Wrapped Lyrics

Due to the often obscene language of rappers, hip hop is regularly marginalised. Within the music industry, however, hip hop is the most lucrative genre. If you listen to the lyrics of our great contemporary rappers, you soon come to the conclusion that better songwriters do exist. The energy is what prevails here. The beats and bass work as ideal packaging for the rappers’ lyrics. In this series, I retain the lyrics and song titles of the likes of Travis Scott, Skepta and Earl Sweatshirt, but replace the packaging of the lyrics. Does the content still matter if the packaging looks glitzy enough? — Henri B Defauw, 2020