Memphis Rap Aesthetic

The Memphis rap scene was very grass roots especially compared to the east and west coast hiphop. This in addition to the subject matter being crime drugs and gangs it has a unique grimeyness that modern trap music lacks.

They had rough and abrasive designs for album covers, it actually has a lot in common with punk rock in how against the grain they were. More focused on getting the message out there with the limited resources they had.

The aesthetics of Memphis rap have an extremely surreal feeling to it. the visuals are trippy with bright contrasting colours being used. It almost feels otherwordly at times. The visuals act as a good reflection of the music because of how bizarre, trippy and distorted the music sounds.

Memphis rap is definitely a style that is not for everyone. It can be understandable for why it isnt as well recognized as other styles of hip-hop. There’s a unique feeling that memphis hip hop captures that others cannot emulate.