What happens when one of America’s most culturally significant rappers meets the UK’s favourite if-you-know-you-know subculture-repping designer?
Earlier this week, Kendrick Lamar took to the Super Bowl’s pitch for a halftime show performance nobody can stop talking about. From Serena Williams’ Crip Walk to the complex, layered symbolism embedded in every detail of his performance, without forgetting the absolute clownage of a particular rapper, allegedly, the show was something from a completely different league.
What caught our eye, though, was the fashion. Those CELINE low-rise, tight-on-the-top flared jeans were quite something, but so was that leather jacket sporting the American flag’s tri-colour palette. And guess what? Of course it was a Martine Rose original.
The pair, who first met in 2022, have been on a mission to outdo every other artist-muse’s body of work. Well, maybe not quite, at least not consciously. But it sure seems like it’s headed in that direction, the way this pair has been moving together. From name-dropping lyrics to a stellar GRAMMY outfit, keep reading to discover the history behind Kendrick Lamar and Martine Rose’s creative partnership.
And now wait until you hear about Drake’s link up with the British designer in 2021…
The Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show
After an absolutely dominating first half led by the Philadelphia Eagles, Kendrick Lamar stepped out at this year’s Super Bowl for a halftime show filled with symbolism. Championing the colours of the American flag throughout the performance, the national imagery seeped into Lamar’s outfit, which consisted of a custom Martine Rose “GLORIA” varsity-style leather jacket, nodding to GNX’s final track featuring none other than his halftime co-star, SZA. On the back of the jacket was a pgLang logo, in reference to the communications company founded by Lamar and record producer Dave Free. The look was completed with Nike Air DT Max 96 and CELINE flared jeans. But the creative fusion between K-Dot and Rose was born years before the momentous cultural sporting event.
The Big Steppers Tour
Back to the beginning – or at least back when the two first met in person during Lamar’s UK leg of the Big Steppers tour in 2022. Rose remembers feeling that “we understand each other on a creative level,” she shared in an interview with Vogue. “His work is rooted in people’s experience and that’s the way I approach collections, too.” This sense of realness quickly transpired into custom outfits for the remainder of Lamar’s tour, which included the renowned “Oklahoma” leather jackets. It was around this time that Lamar also posted to his Instagram to state “Bucketlist to work with Martine Rose, she room shy but gangsta, say hello to my young,” in a now-deleted post.
Donning Nike MR4 Shox at the GRAMMYs
If the tour wasn’t a big enough stage, the GRAMMYs surely was the perfect spot to highlight the duo’s creative love affair. Indeed, when Kendrick Lamar won three GRAMMY awards, including Best Rap Album for “MR. MORALE & THE BIG STEPPERS,” he stepped on stage in head-to-toe Martine Rose, look 21 from her Autumn/Winter 2023 collection to be exact – Nike Shox MR4 collaboration included. Queue the internet talking about this moment for days on end.
“The Hillbillies” Shoutout
In May of 2023, Lamar dropped “The Hillbillies,” a track with his cousin and fellow artist Baby Keem, with his lyrics reading “Yeah, n***** know that I’m best-dressed / Wear Martine when I board jets / They sardines and I’m big fish.” Another lyric read “all I’m wearin’ is Wales Bonner,” who was the person who told Rose that she had been mentioned in the song, to which she laughed after hearing her name rhymed with “sardines.” Repping two of the UK’s most culturally influential designers of our times, Lamar never fails to show his love for the creativity across the pond, with the music video for this song partly being filmed in London, with remarkable landmarks spotted such as the London Eye and Nando’s.
The Camp Flog Gnaw Collab with Baby Keem
That same year, Tyler, The Creator announced the return of Camp Flog Gnaw, after its hiatus during the pandemic. Of course, the rap duo consisting of Lamar and Baby Keem were set to perform under their newfound moniker, “The Hillbillies.” For the occasion, the two yet again tapped Martine Rose to create collaborative merch, which included a football-inspired t-shirt, a top featuring Lamar’s handwritten lyrics, and even a “Martine Sardine” long-sleeved top.
They Not Like Kendrick Lamar x Martine Rose
The diss track to end all diss tracks. In May of last year, Kendrick Lamar and Drake’s documented beef arguably came to an end when the Compton-born rapper dropped the now GRAMMY-winning hit, “They Not Like Us.” Remember how we mentioned Martine Rose having worked with Drizzy in the past? Well, if it wasn’t clear before, it certainly was at the time of this track dropping, with Lamar sporting Martine Rose’s Autumn/Winter 2024 “Motocross” scarf wrapped around his head in the music video. Case closed? We think so.
