That buzzing time of the year is here; summer. And we are of course all looking forward to rearranging our wardrobes [with a pressing sense of urgency], hence the reason not to pass up the chance to purchase clothing from Christian-oriented rap brands as you look to replenish your wardrobe with fantastic deals this summer. LIVE AND ELAVATE is one of those merchandise names to consider this summer.
If looking for something with a Christian feel that is coupled with a message on healing the earth to wear this summer, you might find it worthwhile to consider REAP3R’s (with Ngaatendwe and Three Letterz) new merch, Live and Elevate the Earth [written Eth]. There are awesome tees available; and they are easy to style to as well, definitely not to miss.
A Zimbabwean hip hop and Christian-inclined rapper Dylan Dandah, aka REA3PR [born and raised in Harare], decided to drop a merchandise line after dropping his EP called LIVE and ELAVATE (the merch assumes the same name as the EP). All with the help of the ever-dope super creatives Ngaatendwe Mapako and Three Letterz.
“I want to bring an awareness to what the hip hop culture can do for the urban youth consumers (consumers of culture), so my personal mission extends from that to how I understand Christ”, REAP3R said.
REAP3R dropped an EP called LIVE and ELEVATE, which urges people to aspire to live and elevate; i.e., to love life in its entirety, with an unwavering commitment towards genuine empowering love, in order to uplift the self and the collective. To live and elevate. To nurture and celebrate the spiritual growth of the self and that of others. To care for the planet.
“LIVE has the persona desiring for their environment to promote living and ELEVATE has the persona speaking of how life has ups and downs but the goal is to elevate the community and self”, added REAP3R.
Soon after releasing the EP, REAP3R decided to release merch which corresponds to the two pack. According to him, it came as an inspiration from the artwork which was done by Ngaatendwe Mapako for his EP’s cover.
By making music, artists have goals they set for themselves and also their audiences. The artists’ messages engendered in their lyrics often define them and their intentions. REAP3R consciously opted to connect with his audience not only through his music but via merchandise as well.
“The main mission was to keep reminding people of the goal that we are on as a brand and the consultant I was working with was approached and they chopped it up on how they can communicate with the audience through merch and it was an interesting process”, he stressed.
REAP3R decided to continue with the narrative of the Christian oriented hip hop scene by dropping merch which corresponds to his EP and for people to relate to God and care for the planet.
“What I am trying to achieve is make good music, getting people to see how I perceive Christ hence the reason why more content is based on Christian spirituality- more complex topics”, said REA3PR.
“When Ngaatendwe made the artwork, Three Letterz hinted that we could do merch with the artwork so the drop might begin”, mentioned REAP3R.
REAP3R expressed why as a musician, he decided to drop a merch for his two pack, “we decided to drop the merch after the two pack as a way of building or creating an experience around the songs. We wanted the music to be more than just divine beats and godly lyrics”.
Looking at REAP3R’s cover of the EP, it aptly displays the inextricable conflation of living life and elevating in it, in spiritual growth. The two tracks are definitely worthy of being listened to, especially in the context of the merch.
“The story behind it, as the title goes, it about people trying to make a ‘living’ yet ‘elevating’ while at it. It’s about getting by the day to day needs and wants while also striving for a higher level of being”, said Ngaatendwe Mapako the creator of the artwork of REAP3R’s EP.
Ngaatendwe added, “It’s about overcoming the process of overcoming routine problems we face daily, finding solutions to them, and using that knowledge and skills to help ourselves and others become better versions as much as possible. The cover reflects the ‘art imitates life – life imitates art’ concept. There’s no one definite interpretation to it but this is just a gist to what one can see at face value.”
The LIVE and ELEVATE merch has been met with warm, welcoming, and positively curious reception. The feedback is an affirmation that genuine art wins. Even in the absence of mass/popular mainstream appeal.
REAP3R also hinted that there will be more different clothing brands as the immensely gifted rapper intends this one to be limited edition.
The youthful artist also hinted on the future, that there might be more releases but godly in nature. “Always expect anything godly from REAP3R, that we assure you. Its a matter of timing, we can’t just give away much information because that can jinx what GOD has already provided”, he said.
