Fans didn’t mind waiting in line for hours if it meant a chance to hang out with 2 Chainz on Wednesday, when the rapper opened a three-hour-long pop-up shop in New York’s SoHo neighborhood to celebrate his forthcoming album, Pretty Girls Like Trap Music — and, of course, to give his loyal fans a chance to scoop up some of his latest tour merch.
2 Chainz partnered with acclaimed graffiti artist GucciGhost, a.k.a. Trouble Andrew, to design the exclusive merchandise for his upcoming album, and the result is unlike anything we’ve ever seen from Chainz. The collection includes hoodies, T-shirts, bandanas and baseball hats — all featuring Andrew’s signature dripping font in millennial pink and black hues, along with the album title Pretty Girls Like Trap Music.
“When we were trying to decide what would be the perfect cover for Pretty Girls Like Trap Music, I didn’t want to actually use an image of a female,” the rapper told Billboard at the pop-up. “I had an idea to use something that came from my background, which would be the trap or the ‘trap house.’ Then I thought about what symbolizes people all over the world, whether young or old, who are beautiful inside and out. And then there was the color pink, which is sensible, sweet, calming. So that was me combining both worlds,” the rapper said. “I combined the trenches with that sensibility, with that calm feeling. So it’s a pink trap house; it’s a beautiful cover.”
Attendees wrapped around the side of Greene Street, patiently waiting to enter the venue to cop the limited-edition merch. “It’s different than any other tour merchandise I’ve seen so far. The pink and black is sick,” a fan said. “It was definitely worth the wait.”
The event opened to the public at 3 p.m., but the “I’m Different” rapper showed up fashionably late, sporting a sweatshirt from his new collection under a Gucci bomber jacket. 2 Chainz danced, Snapchatted and even hopped behind the counter to sign everyone’s pieces for the last two hours of the event.
The minimalist venue featured moody pink lighting, bumping music and pink artwork that stood out on the white walls. Fans circulated in and out of the venue throughout the night, taking pictures in front of a blown-up album cover posted up on the wall.
But 2 Chainz’s new merch isn’t the only thing fans get to look forward to: The album, which drops June 16, features a mix of artists and musicians who Chainz says “fits them and their songs perfectly; not just because of who they are, but because of the instrumentation of their voices. With these new instruments I’m testing on this project, I still have my edgy content, but I think my instrumentation is a step above anything else I have ever done.”
Pretty Girls Like Trap Music merchandise is available here until June 16.