Who Has the Ultimate Style in Hip Hop?

A$AP Rocky
Embodying the ever-widening confluence between hip hop and fashion, Harlem’s A$AP Rocky has become a style icon for men’s fashion. With an eye-watering wardrobe and dense lyrical capacity, Pretty Flacko’s come-up was tailor-made for the social media age.

Known for pairing high fashion with streetwear staples, A$AP Rocky has stunted Balenciaga loopback sweaters with Vans Old Skools, Prada pants with Air Force 1s, and oversized Raf Simons puffer coats with Air Jordan 1s.

From curating the FW17 Gucci soundtrack to becoming the face of Dior Homme, Rocky has become a cultural linchpin for the fashion circuit, regularly sitting front row for Gucci and Loewe. He is also probably the only artist alive who could stay afloat while wearing the Balenciaga Women’s SS17 yellow sleeveless inflatable jacket or Loewe’s FW19 power-pink tuxedo. 

Tyler, The Creator 
From the punk rock attitude of California’s Odd Future to the luxe baby blue suits and peroxide Warhol wigs of IGOR, Tyler, The Creator has become one of the most visceral aesthetic and lyrical voices in hip hop. 

He has provided us with some of the most nuclear looks in fashion (remember when he pulled up to the 2018 Grammys wearing a periwinkle blue coat with matching Louis Vuitton scarf and ushanka). But we’ll always be enamoured with the still-fledgling rapper channeling California’s collegiate skater: single pleat chinos, short-sleeve button ups, and a pile of signature sweaters. 

Despite all of his accolades in the department of style and hip hop, there’s one achievement that eclipses any other: his consistent ability to nail the socks and sandals combo. 

Pharrell Williams 
Legendary producer, artist and co-founder of Billionaire Boys Club, Pharrell Williams routinely delivers hit after hit on the airwaves and with style. 

The godfather of hip hop fashion, Pharrell has been semi-swallowed by gargantuan fur coats, broke the internet with Vivienne Westwood’s Buffalo Hat, co-opted neo-Japanese punk, served as a posterboy for American streetwear, and delivered adidas swarms of hypebeasts through his lauded line of NMDs. An ever-evolving stalwart of contemporary style, Pharrell has paired military-style coats with denim shorts, dug-out the sartorial hallmarks of grunge music with oversized, chunky cardigans, and somehow drove the ‘Canadian Tuxedo’ back into vogue. 

Kanye West 
Kanye West continues to have a cosmic effect on men’s fashion. Inspiring insatiable acolytes across the globe, Kanye’s style has drastically evolved since he burst onto the rap scene with ‘The College Dropout’. 

From the glam-rock leather pants and fur coats, to the stripped-back sweatpants and hoodies characteristic of his Yeezy label, Kanye has made quite the sartorial pilgrimage during his time in the charts. 

Despite his penchant for high fashion (Kanye’s long-time collaborator Virgil Abloh is now the artistic director of Louis Vuitton) and future-forward tailoring, Kanye isn’t afraid to pair outfits for less than $100. In 2019, he pulled up to the Gala wearing black chinos, Yeezy desert boots, and a Dickies Eisenhower jacket, somewhat elucidating his ethical hangups emphasised in 2018’s Violent Crimes: 

‘I pray your body’s draped more like mine and not like your mommy’s / Curves under your dress, I know it’s pervs all on the ’net.’