A renewed Appelsap remains of and for creative street culture

Cristina Blanaru Creativity

Appelsap marks 18th year and coming-of-age anniversary by paying homage to Hip Hop and the generation who has grown up with the festival. The new campaign, including a 60-seconds film and visuals, solely stars performers from the 2018 festival line-up – all giving ode to Hip Hop history throughout the years.

The nostalgic whilst forward-looking film aims to portray how new talent continuously push the legacy of Hip Hop forward by inserting its culture in new meaningful ways. With its distinct Appelsap visual language, directed by Rogier Smalhout and produced by HALAL, the campaign comes on the back of the Appelsap 2017 ‘One Love’ success that recently picked up three awards at ADCN. The photography, entirely analogue, is by Berlin photographer Vitali Gelwich (HALAL).

Rogier Smalhout, Co-Founder & Creative Director, Appelsap / Creative Director, HONGKONG, comments:

Entering our 18th year, we face a generation who has grown up with our festival. In addition, we see an entire league of young kids, listening to Hip Hop and embracing the culture, without necessarily knowing the references or its roots. It seemed like a natural match, to use our anniversary to visually connect the new generation of artists with some of our all-time heroes.

Representing Rogier’s directing-debut, the campaign is a natural progression of the festival and HALAL’s long-term relationship:

We have collaborated with HALAL many times, and I am so pleased they wanted to back me up when moving into directing. To have them producing this job yet again was key in delivering a film of this calibre. It was a production challenge, to create a piece exclusively starring Appelsap 2018 artists, getting them all together for the shoot, and creatively match them with the iconic legends they would pay tribute to. The puzzle was further amplified by the fact that we needed to make clear to which iconic references we were paying tribute, whilst not imitating too literally.

The film premiered on High Snobiety and will roll-out on the festival’s online and social channels. The photography will be used for OOH and social activation. The artists from the 2018 Appelsap line-up featured in the video are as follows:

  • A Tribe Called Quest (Sara) – Original photo by Joe Gran1
  • A$AP Rocky (Jacin Trill) – Original photo by Phil Knott
  • Chief Keef (Mairo Nawaz) – Original photo by Jeff Forney
  • Dizzee Rascal (Poke) – Original photo by Dean Chalkley
  • Eminem (Idaly) – Original photo by Jonathan Mannion
  • EPMD (Fosa YG & Loopey) – Original photo by Janette Beckman
  • KRS-One (Ray Fuego)
  • Lil’ Kim (Bubbles) – Original photo by Michael Lavine
  • Malcolm X (BDP / Ray Fuego) – Original photo by Don Hogan Charles (Malcolm X) / Original photo by Doug Rowell (BDP)
  • Missy Elliott (Amy Becker) – Original photo by Jeff Riedel
  • The Notorious B.I.G. (Baby Mason) – Original photo by Butch Bel Air
  • N.W.A (SMIB) – Original photo by Eric Poppleton
  • Outkast (808Mill & Jacin Trill) – Original photo Michael Lavine
  • Travis Scott (Mairo Nawaz) – Original photo by Nick Knight
  • Wu-Tang Clan (Appelsap fam) – Original photo by Daniel Hastings
  • 2PAC (Momi) – Original photo by Ken Nahoum
  • 50 Cent (Leafs) – Original photo by Sacha Waldman

Campaign credits

  • Client | Appelsap Fresh Music Festival
  • Creative Director | Rogier Smalhout
  • Agency | HONGKONG Amsterdam
  • Production | HALAL
  • DOP | Tibor Dingelstad
  • Art Director & Production Design | Edwin Kemper, Jelier & Schaaf
  • Photography | Vitali Gelwich (HALAL)
  • Editor | Brian Ent, Kapsalon
  • Grading & Online | Joppo @ De Grot
  • Sounddesign | Sharkee (Haaifaai Deluxe)
  • Music | Niels den Otter (Audentity)