, the rule becomes a bit harder to follow in this scenario. An album’s artwork is the first thing that grabs our attention — negatively or positively — before we can press play on it. Oftentimes, the cover art is used to promote a body of work before its official release which then opens the flood gates for fans to judge its appearance and rate how good the album may or may not be.

For better or for worse, there have been a number of memorable album covers in 2021. There’s Drake’s pregnant woman-emoji-laden cover for Certified Lover Boy that was considered a troll until he went out his way to confirm it. Ye kept things simple with a black square for Donda while Lil Nas X’s artwork for Montero finds him nude and suspended in the air. Yung Bleu appears as an astronaut in his Moon Boy cover and Lorde’s own for Solar Power was a bit… cheeky, wouldn’t you say?

With that being said, 2021 also gave us album covers with artists showing off their best looks. It’s always great to receive a quality collection of music that’s wrapped in a well-captured portrait of the artist. Without further ado, here are the ten most stylish album covers of 2021.

Ayra Starr — 19 & Dangerous

Afropop singer Ayra Starr dropped off 19 & Dangerous, her sophomore project and second release of the year. The project delivers a tale of growth that arrives as the singer prepares to exit the teenager status for adulthood. For its cover, Starr sits on a blue bag dressed in what appears to be red stain pants and golden elbow-length gloves. She’s also surrounded by deep green walls to complete the truly colorful cover.

CKay — Boyfriend

Keeping things in the afrobeats world, Ckay delivered another sharp cover art with his Boyfriend EP. He released the project at the top of the year and it’s masked with a purple hue that is complemented by the car Ckay leans on, the night sky and flowers behind him, the scarf and fingernails on the arm of a woman that’s wrapped around him. Altogether, it makes for a sharp cover that captures the Ckay’s sensitive side along with the seven songs that appear on the EP.

Doja Cat — Planet Her

There has yet to be a moment too big for Doja Cat to handle. So even when the pressure for her to surpass expectations with her third album Planet Her continued to rise, Doja stepped up to bat and hit a home run. The artwork for the album helped listeners envision the weirdo spectacle that she presented on the project. She lays on what appears to be a glittery body of land which neon shades of glitter covering her body from head to toe. Might I mention that the album is also one of the best releases in 2021? Long story short, Doja came through from top to bottom.

Kirby — Sis. He Wasn’t The One

At the beginning of 2020, Memphis singer Kirby arrived with her debut project Sis. Nearly two years later, she returned with its sequel Sis. He Wasn’t The One in what also sports a very underrated cover. Kirby lays beside a man with her light brown hair tied up while wearing a red top that compliments the flowery blanket she lays on and the room she’s in. If you’re looking for a body of work that vents one’s struggles with love while expounding on a man’s failure to be a solid partner, Sis. He Wasn’t The One delivers that with an aesthetically pleasing cover to look at.

Little Simz — Sometimes I Might Be Introverted

Little Simz’s Sometimes I Might Be Introverted is truly a beautiful body of work. It’s one of those rare projects where everything from the lyrics, the production, the sequencing, and more fall into the place so exquisitely. Its artwork is another notable point The London rapper sits nervously in a wooden chair while rocking a yellow and black checkered suit as his hair is tied up to a high altitude. The mustard yellow backdrop also pairs well with Little Simz’s look in what comes together as an eye-pleasing cover.

Masego — Studying Abroad: Extended Stay

Masego ended 2020 with Studying Abroad, his first project since his pristine 2018 debut album Lady Lady. Studying Abroad received the deluxe treatment back in May as five more songs were added to the project to accompany highlights like “Mystery Lady” and “Silver Tongue Devil. The deluxe reissue also granted us a new cover that presented the already-stylish Masego in a salmon suit as he posed longing into the camera which captures nature’s beauty behind him.

Serpentwithfeet — Deacon

Serpentwithfeet began the spring season this year with his Deacon project. It’s a release that was filled with music he described as “a lot softer, a lot more gentle than my previous work,” “something that felt very sensuous,” and “something that felt calm and restrained.” This tender approach comes alive on the project’s cover art as it presents Serpentwithfeet in a white button-up top and gold accessories on his fingers, neck, ears, and hair. He also holds another man in his arms who sports a similar white top as they both stand amid a hazy desert.

Symphani Soto — Under The Sun

South Florida’s Symphani Soto earned herself a nice career boost with her June project Under The Sun. Its 11 tracks make for a body of work ideal for an afternoon drive or warm evening at the beach. Soto appears relaxed and free throughout the project and if you need a visual for that, it’s available on the project’s cover art. The singer stands tall and free in a detailed and intricate bright orange dress as the slightly cloudy sky behind her helps to enhance her features and make her stand out.

Umi — Introspection Reimagined

Umi breathed new life into her 2020 album Introspection and re-released it with a new dose of vibrancy and lucidity through eight songs. It also comes with a beautiful cover that sees Umi in an elaborate white gown. Captured from an aerial view, Umi stares closely into a mirror with her arms almost stretched fully apart over a rich red backdrop.

VanJess — Homegrown

Nearly three years after their career-solidifying debut album Silk Canvas, VanJess returned with their Homegrown EP. Music aside, the project was presented with a flawless cover that captured the beauty of Ivana and Jess. Seated at a gold table and on golden chairs, VanJess stuns with clothing that ranges from cheetah print, bright red, shimmery gold, and lavish accessories. Oh, and the music on the project and its eventual deluxe edition are great too!

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Doja Cat Is Having More Fun With Fashion Than Anyone Else

November 8, 2021 by newhiphopnews

doja cat style — Getty Image/Ralph Ordaz

Throughout their nearly four decades as an awards show, the MTV VMAs have historically been a way for musicians to experiment with their style. Lady Gaga’s 2010 raw meat dress became one of the most-recognizable pop culture moments, and who could forget Lil Kim’s purple pasties at the 1999 VMAs red carpet? As someone who thrives at the intersection of hip-hop and pop genres, Doja Cat has definitely taken a page out of Gaga and Kim’s playbooks when it comes to her own style. Whether she’s delightfully draped in chiffon or wearing an actual stool on her head as a hat, Doja toes the line between shocking and playful — proving she’s having more fun with fashion than anyone else in music.

When it comes to her style, part of Doja’s shock value success comes from her commitment to a concept. It’s been an important part of her artistry from her breakout moment and is abundantly clear from watching her music videos, performances, and eyeing her show-stopping red carpet looks. Throughout her career, Doja has leaned into cat-like looks to go along with her namesake, caught disco fever with the ‘70s-inspired outfits following the release of her No. 1 track “Say So,” and gone out of this world with a futurist approach to her ensembles surrounding the era of her latest album, Planet Her.

Doja’s videos make it clear she has stayed true to an aesthetic from the very beginning. She fully leaned into the title of her song “Moo!” in a video that became her first viral moment. The green screen-backed visual saw the singer dressed head-to-toe in a cow-print outfit and sipping on a strawberry milkshake while she shouts, “B*tch, I’m a cow.” Her outfits in the video to “Bottom B*tch,” a song which samples Blink-182’s “What’s My Age Again?,” brought pop-punk into a new decade by taking style elements from Spencer’s-obsessed teens like mesh tops and neon beanies while adding a modern twist with stringy corset tops and a patterned two-piece set. Fast-forward a few years and most of her videos to the tracks from Planet Her now revolve around an extraterrestrial theme. She and SZA were giant femme fetal space dwellers in “Kiss Me More,” while Doja transformed into a seductive, green, metropolis-living alien in her “Need To Know” video.

Doja’s conceptual style also plays a major role in her live performances. She played up the feline-lover origins of her moniker with her Vevo Lift performance of “Say So” in 2020, which added campy elements to distinctly classic styles. Her wig was bobbed and curled in the style of Marilyn Monroe, while its hot pink color and fuzzy cat ears made it her own. Her accompanying outfit was a Garo Sparo bodice with a sweetheart neckline cut to mimic the Playboy bunny cocktail waitress outfits-turned popular Halloween costumes. But instead of being made from satin, Doja’s outfit was cut from hot pink furry cloth, once again nodding to her cat-like look. “There’s something mysterious about the concept of a ‘crazy cat lady,’” she said in an interview alongside the performance. “I took that symbol and applied it to my character, Doja Cat.” When it came to her recent 2021 performance at the Balmain Fashion Show in Paris, her concept was a bit more open-ended. Rather than formatting her look after an animal, the singer said she wanted her look to give the energy of “sexy garlic.”

Doja has long positioned herself as a fashion boundary-pusher, so she is always right at home on the red carpet. In fact, some of the singer’s most experimental looks happened at award shows. When it comes to the VMAs, Doja hasn’t held anything back. When she took the virtual stage in 2020, the singer showed up in an ensemble that can only be described as a sexy fish, complete with lit-up genitalia. A year later while hosting the ceremony, the singer accepted a VMA award in a head-to-toe padded quilt dress designed by Thom Browne that Doja compared to a colorful worm. “I never thought I’d be dressed as a worm while accepting an award,” she said.

Her “sexy fish” VMAs outfit is, to no one’s surprise, not the only look Doja has worn that draws attention to her… nether regions. At the 2020 AVN Awards, aka the “Oscars of porn,” the singer showed up in a skin-tight mesh bodysuit that sparsely covered her crotch in rhinestones. The look expertly combined the disco-inspired era “Say So” with the theme of the night, an outfit her stylist would later call her “Cher moment.”

Whether she’s posing in a glittery merkin, accepting an award dressed as a neon worm, clomping around in massive chicken claw-like shoes, many of her wildest outfits have one thing in common: they were designed in collaboration with her stylist, Brett Alan Nelson. While Doja has always had her own style, there’s no denying that Nelson has helped take her fashion to the next, sometimes bizarre, level. As a central part of Doja’s team since 2019, Nelson is drawn to over-the-top, theatrical styles. “She and I get each other so well,” Nelson said about his work with Doja in an interview with Vogue. “We bicker like brother and sister, but I know her, sometimes better than she knows herself. She’s down to have fun, take risks, and she trusts me, which in my industry, that is the best thing a creative could ever ask for.”

Musicians Are Selling Clothes On Depop As Both A Fun Way To Engage With Fans, And A Way To Survive

November 3, 2021 by newhiphopnews

depop speedy ortiz the regrettes — Getty Image/Ralph Ordaz

Music and fashion have gone hand in hand for decades. Since the ‘50s and ‘60s, dating back to the rise of Elvis and the Beatles, popular trends in music have influenced how people dress, from mods and the hippies to ‘70s punk styles and glam, and beyond. Today, fashion-conscious shoppers have more outlets than ever from which to choose, but one shopping method has exploded in popularity over the last decade: thrifting. And your favorite musicians are joining in by selling items from their closets.

Thrifting is nothing new, of course. Buying secondhand has long been a way for shoppers to save money, express individuality, and, more recently, reduce their carbon footprint. As buying and selling via secondhand/vintage/consignment apps (Depop, Poshmark, Tradesy, Mercaci, ThredUp) has risen in popularity, musicians have, in addition to the traditional band merch, started selling clothes they’ve worn on tour or for photoshoots, or just happened to have taking up space in their homes.

“What made me start a Depop shop was being a touring musician,” says Brooke Dickson of The Regrettes. “In-between tours, I need to have some kind of income. It’s kind of tough to have a job that you can hold down that’s totally fine with you being on your own schedule.

“I also have so many different costume-y kind of clothes I’ve used for performances and photoshoots,” Dickson adds. “[Selling] accomplishes multiple things at once, where I’m getting rid of old stuff that I don’t need to keep anymore, and then instead of just donating it, I figure I might as well sell some of the good stuff that people like me who would be on Depop as well would be looking for.”

Meanwhile, singer-songwriter Wafia Al-Rikabi, who also sells on Depop, grew up moving from country to country with her family. “We’d always have to pack up and leave, so I would [only] have things that I could fit into one suitcase,” she describes. “I’ve always been a not-owning-a-lot-of-things person because of my parents’ lifestyle.” Now, as a performer, Wafia has a surplus of pieces sent over from brands, and in the last few years, her visibility has increased following her successful cover of Mario’s “Let Me Love You.” Depop, which mainly attracts younger sellers hunting for Y2K-era garments, reached out to Wafia personally. “They reached out to me, and I just have so many things that I’ve only worn once. Even in the process of putting them on Depop, I was trying to be really considerate to not mark up the prices. If you want it, you can have it.”

For Speedy Ortiz singer/guitarist Sadie Dupuis, who also performs as Sad13 and runs a small Depop shop, donating and consigning clothes has been something she’s done since childhood. “I grew up with my mom going to consignment and thrift stores,” she says. “I got Depop when I was first moving to Philly in early 2016, and I had a feeling I was going to have a lot less closet space. I thought, ‘Maybe there’s somebody who wants to wear the dress that I wore to play with Junglepussy or something.’ I would try to put a nice note and some stickers or something, almost to make it like a merch item.”

While some artists look at selling their clothes as a passive side hustle, a pragmatic way to free up space in their homes, others, like Nashville-based performer Stef Colvin, are much more heavily engaged in the process, even making consistent income through thrifting. Colvin’s shop currently has 37K followers; it’s where she sells a wide array of ‘90s and ‘00s pieces to her Gen Z audience, who, Colvin theorizes, are most interested in following multidisciplinary creators who make content that is both aspirational and relatable. “I think [music and fashion] live very cohesively together,” Colvin says. “[Gen Z] is very into aesthetics, they’re into having things that no one else has, some of them are concerned about the environment. That’s why they thrift. Fashion is such a big part of my music branding as well, and I think Gen Z kind of looks for that in artists.”

Artists’ individual reasons for selling can vary, but one thing everyone seems to have in common is the destination: Depop. As opposed to consignment apps like Poshmark, which is probably Depop’s number one competitor, Depop, which was founded in 2011 and is based in London, is more focused on selling one-of-a-kind vintage pieces and tends to draw a younger, more creative class of shoppers.

When Dickson started her shop, she figured more fans of her band would already be Depop customers. “It seems like more young people, more trendy, alternative, whatever you want to call it, people closer to my age and fans of the band, would be on Depop versus Poshmark,” she says. “When I look on Poshmark, I tend to see more, I don’t know, Madewell, J.Crew, stuff like that. I still wear that stuff too, but that just leads me to believe that it’s slightly older, slightly more designer stuff. My older sister, for example, shops on Poshmark more.”

On top of generational consuming habits, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic likewise plays a role in how artists are selling clothing and other merchandise to their fans. As a Spotify For Artists story points out, last year’s pause in touring meant that artists had to find other methods of engaging with their fans, and fans were hungry for ways to support their favorite artists. As a result, there’s been a marked rise in artist merch sales. Though secondhand selling is not quite the same thing as traditional band merch, artists offering items from their own closets is just another way for fans to foster a parasocial connection.

“I have bought more merch from artists I like during this last year or two than I probably did before,” Dickson says. “We all want to feel connected to the creatives or people we follow online. I think we all want to feel like we know them.”

Taking it a step further, Colvin is convinced that many artists might want to lean harder into the merchandise space. “I honestly don’t think enough artists capitalize off of the merch-clothing element,” she argues. “If you already have a fan base that wants to buy from you, why aren’t you dropping more consistent and better merch? I don’t think enough people do the clothing right, and they’re missing out on a lot of money that they could be making.”

For all of her success selling on Depop, however, Dupuis feels trepidation around the environmental implications when artists feel external pressure to capitalize on their merch. “It really freaks me out that the way that bands have to make money now is by entering the garment industry, which is so messed up for the planet and bands are expected to have, you know, six different, like, cotton t-shirt designs per year,” she admits. “I have complicated feelings about that as a sustainable way for music artists to make their income. There’s so many unseen things that go into making these products when we are in an unprecedented climate crisis.”

That isn’t to say that Dupuis isn’t all for secondhand sales, which is much more environmentally conscious. Likewise, Speedy Ortiz has switched to printing on sustainable materials and selling in lower quantities. But, she points out, artists shouldn’t have to feel like they have to depend on merchandise sales and “run secondhand boutiques” just to survive. “I feel like things produced in limited quantities with secondhand or found materials is a way forward to making an income for artists,” she continues. “But I also just wish that digital music could be valued at a more fair price point so that we wouldn’t have to be brainstorming every which way.”

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

J. Cole Is Secretly One Of Rap’s Most Stylish Artists

November 2, 2021 by newhiphopnews

Before launching his currently running Off-Season tour, J. Cole made a statement with his performance at the iHeartRadio Festival. It wasn’t a political statement, or even an announcement, though. It was a fashion statement. Rocking a tie-dye shirt, sweatpants, and black Crocs, Cole captured the attention of social media. While he’s far from the only rapper to endorse the Broomfield, Colorado shoe brand’s signature chunky, no-effort clogs, it was notable that he did so during such a high-profile performance. However, it shouldn’t be surprising; J. Cole has always secretly been one of rap’s most stylish artists.

I know what you’re thinking: “J. Cole? Stylish??” And I get it. If you’re online in any way, you’ve likely seen the Fayetteville, North Carolina rapper getting roasted for seemingly putting minimal effort into his performance fits — see the aforementioned Crocs instance. He’s never been one to shout out name brands or construct elaborate ensembles with glittering accessories dangling from his neck or wrists. He’s the ultra-regular rapper whose almost extreme relatability gets him clowned for not being flashy enough either in content or presentation.

J. Cole performed in sweatpants and Crocs

A legend pic.twitter.com/iOSmfVcLbG

— Team DREAMVILLE (@TeamDreamville) September 18, 2021

Let’s get a few things clear, though. Fashion and style are two different things. As Cole’s mentor Jay-Z once said, “I can’t teach you my swag / You can pay for school but you can’t buy class.” Just donning a stack of expensive items bearing the brand marks of Italian designers doesn’t equate to having style; anyone can buy their way into fashion icon status with enough money. Having style means having a signature look, an ethos behind what you’re wearing besides showing off your bank account. It’s about showing people who you are. Plenty of rappers are arguably more fashionable than J. Cole but while designers’ names pop off of individual pieces, their ensembles often look like they got dressed in the dark with their stunner shades on.

Cole knows exactly what he’s going for with his looks, opting for comfort over name recognition. And yes, he too flaunts established rules about color matching and fit, he usually turns out to just be ahead of a coming trend rather than out of style. Consider his ultra laid-back looks of late. Some may consider them frumpy or lazy, but who among us didn’t give up on jeans during the pandemic in favor of layabout fits better suited to our new working from home lifestyles (I mean, those of you who didn’t already work from home)? Even his adoption of Crocs as performance wear reflects the foam clogs’ newfound popularity and cultural cachet. Industry peers like Justin Bieber, Nicki Minaj, and Post Malone have collaborated with the brand with pieces so highly demanded they’ve sold out within minutes of availability.

Maybe Cole hasn’t become a fashion icon because his simple, cozy fits reflect his down-to-earth persona a little too well. Just look at Kanye West, who’s gotten away with leather kilts, retro puffer vests, cultural appropriation (those keffiyehs didn’t bother anyone else?), and all types of other outlandish sartorial choices — including his own lazy-boy, dad-life-inspired Yeezy brand — almost solely because he presents himself as a fashion maven, going to designers’ shows and pitching fits (no pun intended) about his perceived lack of support from those in the industry.

Say what you want about Cole’s love for tie-dye and baggy joggers, at least his looks have a lot of personality. Yeezy seasons 2-6 were roundly ridiculed for being bland and lackadaisical, with Kanye seemingly re-pitching the same shapeless, earth-tone pieces year after year. Cole may not have his own brand, but his style has an identity; he isn’t just mashing together designer pieces for the sake of Frankenstein-ing the most expensive outfit for the sole purpose of flexing. You can even see how his — and Yeezy’s — respective influences have begun to spread. More and more celebrities like Bieber and Billie Eilish have already embraced the cozy lifestyle dressing for comfort over Vogue approval… And fans have naturally reciprocated. Being outside after the past year is anxiety-inducing enough; why not at least be warm (or well-ventilated), mobile, and free from worries about showing off the quarantine 15 many of us picked up after a year of UberEats (or Postmates, or DoorDash) and suspended gym memberships?

If you ask me, J. Cole always had the right idea. He’s always just dressed like himself, even as he strove to be a superstar rapper. If anything, that’s the most hip-hop thing he could’ve done. Remember when the Beastie Boys tried to dress like rappers, with their matching Adidas sweatsuits? Russell Simmons saw right through them; they looked ridiculous. Instead, he told them, they should be themselves — that would endear them far more to the culture than looking like outsiders trying to dress the part. It seemed like that would be the rule forever, but somewhere along the way, that rule got lost. Keeping it real wasn’t enough; you had to look like you were rich — which, to the newly wealthy artists of the platinum era, meant wearing all the money they were “making,” even if they were just wasting their advance money to look cool by someone else’s standard.

From the moment he arrived on the scene, J. Cole offered an antithesis to the money-hungry image often associated with major label rap acts. Sure, for a while, he got caught up in the hype himself (hello, “Mr. Nice Watch”), but in time, he grew into his status and embraced his own way of doing things. His style is a reflection of his music, which is a rejection of rap’s status quo — or maybe just a reclamation of its roots. Yes, the pioneers of the culture wanted to be fly, but they wanted to be fly their way, to show the world who they were without frills or having to code-switch to fit in. Cole doesn’t switch up for anyone else’s approval, which is really what hip-hop is all about. For that alone, he should be considered not just a style icon, but one of rap’s role models for redefining the rules and showing the world that style and substance don’t have to be opposites. Like Cole’s intricate rhymes and his mainstream success, they can counterintuitively go hand-in-hand.