We Like Noise Rap Pop: Cover As Art Project

Cover designed by Ishan Rathod

Ishan Rathod

Ishan Rathod

Rathod fell in love with the country’s independent music scene when he was only 13. His journey came to a full circle seven years later, when he started working as a graphic designer for Mumbai-based event management agency, Only Much Louder [OML]. In his two-year stint at the company, Rathod has designed a huge variety of music-based graphics including gig posters for NH7.in. 

The Idea

In the past year, the music scene in India skyrocketed. A lot of music festivals and parties being organized in the country [some of which I attended] and realized that these parties were taking place because they were being organized by people who do it for the music. It was a scene that developed because everyone felt the need to celebrate the music they love. I got the line “We kinda like noise rap pop” from Das Racist’s “All Tan Everything” and thought it just explains what made the last year so special for Indian indie. From Heems of Das Racist performing at an Indian music festival to Slayer and Santana playing back-to-back weekends to producers like KOAN Sound, Michal Menert and Foreign Beggars performing in India, we saw an amazing amount of noise, rap, pop and everything you can think of in between. If that wasn’t enough, there was the Grime Riot Disco and The TRAP gigs, which gave an amazing boost to the local party scene. All of these reasons make that line from “All Tan Everything” special for me and that’s the idea behind the cover. Also, I love Das Racist and they’ve broken up, so everything sucks.