Trap. The combination of the genres of trance and rap usually through sound mixing and editing, has become a staple of parties and festival shows. They share similar use of synth, heavy base and spoken words to create music. But what interests me out of these is the artwork and how the artwork mimics the mixing of themes between rap and techno much in the same way the music does.

Here we have two separate albums, one from a single artist and the other a collection of
trance music from multiple sources. but they both demonstrate characteristics demonstrative of album artwork from this genre. The use of psychedelic shapes and colors tie into the long history and association between trance music and drug culture. They sparse use of text and very modern, usually sans-serif fonts are present here also. There is a feeling of otherworldly-ness to these covers, in a way they try to touch on the shifting adaptive and full feeling that is found in trance.

Here now are some examples of rap album covers. They have radically different themes, pallets, imagery and text. With the theme focusing around "urban" life and it's ups and down, there is use of urban settings mixed in with hard street life, loneliness and the like. this isn't to be mistaken for more popularized rappers that have been stereotyped as the "drugs, guns and women" group. I picked this subset of rap as I see it as a more "pure" form that has mostly stayed away from the influence of other genres ("nas" is a great example of this) This has also lead to there album artwork to maintain the same stylized lettering, with a heavy focus on the artist that was common with earlier records by Public Enemy, Sir Mixalot, Ice-T, etc. Where the trance albums had psychedelic colors, the color schemes are more subdued here using monochromatic color schemes and a more complex presentation. This captures better the type of music these record have: hard, biting, angry music with heavy drums, little treble and a focus on the spoken lyrics.


What we have so far are two different sets of cover art accomplishing two separate things; on one hand, we have rap music and the other we have trance. now when brought together you have music that takes elements from each and can be best described with the word "bangin". But does the artwork follow? Left is a album cover from Cashmere Cat, a premiere dj who specializes in live shows and mixes trap. I chose to start with this one for the fact that it bucks my thesis. The most important thing to remember is that as much as they are blending two previous genres they are changing and adapting and creating new things that are separate and will start to exist in ways its predecessor could not. But we still haven't moved out of the formative years for this music so there are  plenty of examples of the combining I spoke of earlier. The album cover pictured below is an example of how  combining the two different art styles and typography into one piece can work.

On the left we have a dj duo called RUN DMT's latest album cover that uses psychedelic imagery as well as the more moderated pallet for their album. The text is very modern, but the name is a pun on the oldschool rap group called RUN DMC turning it into a reference for the illegal drug DMT. This is on multiple levels a blending of rap and techno culture, and perfect does it job of representing the type of music found on the album.

So does this hold? Guess if the genre is rap, techno of trap of the album covers below and see if you are right.



Album 1

Answer: RAP        

Album 2

Answer: TRAP      

Album 3

Answer: TRAP      
0

Add a comment

Gutters, Technique, and Transitions
Judge by the Cover: Trap and Trance
Judge by the Cover: Trap and Trance
The Pervasiveness of Mickey Mouse
Seriously: A James Joyce Comic
Un-novel?
Gutter Space
Craigslist usability
Craigslist usability
Usability Nightmare: Hidden Login Links
Nielsen's Hypocrisies
Comics in Visual Rhetoric Class 2013
The Limitations of PowerPoint in Today's World
Red, White and Black=Target
Creme Brulee, Anyone?
Creme Brulee, Anyone?
Top 8 Mistakes Made in PowerPoint?
Lack of Usability: ESPN
The Cultural Significances of Black, White, and Red...
The Cultural Significances of Black, White, and Red...
Usability Blunders
Helping Hand of Another
Data Sets Displays and Cognates
(Y)OUR MAP IS WRONG
(Y)OUR MAP IS WRONG
Teaching and Engaging versus Marketing
Teaching and Engaging versus Marketing
Is pecha-kucha the future?
Is pecha-kucha the future?
Middle Schoolers, Pecha-Kucha and Edward Tufte
Understanding Visual Rhetoric in Digital Writing Environments.
Logos
Keep Calm and Do What, Now?
Transparency
Visual Rhetoric in Persuasive Digital Images
Visual Rhetoric in Persuasive Digital Images
black and white advertising
Kept My Locus
Street-art and Style
Street-art and Style
Black, White, and Red
Academic Videos
Problems with PowerPoint
Accidental Obscenity
Accidental Obscenity
Crocaducks and Duckatoos
Searching "Black, White, and Red"
The Double Meaning of Dali's Clocks
Snip. Snip. Snip.
Snip. Snip. Snip.
Ehses and the Antithesis that creates choices
Students and technical guidelines
Typeface Fail
Typeface Fail
Kress and van Leeuwan and Western Horseman
Kress and van Leeuwan and Western Horseman
Given, Ideal, New, Real
1
Misuse of Typefaces
Meta-Discourse on Composition and Visual Design
Over-analyzing typeface?
Over-analyzing typeface?
Why visual rhetoric has come to stay
Why visual rhetoric has come to stay
1
Understanding the Rhetorical Situation
Understanding the Rhetorical Situation
The Anatomy of Typefaces
The Anatomy of Typefaces
Does type font really sway an audience in all circumstances?
Typeface Choices
Typeface Choices
1
Cover Art as Rhetoric
Graffiti and Visual Rhetoric
Graffiti and Visual Rhetoric
Page Composition: Are Kress and van Leeuwen Correct?
Page Composition: Are Kress and van Leeuwen Correct?
Color Issues
Color Issues
Elementary Document Design
American Spi(ri)t
Let's get to work . . .
1
Lady Rhetorica says:
Blog Archive
Contributors
Loading
Dynamic Views theme. Powered by Blogger. Report Abuse.