Y2K is fast approaching, the conveyor belt of manufactured pop is churning out diamond-certified bestsellers from tween stars of the Mickey Mouse Club. The rap counterculture is reaching new commodified heights. The deification of Tupac and The Notorious B.I.G. continues, casting shadows over the industry, but rap’s new children DMX and JAY-Z are garnering mass […]

The beginning of 2019 feels like it was from another lifetime now that we’ve reached mid-June and summer is suddenly fleeting from our view. Even though we kicked off the year with a roundup of the top 10 artists to watch, there are obviously so many more musicians on our radar six months later. We […]

Time’s arrow marches ever forward and here we are, nearing the final stretch of 2019 and in a prime position to start humming and hawing over which of the year’s releases we will herald as the very best in a few months’ time. Blessedly, we are a ways away from having to pit such instant […]

This piece appears as part of our initiative on Identity & Representation, a six-month-long project highlighting different facets of identity and how they shape the practices, conventions, and conversations happening in the Highsnobiety world. Head here for the full series. Kanye West once famously said, “Being fresh is more important than having money,” but the definition of fresh […]

Hip-hop has always been an audiovisual genre. It emerged around the same time as the music video; Queen’s pioneering “Bohemian Rhapsody” visual was released in 1975, four years before the Sugarhill Gang released “Rapper’s Delight.” Since then, rap stars have become icons through their aesthetic choices nearly as much as they have through successful songs. […]