“Rep Yo City” is a perfect song for the Hip=Hop Map Project: five emcees from five different places, all talking about where they’re from. When I first started making these maps I wanted to highlight our culture’s rich bond with geography, and this song sums it up.
If you’re not familiar with the song, “Rep Yo City” was a 2002 crunk banger released on both E-40’s Grit & Grind and Lil Jon & the Eastside Boyz”s Kings of Crunk albums. Led by E-40 and produced by Lil Jon, the song also features guest verses from Petey Pablo, Bun B, and Eightball. Petey Pablo was fresh off of the success of his debut album, and Ball & Bun B were two veterans with careers as storied as E-40’s and Jon’s. If I were to put someone from the New School on to crunk music “Rep Yo City” would be one of the first five songs played.
For this one I mapped where each artist was from and matched the location with a lyric in their bars. Each place is symbolized with a mic in hand and start background. I selected NBA colorways for the stars; if you follow E-40 you know he’s an avid sports fan and is often found courtside at Golden State Warriors home games. Each star is symbolized based on the closest NBA team to the emcee’s hometown:
– E-40, Vallejo, CA (Golden State Warriors)
– Petey Pablo, Greenville, NC (Charlotte Hornets)
– Bun B, Port Arthur, TX (Houston Rockets)
– Eightball, Memphis, TN (Memphis Grizzlies)
– Lil Jon, Atlanta, GA (Atlanta Hawks)
Rap GEO 