PRESERVE 2PAC (2022)Painting by Aiiroh.
Before I start with my selection of portraits, depicting some of the best Hip hop singers ever, I would like to briefly highlight how this latest form of musical expression has, since its inception, influenced multiple aspects of society, including, both the world of art, fashion and visual culture more generally. As far as art history is concerned, the most striking example is surely graffiti, social and cultural manifestations of mural painting, officially recognized as the most obvious and tangible sign of the existence of hip hop culture. At this point I absolutely have to intervene, doing my best in order to dispel this last myth, since, only ten years after its birth, that is, around the 1970s, graffiti art actually began to be associated with the aforementioned music, becoming a symbol of a binomial actually devised by the media in order to commercialize urban culture. This artificial bond, perceived as ancient and natural, was further affirmed during the 1980s, when the language of graffiti was also juxtaposed with rap music and breakdancing, all manifestations of the talents of young people from the most neglected areas of New York City. In a nutshell: such a combination of visual arts, dance and music, collectively understood as Hip Hop, became effectively one only in 1980, which is precisely when, in an article in the Village Voice, Richard Goldstein first formulated the above-explained association. Now, after this brief and clarifying introduction, I would like to illustrate the procedure according to which I wanted to develop my top 10, which, having the purpose of collecting portraits of well-known Hip Hop exponents, has endeavored, by means of the latter's features, to give rise to rather lofty connections, that is, referring to some well-known masterpieces of art history, as well as to rather dated cultural traditions. All this, will be accompanied by a musical introduction, aimed and presenting each singer with one of his most iconic pieces, hoping to make you dance a little, while practicing the more static activity of reading.
Portraits
JAY-Z. (2022)Painting by Iryna Kastsova.
10. Jay-z by Iryna Kastsova
"I got 99 problems, but a bit** ain't one" .
That's right, yes, that's right: the beaming smile of rapper Jay-z, immortalized by Artmajeur artist Iryna Kastsova, now seems to have put aside the anger as well as the many problems of 2004, the year of the release of the above-mentioned song 99 Problems, conceived by Shawn Corey Carter in reference to the work of a rap icon, namely Ice-T, who, in 1993 wrote a song of the same name for the album Home Invasion. The purpose of this important quote comes from Jay-Z's desire to openly confront rap's critics, in a kind of revenge ready to also address any manifestations of racism, prejudice, and abuse of power, through the powerful message of a hit, which reached the number thirty position on the Billboards Hot 100. Turning from humming the aforementioned and popular refrain to a more accurate analysis of the portrait in question, Kastsova defines her depiction of the singer as an expressionist Pop art, a term with which I fully agree, as the subject, namely a popular character, whose foreground defines him as an eternal icon, seems to look to the tradition of Warhol, while the decidedly vivid and skillfully juxtaposed colors lead me directly to the example of the Fauves. The work of the latter could be well summed up by the brush of Henri Matisse, whose chromatic vivacity found high peaks of expression, as far as the portrait genre is concerned, in Portrait of André Derain (1905), a work, which, in its inversion of subject, finds its counterpart in André Derain's 1905 masterpiece depicting Henri Matisse. This exchange of tributes could be seen, within the more litigious rap culture, in the same way as dissing, which, although it is an exchange of insults between two artists, actually conceals a deep spirit of competition, surely dictated by the recognition of the other's talent.
CARDI B | DIGITAL ART BY SIMON RIEBER (2021)Digital Arts by Simon Rieber.
9. Cardi b by Simon Rieber
"I make money moves (ayy, ayy)
Say I don't gotta dance
I make money move"
Cardi does well to prefer thinking about making money, or making certain moves to earn it, than wasting time simply dancing (monetization of time). After all, this is what distinguishes ordinary people from successful ones, namely the ability to turn their talents, what they love and what they are good at, into highly profitable, stimulating and damned enjoyable professions. Okay, having gone to a lot of trouble to ennoble a somewhat vulgar and aggressive, but decidedly unmistakably rhythmic, incalsating and engaging text, I move on to the description of the artwork depicting the aforementioned rapper, such as the digital portrait that captures her close-up, ending at the height of a neck, which is intent on dripping, to gradually dissolve like an icicle in the August sun. This Surrealist version of the portrait genre can find a well-known counterpart in Magritte's intepretation titled Double secret (1927), a masterpiece in which the human body is, also, in gradual destruction. Still on the subject of the latter painting, the main theme of the work turns out to be the constant attempt to understand what lies beneath the flesh of the effigy, a figure that seems itself to become a cold symbol of death, quite distinct from the winking gaze of Cardi, who, though tried by the dripping of her neck, continues to look the viewer in the eye, to show what success looks like today.
50 CENT (2022)Drawing by Paul Stowe.
8. 50 Cent by Paul Stowe
“Go, go, go, go, go, go
Go, shorty
It's your birthday
We gon' party like it's your birthday
We gon' sip Bacardi like it's your birthday
And you know we don't give a f**k it's not your birthday”
Here we are, once again, with another subtlety worthy of the most chaste and profound love poetry, where a modern prince invites us not to dance by hugging him, but to party, most likely for the purpose of getting drunk and ending up in a hotel room, just as if it were the craziest and most carefree celebration of our birthday. It is precisely in this context that I would like to make it clear how my use of irony is not really dictated by a concrete dislike for the genre of hip hop, but that it is only functional for the purpose of lightly telling a story, since, alas, the aforementioned form of music is precisely the one that I myself listen to the most in my headphones! Okay, coming back to us, if in the song of the aforementioned rapper what mattered was getting a big hangover, narrated through a music video, which tells of the creation of the perfect rapper, Paul Stowe's intent is instead much less scattershot and festive, as the focal point of his work remains, unquestionably, the static gaze of 50 Cent, who seems to observe the viewer with an air of defiance, aimed at immediately demanding that respect, which fame has now bestowed on his figure. On the subject of the gaze within art history, on the other hand, it is good to make it clear how its meaning is linked, first and foremost, to a series of presumptions and rules, mainly dictated by affiliation, provenance, knowledge, and expectations, regarding the maker, the subject depicted, and the viewer. Certainly, examining the way we look at the effigy, and the latter reciprocates, remains one of the most intriguing and immediate ways to understand the narrative of a work of art, which can lead to a subsequent in-depth study in this regard, which, mediane the use of the internet, books, etc., is aimed at revealing the actual meanings of the work, to be added to the previous and indelible personal considerations, the result of a first and casual meeting of eyes.
ICE CUBE (2021)Painting by Burn Art.
7. Ice cube by Burn Art
“Just wakin' up in the mornin', gotta thank God
I don't know but today seems kinda odd
No barkin' from the dog, no smog”
Ice cube, in the aforementioned 1993 text, titled It was a good day, describes a day according to him as idyllic, that is, marked by happy little things, which, repeated over time, resulted in a rather pleasant 24-hour narrative. Personally, I imagined the sky of this particular day, in which all astral convergences were concentrated in harmony, relaxation and pleasure, marked by the presentation of a scorching sun, the sole protagonist of a clear sky, in which the sad clouds seem seemingly extinguished. Thinking about what has just been described, I associated the sun with heat and heat with the hat, noting how the latter appears with great recurrence to adorn the heads of the most well-known rappers of all time, such as, for example, Snoop dogg, 50 Cent, Eminem, etc. Having arrived at this consideration, I wanted to elaborate on the relationship between the aforementioned accessory and art history, noting how such a garment of diversified design alluded, in classical works, to the rank of the effigy, while, progressively from the seventeenth century onward, its presence became more studied, turning it into a subject-object of imaginative creation, aimed at bringing character, uniqueness, personality, intrigue and color to compositions. Only from the twentieth century onward, however, did headgear take on increasingly expressive functions, aimed at identifying the wearer's own personality.
SNOOP DOGG (2017)Painting by Natalia Kostrova.
6. Snoop Dogg by Natalia Kostrova
“Da, da, da, da, da
It's the m********kin' D-O-double-G (Snoop Dogg!)”
Here it is! At position number six, I have placed one of the best-known rap intros of all time, devised by Snoop Dogg, icon class of 1971, who, as in the case of Kostrova's portrait has often been captured with his unforgettable braids, aimed to take different forms, which take us back to a more intricate and complex narrative, having the purpose of illustrating real hair sculptures, originating in the most ancient tribal art forms of 3500 BC. In fact, it was customary in every African region and tribe to propose a distinct style of hair braiding, to be understood as a peculiar social art, as well as a means of communication, according to which an idividual could discern a great deal of information about another person, such as age, social status, etc. In reality, however, this custom has sad origins, as it arose from the need of African slave women to hide rice or seeds in their intricate hair, in order to have, both a snack and material by means of which to leave messages for other slaves. From this era on, braids have certainly changed, although, in the account of art history it is possible to notice a clear source of inspiration for Snoop Dogg, such as the hairstyles worn by the women depicted in the illuminated codices of The Turin-Milan Hours and Guillaume de Machaut's Le Remède de Fortune, Le Dit du Lion. Which of these do you think Hip hop's most famous "pooch" must have been inspired by?
EMINEM (2022)Painting by Laura Foort.
5. Eminem by Laura Foort
"I'm Slim Shady, yes, I'm the real Shady
All you other Slim Shadys are just imitating
So won't the real Slim Shady please stand up
Please stand up, please stand up?
The refrain above is an excerpt from the song The Real Slim Shady, a song of Eminem's best known, which, taken from his classic album The Marshall Mathers LP (2000), is a critical commentary on the music industry, as well as an externalization of how disruptive his career has been up to that point, brought forth through the repetition of the artist's deranged arterego name, Slim Shady. After briefly introducing the track, let's move on to an analysis of the painting by Artmajeur artist Laura Foort, who created an intense close-up of the singer, wearing a black hat with the inscription Shady 08. This view sparked a question in me: what masterpieces in art history feature hats of more or less similar shape? Found them! I am referring to the red caps, which appear similarly fitted to the heads of Antonello da Messina's Portrait of a Man (1475-1476) and Filippino Lippi's Portrait of a Young Man in a Red Cap (1485). In addition, taking a more general context into consideration, it is possible to note that there were a great many red caps immortalized by the figurative narrative, but for what reason did this happen? In fifteenth-century Italy, a hat was a must if one did not want to look like a no-good, and the middle class was not satisfied with simple headgear, but rather with rather refined objects, which were in large numbers red, just as can be seen in the numerous masterpieces of Botticelli, but also in those of Pinturicchio, Pontormo, Raphael, Titian and Benozzo Gozzoli.
NICKI MINAJ (2021)Digital Arts by Dajiù.
4.Nicki Minaj by Dajiù
I begin by wanting to propose a rather awkward, boorish, embarrassing question bordering on bad taste, so while I take this opportunity to apologize in advance, I wonder: how many of you actually remember the lyrics of Minaj's songs and how many, I think more numerous, have actually imagined in their minds what her butt would look like big live? Here, excuse me, it is the usual Tuscan irony that strikes me, I will now proceed to clarify how I making fun of these esteemed and capable artists, only wanting to make the art-historical subject matter of my story less boring, sterile and somewhat predictable. So there you have it, here is Nicki's proposed text:
“Oh my gosh, look at her butt
Oh my gosh, look at her butt
Oh my gosh, look at her butt”
And here we go again! Now that I am ready to avoid the topic of Minaj's butt, I refer back to the quote from Anaconda's lyrics to allude to the latter's video, where the dancing gets sensual and wild especially in the buttocks area, which makes me think of some of the masterpieces in art history that have highlighted women's b-sides, such as, for example, the beautiful buttocks in Bouguereau's Letoile perdue (1884), Hayez's Venus Joking with Two Doves (1830), Giacomo Grosso's The Nude (1896), etc. It is precisely in this last figurative tale that one could not miss a mention of the master of the butt par excellence, in my opinion, Gustave Courbet, author of the realistic and sensual buttocks immortalized by The Bathers of 1853. Having come to the end of the story of position number four, I am aware that this part of my top 10 remains particularly close to your heart, not to say butt...
KENDRICK LAMAR COLORS (2018)Digital Arts by Noé Pauporté (Art de Noé).
3. Kendrick Lamar by Noé Pauporté (Art de Noé)
“Be humble (hol' up, hol' up)
Bitch, sit down (hol' up, hol' up, lil' bit**)”
The above is part of the lyrics of Humble, a 2017 song by Kendrick Lamar, about which the artist himself revealed how, the ironically swaggering song is actually the result of an introspective activity, aimed at trying to contain an ever-expanding ego, given the great success, which the singer has found in the public. One could almost say, that, as in Artmajeur's artist's work, the singer's personality is shattered into the dimension of the portrait and the portrait of his shadow, the former having the task of flaunting a new wealth, the latter presenting the purpose of rationalizing and appeasing any eagerness for success, while remaining, precisely, humble. A similar splitting between effigy and shadow can be found, within the history of art, in Giorgio de Chirico's masterpiece titled Self-Portrait with Shadow (1919), a work executed after the artist moved from Ferrara to Rome in the wake of two important but disappointing Roman exhibitions, which led the painter to defend his work from critics and, also, from his colleagues, including, first and foremost, Carlo Carrà.
THE NOTORIOUS BIG #4 (2022)Digital Arts by Morgan Paslier.
2. The Notorious B.I.G. by Morgan Paslier
“I love it when you call me Big Poppa
Throw your hands in the air if you's a true player”
Well now that I know what Notorious B.I.G. prefers to be called, I will proceed to do the same, recalling how the aforementioned song, namely Big Poppa, tells of how the singer himself is intent on playing on the idea that his verses, coupled with his physical size, make women fall in love. Not wishing to question either the latter's charm or his amatory skills, arguing that in any case surely the money was helpful in making him look better and more likeable, I proceed by highlighting the iconic attribute, which the Artmajeur artist made the rapper in question wear: a crown. It is precisely the latter that makes possible the juxtaposition of Morgan Paslier's digital art with Basquiat's work Untitled 1982, a painting in which a strongman himself wears such a regal attribute. Still on the subject of the master of street art, it is worth highlighting, however, how the crown, a recurring motif within his work, takes on a specific meaning, aimed at endowing the characters wearing it with strong ambition, determination and perseverance, qualities that are meant to lead them to the attainment of notoriety and respect from artistic society, peculiarities that seem well suited to the image of Notorious in question.
TUPAC AMARU SHAKUR (2022)Drawing by Abdel Maha.
1. Tupac by Abdel Maha
“Keep ya head up, ooh, child, things are gonna get easier
Keep-keep ya head up, ooh, child, things'll get brighter (ohh) “
I close this top 10 with the profound verses of Tupac, capable of restoring to the genre of hip hop even its most distinguishing capacity for social denunciation, aimed at spurring to action, in favor of obtaining better living conditions. In this particular case, as is evident from the lyric themselve, the protagonist of the singer's attentions are women, whom the rapper invites to walk with their heads held high, despite the scant respect men have for them. In this sense, it is worth noting how Tupac refers especially to black women, probably alluding to the fact that he did not know his father, but was raised by a lonely, strong, and therefore always head up African American mother. Turning to lighter themes, I verified how Tupac's habit of wearing bandannas may have been inspired by a great masterpiece of art history, namely Jan van Eyck's Portrait of a Man with a Red Turban (1433), a painting, perhaps among the artist's best-known half-length portraits, in which a man, against a neutral, dark background, is caught in a three-quarter-length position, capable of revealing an intense psychological and physiognomic investigation. Finally, the man, dressed in a sober robe, stands out because he wears a conspicuous red turban, which creates a complex of folds on which the light amuses itself by playing.
Olimpia Gaia Martinelli