WHY DO ALL RAP MAGAZINES LOOK THE SAME?

Most rap magazines look remarkably similar. A simple image search brings up multiple images of covers featuring a man's face looking out at you, biceps bulging, and three main colours - red, white and black. Just take a look!

I wanted to challenge the mainstream style for rap music by looking at where artists are breaking with this tradition and creating their own idea of what rap means to them and how they express themselves.

Keith Ape - Japanese rap star.

Keith Ape is a rapper who started off in Japan and is an up and coming artist on his way to global success. He has a very different style to most rap artists in the US and UK but is having a big impact on the music scene, challenging the norms and conventions around rap music. His work looks different. It sounds different. It is clearly influenced by anime, a form of animated Japanese cartoon.





Many women rap artists shown on magazine covers look sexualised. They wear very revealing outfits which panders to a male dominated culture, and is less about their musical talent. The V cover featuring Missy Elliott was refreshing to see. She has attitude. She looks in control and is fully clothed (!). King magazine on the other hand is clearly marketing itself to an exclusively male audience, using stereotypes of women to sell their magazine. It feels very dated and not in line with the current view of women and their place in society - as equals, as musicians first and foremost.