A Bathing Ape (hip-hop history)

Hip-hop relevance

A Bathing Ape (BAPE) was founded by Nigo in Tokyo in 1993. Its imported visibility in US hip-hop began through Pharrell Williams and the Neptunes / N.E.R.D. crew in the early 2000s, and Pharrell co-founded Billionaire Boys Club / Ice Cream with Nigo in 2003. BAPE also became closely associated with Lil Wayne (Tha Carter III era), Kanye West, and Soulja Boy, and its Bapesta sneaker silhouette was a constant fixture in mid-2000s hip-hop music videos and red-carpet looks.