In the latest issue of Teen Vogue, A$AP Rocky sits down with the magazine to give them "an exclusive look into his stylish world." The author of the profile first meets Rocky while on the set of the accompanying photoshoot, and quickly realizes that he's not dealing with "your typical rapper," which is a very complicated and pretty fucked up thing to say.
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So the typical rapper wears a uniform comprised of the above? Seems like Teen Vogue hasn't been paying attention on the heels of a year that saw individual steez take off both in hip-hop and with stylish dudes in general, a combo that Rocky embodies. We would argue that Rocky is anything butyour typical rapper. His style game is out of this world, and there's no denying that he was instrumental in making numerous rappers become interested in brands like Ann Demeulemeester, Lanvin, etc.
It's a slightly tangled statement, but by saying Rocky isn't your typical rapper because he's "articulate, thoughtful, and genuinely humble person" is even worse than assigning a hip-hop uniform. It assumes that all rappers (and, perhaps, the culture that these individuals represent) are not articulate, thoughtful, and humble. And using the word "articulate" or "well-spoken" to describe a black man has a complicated history. Essentially, it expresses surprise that a black man is educated or can eloquently express levels of higher-thinking. When was the last time a well-spoken white man was described as "articulate?"
This is definitely a symptom of a magazine that doesn't deal with hip-hop all of a sudden dealing with rappers, but it's still surprising since the very reason the mag is profiling A$AP Rocky is because his involvement with fashion is atypically dope.
