The challenge: How do I get my fiancee to listen to more hiphop?

My fiancee does not keep up with artists beyond Celine Dion. The only hiphop she discovers is through standard Spotify playlists. Whereas I am a huge hiphop fan, and of course wanted her to like it too. Because of course she must like the things I like.

My goal was to find a way to fit hiphop into her life as seamlessly as possible.

Each month I would make a playlist of new songs for her. That she could easily find, sync, and use during her workouts. I would get her first impressions, followed up by her lasting impressions. That data would help fuel future artist and song selections. Originally I planned to do this short term, and  now I’m halfway through year 3.

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2018—
137 songs. 446 minutes.

The design for year one focused on bold gradients and the Star Wars “it’s a trap!” reference. It was also created entirely in Photoshop; my personal hell. That said, year one was a success. Each month I delivered a new playlist and shared the music I love with someone I love. And each month I learned more and more. I was basically a tastemaker.

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2019—
131 songs. 376 minutes.

I made the executive decision to change the design every year. Each year evolving the design, keeping something of the old, but introducing something new. This year I kept the gradients, the bold type, and even the It’s a Trap logo. The Star Wars visual was killed so I didn’t get sued, and more emphasis was put on type for a quicker read while in the app. The concept behind the final design was the idea of a trap door with individual letters falling and stacking on top of one another.

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B-sides introduced—
54 songs. 159 minutes.

B-sides was added in 2019 as a way to introduce her to even more music. These were songs I deemed to be on the periphery of her interest. I was able to make riskier choices. And this enabled more opportunities to learn what she liked and expose her to new sub-genres and artists.

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2020— 

In 2020 it was time to leave the gradients behind, but keep the bold color. I wanted to shift from the big type of old into more of a conversation. While also making the cover more dynamic and relevant to the content inside. Throughout the year each cover will have a message that either fits a theme, a lyric, or what’s going on in the world outside of covid.

Also, B-sides was a success and kept as a staple moving forward.

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