Good photography creates a narrative, as shown in the other posts. With hip-hop and other urban genres (grime etc) it is particularly important that you create a story for the reader.
For urban genres (music that originates from deprived, inner-city areas) the origins and backgrounds of the stars are very much a part of the music.
Hard childhoods, social injustice, crime, politics, close-knit communities, even slavery (hip hop beats are derived from African tribal music which has mixed with American influences over generations), all have their part to play.
All this needs to be communicated in the photography through location, costume, facial expression and pose, props, lighting, eye contact and colours.
Hip Hop originated in Harlem and the Bronx, two of the most deprived areas of New York. There are four "elements": DJing, MCing, breakdancing and graffiti. "Guns, Bitches and Bling" are recent additions as the genre has become a mainstream, multi-million dollar industry.
Men's clothes tend to be oversized in hip hop. This is a reference to growing up in a ghetto: families were poor so clothes were handed down from brother to brother. Therefore, the bigger your clothes, the bigger your brother, and the less likely you were to get beaten up.
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| Mos Def |
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| Jay-Z |
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| Li'l Wayne |
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| Eminem |
Black "prison- style" tattoos are also an important part of the genre. Black tattoos originated in American prisons, so the imply a hard life, serious crime, retribution and possibly regret. Some tattoos have specific meaning, like the teardrop tattoo, but meaning tends to be personal to the wearer.
There is a uniform with Hip Hop: wife beater vests, big jeans, jewellery, baseball caps, tattoos, sunglasses, crucifixes, sneakers (usually Nike or Adidas). No smiles.
