50 & Forever ^{AD & Design}

In tribute to 50 years of hip-hop, Amazon Music launched “50 & Forever” in 2023—a series of curated events, livestreams, playlists, original content, and new music featuring artists like J. Cole, Queen Latifah, Snoop Dogg, De La Soul, Nas, Wu-Tang Clan, and more.

The art direction is inspired by the fast-paced resourcefulness and directness of hip-hop’s originators. Bold typography, wheat paste textures, rough collaged imagery, and strong black-and-white photography form a visual language that matches the genre’s energy from the early years to the present. Albums like “3 Feet High and Rising” by De La Soul, “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” by Lauryn Hill, and “Igor” by Tyler, The Creator served as inspiration and all possess the dynamic and unfiltered spirit that marks hip-hop both sonically and visually.

Elements like hand-drawn accents and stenciled logos are intentional. Evidence of the human hand evokes the excitement and reverence of a fan highlighting their favorite artist. The stenciled “50 & Forever” logos were created not only as an ownable design device but as another layer in the story of the fan—in this case, we’re the fans tagging the work.

• Art direction • style guide • marketing asset suite • OOH

Collaborators: Trevor Eld ^CD, Laemy Darisme ^Co-AD, Kovalski Jacques ^PM, Xinran Wang ^Motion, Kim Oldford ^Motion, Droga5 ^{Logo & Strategy}