Fashion

Fashion

To create.

What does DJ Khaled actually do? It’s all in the immortal exclamation of his record label, “We (a community of artists and producers brought together by Khaled) (make) the Best Music.” There’s a cult appreciation for his seeming uselessness, but Khaled is far from a glorified hype-man. His fame is an unexpected reminder that very few hip-hop projects exist without extensive collaboration. We’re accustomed to applauding the voices that we hear, even if there are separate authors behind the instrumental and the lyrics. As a hands-on financier, Khaled is as much a part of the final product as his artists, curating the color palate that his creators will use to paint his masterpiece.

Fashion

Trendy apparel.

J. Cole is the third American rapper I’ve ever seen in a soccer jersey. His banana yellow PSG kit tastefully accents the Caribbean aesthetic of Bas’ Tribe video and is a taste of a growing trend towards European football in a genre that has long considered an MJ name-drop a right of passage. The role of soccer as a reference, however, is still largely undefined. Drake’s Ronaldo comparison on Blue Tint enlists the basketball model—employing the game-recognize-game paradigm and affiliating sport with excellence. Cole’s choice of fit is much more blue collar in a video that purposefully excludes designer clothes and foreign cars. Regardless of its association, footy’s appearance in hip-hop is another whisper of its growing popularity in the US.