Name Brands: Swizz Beatz and A$AP Rocky's Fashion References in "Street Knock"

Last week on The Angie Martinez Show, Swizz Beatz and A$AP Rocky dropped their song "Street Knock" off Swizzy's upcoming Limitless mixtape. Of course, the araabMUZIK-produced track had a pretty dope beat, but our stylish ears started burning the minute we heard Swizz Beatz drop a Givenchy reference towards the end of the first verse.

Rocky took that one luxury call out and built on it, lacing his verse with the names of some brands, designers, and artists that you rarely hear about in rap songs. Which is kind of ironic, given that earlier this month, he said this regarding name dropping brands:

"I might stop name-dropping though. I’m not even gonna rap about brands anymore because I don’t want people to think I’m doing it on purpose." - A$AP Rocky, i-D Online

In any case, we listened closely to mine all the stylish references we could hear. Check out Name Brands: Swizz Beatz and A$AP Rocky's Fashion References in "Street Knock."

Swizz Beatz makes a reference to the popular Givenchy rottweiler graphic T-shirt. Soon after, he plays on the shirt's canine imagery when he says he's "bringin' the dogs back," which refers to both the graphic and Ruff Ryders Entertainment, which was founded by two of Swizzy's uncles.

Rocky is referencing Venus X, who we first got put onto from her numerous gigs at last season's New York Fashion Week. The green-haired DJ opened for the Wu-Tang Clan at a Milk Studios concert, and provided the Gucci Mane-fueled soundtrack for designer Patrik Ervell's Fall/Winter 2012 show.

Rocky sure loves mentioning gold teeth.

Rocky is referring to Swizzy's penchant for expensive, red-bottomed Louboutin sneakers, which is only overshadowed by his Reebok sponsorship. Remember when Swizz Beatz and Rick Ross made "Reebok Back?"

The A$AP crew is no stranger to BLVK SCVLE. They dropped a collaborative collection this month, and have been rocking it for a while. Notable items include the VSVP hoodie and snapback, but Rocky's been repping the brand long before they got together for the collab.

This obviously references Pharrell's Billionaire Boys Club label. It gets a regular co-sign from Swizz Beatz, but since it was reported that Pharrell and A$AP Rocky spent some time together in the studio, maybe he'll get laced with some stuff from Pharrell's upcoming collab with designer Mark McNairy?

Other than a call out in Lupe Fiasco's "Gold Watch," you hardly hear about avant-garde Japanese designer Junya Watanabe in rap songs. Known for his interesting designs that often involve mashing up different styles and fabrication, it's not cheap at all. In addition to his own line, he designs Comme des Garcons' menswear.

He follows up that reference by dropping the name of Japanese artist Takashi Murakami, who in addition to working a lot with Kanye West (even designing the cover to Yeezy's Graduation), is also famous for reinventing the classic Louis Vuitton monogram into a more colorful style, as well as a camouflage version in 2008.

Versace has always been a popular fashion reference to drop in rap, with people like Rick Ross and Drake rocking their interesting printed shirts on the regular. Yet as current trends will show — as well as the style influence of Kanye West and Jay-Z — it seems Riccardo Tisci's Givenchy fashion house is still gaining steam in the hip-hop world.