Acknowledgements
Much respect to Shaun @ hiphopbebop.com and Wayne Emery for providing photographs, DeeJay Skamrok, and Mr. Krum for keeping the faith in hype stickers.
You don't get time to hang a sign on me
In recent weeks, a new social media challenge – or craze – has thickened through the online hip hop fraternity. Mainly attracting collectors, curators and DJs, this challenge invites people to post photographs of (largely rap) records with hype stickers. Hype stickers carry a mixed presence across consumers of hip hop records. To some, they add a special quality unfound elsewhere, whilst to others they are problematic and infiltrate the presence of the record sleeve. But the attitude to hype stickers is not so binary.
So then, what is a hype sticker, and what purpose does it serve? Hype stickers have maintained a presence in the production of recorded products since the boom of multi-option formats in the mid-1960s. Craig Braun, originally a die-cutter and printer before turning to record sleeve art and design, originated the idea of hype stickers. Braun “… came up with a gimmick, which was a self-adhesive label for albums emblazoned with ‘includes the hit single’…” which, over time, has evolved into what we currently refer to as the hype sticker.
Braun’s idea led to a significant increase in record sales. In essence, the first hype stickers were intended to do exactly that – target consumers with additional information to encourage them to make a purchase. Stickers on LPs would state things like: “INCLUDES THE NEW SINGLE”, or “DOUBLE ALBUM”, which, although simplistic, brought a sense of knowledge to the record sleeve. Whilst this knowledge-base was initially straightforward in delivering factual information, stickers progressed speedily to include words like “HIT” and “CHART-TOPPING”. These additional descriptors imbued a greater sense of worth and fuelled desire. They generated excitement, and a suggestion of urgency was frequently added in the form of an exclamation mark; who could resit buying a record which shouted “INCLUDES THE HIT SINGLE!”, almost code for: ‘Quick, buy me, while there’s still copies available’, and if that wasn’t enough temptation, remember, ‘you don’t even need to buy the 45!’.
The original and the best
These senses of coding are crucial to understanding both the development of the hype sticker as commercial signpost and their embodiment of knowledge. Turning now to hip hop hype stickers, the first example I can recall was: “THE ORIGINAL AND THE BEST HIP HOP”,1 which adorned the righthand side of Bob Camp’s dope picture sleeve on the UK issue of ‘Renegades Of Funk’ from 1984. Despite being one of the illest sleeves of the time (and, in fact, to date), the hype sticker swung my wavering between purchasing this or Run-D.M.C.’s ‘Rock Box’ 12”. Situated between Mr. Biggs and M.C. Globe’s appendages as they crash through the brick wall, the sticker seemed to anchor the dynamism of Camp’s illustration. Then – to the sticker itself – it was unpretentious and bold. The words “HIP HOP” were presented centrally in the circular sticker, white font on a solid red background, with the added phrase, modest yet assertive, “THE ORIGINAL AND THE BEST” following the top arc of the sticker. It was persuasive.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Rhythm Obscura to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.