Common Visual Motifs of Hip Hop:

Common Dress:

Typical attire worn by hip hop aficionados or hip hop musicians themselves during hip hop’s existence is generally composed of sports wear items such as sweatshirts, hoodies, trainers and baseball caps, and casual wear like jeans, oversized t-shirts and beanies, although each era has its exceptions, like the crazy, performance outfits worn by early rappers at hip-hops beginning. Colours throughout tend to be black and other dark colours, but for a short period during the 1980s and 1990s, bright and colourful patterns and neon fabrics were popular as a mix of garish 80s fashions became popular and the sudden rise of afro-centric hip hop caused people to start wearing traditional African prints.

Colours associated with Hip Hop:

Red and Black are two colours that occur frequently in hip hop, since its creation until the present day. Black is the color of authority and power, and this fits emcees tendency to command respect and assert themselves as the leader or someone to be celebrated, with their attitude and braggadocios raps, it is a stylish and timeless colour and hip hop artists have always gravitated towards fashion and creating a star like image to further prove themselves as performers. Black outfits can also be overpowering, or make the wearer seem aloof or evil, villains, such as Dracula, wear black and this links with the fact that a huge amount of emcees throughout hip hop have embraced the idea of creating a sense of evil about themselves, this either stemming from the fact that they are gangster rappers and need to remind the listener that they are dangerous or to be feared, or because certain emcees like their music to include a horrorcore theme. Red is the most emotionally intense colour, it stimulates a faster heartbeat and breathing. Some of its attributes include strength, energy, basic survival, 'fight or flight', stimulation, masculinity, defiance and aggression. These things are often themes that occur in the lyrics of hip hop. Not forgetting that red is the colour of blood, either pointing to the perhaps violent and sometimes murderous lyrics that occur in a large amount of hip hop, or a nod to the colour code of an infamous gang in LA, a theme that pops up in a lot of gangster rap songs.

Target Audience Profile:

•17-40

•Large cities in America or the UK , like New York & LA, or London & Manchester

•Either music based jobs such as DJ’s, producers, rappers or studio engineers, or simply people with different careers that also appreciate hip-hop and want to know about it in further detail

•Income varies largely from person to person, but at least with enough disposable income to afford a subscription to a high end monthly music magazine, and enough money to support a music collection and good quality sound system/headphones/portable music device.

A day in the life of Olive Soulless:

Olive is a 26 year old DJ in East London. He was brought up in Hackney and has always had an interest in music. His uncle is a jazz musician, and at a young age Olive started playing around with instruments and music software. At age 12 he discovered hip-hop and started to research its history and beginnings. By 15 he was producing his own tracks on an old 1980s MPC he bought second hand from a shop near his home. By 18 Olive had listened to all hip hop up to the present day and began researching modern hip hop and electronic beats. Olive still produces hip hop instrumentals and often releases mixtapes of the beats he has made on Soundcloud and twitter. He can be hired for gigs and events at venues to perform a live DJ set, with a mix of digital equipment and old turntables with dub plates. He is interested in all forms of hip hop and has immersed himself in the culture, buying typical hip hop inspired clothing, using slang that originates from New York in the 1980s, and participating in graffiti and street art. He is part of a small group of underground hip hop artists, him being the producer and DJ, and working with two emcees, one whom he has known since secondary school, and one who he met at a festival two years ago. Olive has a monthly subscription to a hip hop magazine and buys vinyl and cd’s every week. He is sponsored by Pioneer, and often receives high quality music equipment for listening to, and creating music.