This piece explores music genres as personas, imagining how R&B, punk rock, and rap might be personified through the Black image. Each genre is embodied through distinct body types, color palettes, and visual language.
R&B is represented as a soft, curvy woman rendered in blues and oranges, reflecting warmth, intimacy, and emotional depth. Punk rock contrasts this with a sharp, angular figure in hot pink and neon green, posed in a tense, edgy stance that challenges expectations—especially within a genre not often centered around Black identity. Rap appears as a large, blocky figure with locs, grounded and imposing, using muted greens and gold tones to suggest power, presence, and cultural weight.
Though each persona stands on its own, the composition is intentionally shared between the genres. Shared lines, overlapping text, and shape-emphasizing marks create visual rhythm, mirroring how these genres influence, borrow from, and coexist within Black culture.
Since I love a contrast, these two albums offer such different takes on summer, and I wanted to experiment with how I can bring those to life with a simple cover image. While Summer Walker's is about love, heartbreak, and self-discovery, SiR's album is like remembering to live, being young, and home.