Spotify’s RapCaviar unveiled several murals across the country, Friday, featuring their selections for the Mount Rushmore of rappers from the 2010s. RapCaviar’s list includes J. Cole, Drake, Kendrick Lamar, and Nicki Minaj.
The murals popped up in each of the rapper’s hometowns of Los Angeles, New York, Toronto, and Raleigh. The pieces were each designed by Jeks One, Luke Pollard, Jacob Rochester, and Anderson Bluu.
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“When the initial Mt Rushmore of 2010s Rap viral moment happened, we knew it had become so big that it deserved a physical installation in the real world,” Carl Chery, Spotify’s Creative Director & Head of Urban Music, explained, according to uDiscover Music.“Nicki, Cole, Kendrick, and Drake came of age at the beginning of the 2010s, setting the tone for hip-hop in the streaming era, and now 12-years later they are each legends in their own right and pillars of the genre. These murals are a celebration of their contributions, and we hope their locations in each artists’ hometown is meaningful to them and their fans.”
There are many artists left off of RapCaviar’s list, but three artists who rarely see their way onto Mount Rushmore lists are the members of the Migos. Back in June, Quavo, Offset, and Takeoff explained why they think the method of ranking rappers presents a disadvantage to rappers in groups.
“Say for instance, they say ‘name your top five rappers,” Offset told The Shade Room at the time. “They really count us out cause we in a group. Just like XXL Freshmen, during the time, we couldn’t be on it cause we was a group, and they don’t do groups. It should be a little circle with all three heads like boom boom boom on that Mt. Rushmore. Cause w done birthed a lot of this.”
Check out RapCaviar’s Mount Rushmore murals below as well as the artists behind them.